Chapter 14
Standing on the busy sidewalk, I stared up at the tall, upscale building. The building was so upscale, in fact, that when I approached the glass double-doors out front, I was greeted by a uniformed doorman, who said with an easy smile, "Can I help you?"
I nodded. "I'm here to see Jake Bishop."
And just like that, his smile was gone. "About what?"
Startled by his sudden change in demeanor, I said, "Well, actually, it's private."
He gave me the squinty-eye. "You got an appointment?"
"No," I admitted. "Do I need one?"
In truth, there was a reason I didn't have an appointment. I hadn't called ahead, because I didn't want Jake to know that I was coming. I'd never met him in person, but Ihadtalked to him on the phone for like thirty whole seconds.
It hadn't gone well.
In front of me, the doorman gave a weary sigh. "Look, he's engaged, alright?"
I drew back.Talk about insulting."You think I’m here to hit on him?"
"I don't know. Are you?"
"No."
He gave me a dubious look. "If you say so."
He turned away, heading toward a tall desk in the center of the lobby. Unsure what else to do, I followed after him. After reaching the desk, he opened the top drawer and pulled a thick, black appointment book. He flipped it open to someplace in the middle and turned it around to face me.
He handed me a pen and said in a bored tone, "Sign your name. I'll add you to the list."
"What list?"
"Of people who stopped by."
I felt my gaze narrow. I didn't drive five hours to be given an obvious brush-off. "Does he everlookat the list?"
The doorman gave a non-committal shrug that didn't inspire a whole lot of confidence.
It felt like a kick in the stomach. Then again, everything felt like a kick in the stomach. On top of everything else, I wasn't feeling so great. A couple of hours east of here, I'd made the unfortunate decision to partake in gas station nachos, and I'd been queasy ever since.
Or maybe it was just nerves. Either way, the doorman wasn't helping.
"Look," I said, "I'm here about his brother."
"Uh-huh. Nice try."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Sorry, but I've heard them all."
Desperately, I tried to think. "How about Luna? Isshehere?" I'd never met Jake's fiancée, but thatwasher name, wasn't it?
Before the doorman could answer, a loud commotion made us both turn to look. Near the small bank of elevators, a couple of college-aged guys had emerged from the nearest elevator and were arguing up a storm.
One was blond, and the other had hair so dark, it might've been black.
"Your ass," the blond one was saying. "Bruce Lee would've mopped the floor with that guy."
