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45: Investigation
“What do you suppose he’s doing here?”
Evelyn scarcely looked up at Lily’s question. Instead she gave a grateful sigh as they emerged from the revolving door, removing the handkerchief from her purse, and wiped her nose. “The same thing everyone else is—working or banking.”
As they neared the elevators and the density of the crowd increased, Lily’s curiosity was piqued. “Oh, please. Did you even look up?”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t, but I would hope you’d understand. I’m not exactly at my best right now.” She dabbed her nose again and folding the kerchief tightly around itself, tucked it back in her purse, glancing up startled when Lily’s hands closed on her upper arms.
Her sky blue eyes were focused elsewhere. “He’s not banking, and I guarantee if he’s w
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World of Tomorrow 45: Investigation
“What do you suppose he’s doing here?” Evelyn scarcely looked up at Lily’s question. Instead she gave a grateful sigh as they emerged from the revolving door. Removing the handkerchief from her purse, she wiped her nose. “The same thing everyone else is—working or banking.” As they neared the elevators and the density of the crowd increased, Lily’s curiosity was piqued. “Oh, please. Did you even look up?” “I’m sorry. I didn’t, but I would hope you’d understand. I’m not exactly at my best right now.” She dabbed her nose again and folding the kerchief tightly around itself, tucked it back in her purse. Glancing up, she startled when Lily’s hands closed on her upper arms. Her sky blue eyes were focused elsewhere. “He’s not banking, and I guarantee if he’s working, it’s not here.” Following Lily’s gaze, Evelyn studied the man in question bri
World of Tomorrow 46: Reactions
Andrew stood before the window in the private hospital room. Arms crossed over his chest, he watched the traffic flow below.A great deal weighed heavily on his mind, not least of which was his concern over Evelyn. She lay sleeping off the effects of the sedative the doctors had given her prior to her examination. He was still anxiously awaiting the report from the physician.Montero was dead.While he understood neither he nor Evelyn were under suspicion—in fact, the current most probable suspect by his best estimation was the remarkably unfortunate Mr. Aldrich, who was unlikely to ever resurface and provide any sort of accounting for himself or his actions. Had Andrew not been familiar with the kind of zealous violence favored in underworld thugs with ties to Tammany Hall, he might have felt bad for the luckless fellow.Almost.At present, he was more concerned with protecting his own.A soft rap at the door pulled him from his cycling thoughts. Spying the long white lab coat embroid
World of Tomorrow 47: Heat Wave
“My word, is there no end to this?” Evelyn moaned to Lily, rapidly waving her folded paper fan at the back of her neck. The two of them made their way along the congested sidewalk on their last leg toward the Trust. Already her camisole was soaked through and even the cotton tap pants she wore clung to her body miserably.“Almost there,” Lily panted back, keeping pace with the rest of the teeming masses. She shuddered beside Evelyn at the sudden chill as they drifted into the revolving door, though even the air conditioning only lowered the building’s temperature to tolerable.Twice during the last month—once shortly after Evelyn had been discharged from the hospital, and again towards the end of the miserable July—Trust employees had been sent home without pay when blackouts shut down the cooling fans. Without the moving air, the building’s internal temperatures skyrocketed into the stratosphere. Even the potted plant Evelyn kept on the conference table in Andrew’s office had wilted,
World of Tomorrow 48: Negotiations
It was dark in her room when Evelyn awakened. Inhaling deeply, she breathed the warm tobacco-y scent surrounding her. Rubbing her cheek over Andrew’s chest, she let the light sprinkling of fine hair there tickle her, then pressed a soft kiss into his warm flesh. It earned her a pleased sigh of relaxation as reward. Careful not to wake him, she slipped from the circle of his sheltering arms and from underneath the thin blanket he’d thrown over them. She perched on the side of the bed. Dear God, I’m exhausted. She had no idea what time it was, but over the low drone of the fans even the street noise had diminished enough that she could hear the pitter-patter of light rain. In the dim light from the open window, she could see the trail of their clothes leading out of the bedroom and smiled. Forcing herself to her feet, she collected their discarded garments. She did her best to brush out the
World of Tomorrow 49: Entertainments
Drowsy as she had been, suddenly Evelyn was wide awake. Not only as a result of her embarrassment. Lily’s new request to divulge ‘everything’ felt horribly invasive, and the reservation was readily obvious in her voice. “What is it you want to know?”Leaning forward eagerly, Lily propped her elbows on the table, her head in her hands. “Oh for pity’s sake, Evie, who am I going to tell? You’re my only friend. How did this happen? Was it an accident? Were you fooling around and things went further than you thought? Did you talk about it together and decide?”“We didn’t talk about it. Or plan it,” Evelyn admitted reluctantly. “Things—sort of—progressed—until we were—,” she shrugged, “—there.”Lily beamed. “How romantic! It’s much better when it’s spontaneous if you ask me. Besides, talking with men is an utter waste of time. At least, it is once that part is engaged. Was it your first time?” She sat up abruptly, her face etched with concern. “Did he hurt you?”Evelyn shook her head. “He di
World of Tomorrow 50: Perfection
“Well? How was it?” Andrew asked after the movie. Exiting their box seats, they followed the stream of people leaving the theater directed to the Capitol’s lobby and out of the building by smartly dressed ushers spaced at regular intervals along the path. “Look!” Peter interrupted before anyone could answer, jumping up and down and waving. “There’s our usher! John! Bye!” Hearing his name, the young man searched the faces around him. Spying the bouncing exuberant Peter, he smiled and waved back. “I’m hungry. Can we have lunch here?” Peter asked as his father captured his hand to keep him from getting lost in the crowd. Andrew glanced down at his son. “I have no idea where you ever got such an appetite. You ate your popcorn. You had half of Sarah’s M&M candies and a soda. All within the last two hours during the movie.” “It is lunchtim
World of Tomorrow 51: Battlefields
“You’re still looking a bit groggy this morning,” Lily commented as they stood in the Trust’s lobby, waiting on the executive lift. “What did you do after the movie yesterday?”“We took the children to the Fair, but for their sakes, we weren’t there late.”Before them, the lift chimed its arrival, its doors opening to receive them. As they boarded, Evelyn studied her reflection in the elevator’s mirrored walls, noting the grayish circles lingering under her eyes, while Lily selected the buttons for their floors. “What time was that?”“We left immediately after the fireworks finished.” She faced Lily and shrugged. “Still haven’t caught up on my sleep, I guess.”Lily peered at her. “You’re not feeling poorly again, are you?”“No. Nothing since that day.”“Good. I’d prefer we don’t have to go through that again.”The lift stopped at the nineteenth floor, chimed, then the doors opened.Giving Evelyn a quick hug, Lily hurried out, waving as the doors closed. “I’ll see you at the fountain at
World of Tomorrow 52: Apology
Evelyn buried her tear-streaked face against his chest, listening to his emotion-roughed apologies.“I’m so sorry, Evelyn. I don’t know what I was thinking. I’m a fool for imagining anything so stupid and a bigger fool for saying it out loud.” His words rasped with the barely-checked passion behind them.Through his fine clothes, she felt the heat of his body, the strength of his arms around her, but she couldn’t stop shaking. Unintentionally, he’d hurt her before, but that pain was nothing compared to what she felt now.“I let my temper get away from me. I got carried away, but it doesn’t change how I feel about you. I love you and I can’t do without you. Please,” he begged humbly, brought to his knees by his own folly, “forgive me.”In her wildest imaginings, Evelyn had never guessed how mercilessly he could batter a tender soul, how horribly he could shatter a loving heart. She’d heard the rumors, of course. She’d known the ruthless brutality he was capable of with his acerbic words
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