.exe

by Robin Jeffrey

  Henry blinked at me and shifted to stand closer to me. “You alright, Chance? You look like hell.”

  My head fell between my shoulders, my cheek still tingling where father had struck me. “My father is an imbecile.”

  Henry’s glass clinked down onto the table behind us. His fingertips were cool against my bruising skin. “Did he–?”

  I jerked away from him. “Just leave off, will you? You’ll make it worse.”

  Henry’s entire frame stiffened. His lips firmed into a straight line, and he drew away, collecting his drink with slow, measured movements.

  I took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Sorry.”

  He shrugged. Neither of us spoke, waiting for the tension to clear.

  Always the cooler head, Henry was first to make the effort, sipping his drink and rolling his shoulders back. “Felix couldn’t be persuaded to sell the Negrescu to me, could he?”

  “My father,” I glared daggers into the man’s back as I fumbled a nix out of my case, “can’t be persuaded of anything, even if it’s for his own good.”

  Henry turned his gaze heavenward. “I should just leave you alone, shouldn’t I?”

  I rolled my eyes, clapping him on the shoulder and shaking my head. Glib assurances were on the tip of my tongue when Cadence charged into view, coming to an abrupt halt inches from my face, brow furrowed. “Are you and Victoria going to get married very soon or is it to be later? No one can seem to decide.”

  After a few moments of shocked silence, Henry did me the kindness of nudging me in the back, jolting me into action. I rattled my head from side to side, various syllables stuttering off my tongue, before I could manage, “I beg your pardon?”

  “Everyone’s been saying that you’re going to marry her, and I was just wondering when that would be.” Cadence clasped her hands in front of her, fingers tapping a strange rhythm to which she swayed. “I notice she doesn’t have a betrothal necklace yet, which would confirm my hypothesis that it is to be sometime in the future, despite the phrase ‘practically engaged’ being in frequent use amongst my conversational partners this evening.”

  “Oh, for the love of–!” I was in the middle of tossing up my hands when I remembered one of them was still clutching a cup and the other an unlit nix. I twisted around and slammed both down on the table behind me. “People have absolutely no right to gossip about my personal life! What the hell do they know about it anyway?”

  I realized a second too late that my response had been a tad more violent than was called for. Henry and Cadence were staring at me, the former with his glass frozen at his lips, the latter blinking at me as if trying to clear her vision, a smile smeared across her face.

  Henry closed his mouth with an audible pop and turned on his heel, pointing towards a bookshelf on the opposite side of the room. “Excuse me, I think I’ll just…” he trailed off, striding away as quickly as he could.

  Cadence was silent a moment longer before leaning in, hand pressed against her collarbone. “I assumed that everyone knew very little about it. That’s why I asked you. But you also don’t seem to know anything about it. Should I go ask Victoria? Do you think she will be able to provide me with the relevant information?”

  She straightened, located Victoria, and started towards her.

  “No, no!” I latched onto her arm with embarrassing speed.

  Cadence pulled me with her for a step before she stopped, nose wrinkling.

  I cleared my throat, sliding my hand down to her elbow and pulling her against me, lifting my free arm up around her shoulders. “Victoria and I have a certain…” My lips drew down into an exaggerated frown as I bobbled my head from side to side. “…unspoken understanding that at some point in the future we will more than likely end up being at the very least legally married; yes.”

  Even through our clothes, the heat radiating off Cadence’s body warmed me, the sensation more comforting than I had expected. Cadence seemed unfazed by the intimate position I held her in, her head falling back as she gazed up at me. “Fascinating. I would never have thought romantic coupling was such a complicated undertaking in this society.”

  I wrinkled my nose back at her. “Oh, well, we can’t all be as advanced as Paraesepe, now can we?”

  She winced, turning away from me. I stepped back, taking her by the shoulders and angling her body back to me. “Why do you want to know? About Victoria and me, I mean?”

  “Are you alright?”

  The panic in Solomon’s voice made me snap around to stare at the two men on the sofa. My father clutched at his stomach, his breath coming out in long, pained wheezes as Solomon’s arm curled around his hunched shoulders. He tried to prop himself up, but only managed to lift his head. Sweat ran down his face, his eyes unfocused as he shook his head.

  “No, I…I don’t think I am…” He squeezed his gut and his entire body convulsed as he slid to the floor.

  Everyone leapt to their feet. Solomon vacated his position to allow Dr. Merton to examine my father. We clustered around the man’s wracked form, the ladies with their hands at their mouths, the men with their hands at the ready.

  Merton checked my father’s pulse before prying open his eyelids, his frown deepening. “I need to get him upstairs.” He surged to his feet and slung my father’s arm over his shoulders, hitching a hand around his hip. “Mr. Hale, come and help me. Mr. Davers, please go ahead and get the door open for us.”

  Solomon ran out of the room, and I rushed forward to help my father, who was moaning and gasping in pure agony.

  “I’ll get some fresh water.” Minerva strode towards the door. “Desdemona, why don’t you help me with some towels?”

  “Here, I’ll get them,” said Henry, jogging past the stunned woman before she could protest.

  With the rest of the party trailing behind, Dr. Merton and I struggled up the stairs, swaying like saplings in a storm as we tried to balance against my father’s convulsions, his feet twitching uselessly against the carpet.

  Depositing him on the bed, the doctor motioned for me to leave. I was about to close the door behind me when Henry and Minerva bustled through, their arms full of towels, bowls of hot and cold water, and the Doctor’s medical bag. Then they too were expelled from the room, leaving all of us waiting outside.

  The sounds of retching and cursing were audible even out in the hall. It seemed like an eternity before they subsided. Desdemona, pale and shaken, leaned against Minerva, her bottom lip quivering. After what seemed like hours, Merton reappeared, pulling the door shut behind him.

  “Is everything alright, Doctor?”

  He jumped at the sound of my voice, taking in the sight of so many worried eyes glued on him.

  “Yes, yes,” He gave a tight smile while adjusting his glasses and clearing his throat. “He’s quite alright now. Stomach flu, wouldn’t you know; it’s been going around the last few weeks.”

  “He didn’t seem sick earlier!” Victoria clutched at her throat and took a large step back.

  “This is more of a twenty-four-hour flu, Miss Gad; comes on very sudden like this. But most of the symptoms should be gone by tomorrow. He’ll be weak for a few days though; need someone to help him around the house–”

  “That’s for me to do,” said Desdemona in a hushed voice, standing up on her own at last.

  Dr. Merton stared at her for a moment before nodding. “Well, the best thing I can suggest for everyone is a good night’s sleep. It’s very late.”

  A strange ending to a strange day, our little troupe drifted away to their rooms. The doctor assured me that if I were to hear anything alarming from the adjoining room, I was free to alert him at any time of the night; an offer I found comforting, despite its pointlessness. I slept like the dead, and the walls were too thick for me to hear anything from my father’s rooms anyway.

  I turned to walk to my mother’s rooms and almost tumbled over Cadence, who’d been standing a hairsbreadth behind me. She put her hand on my shoulder
. “Are you alright?”

  The touch of her hand made me shiver and, for the first time since my father’s announcement, I found myself relaxing. “Yes, Cay, I’m fine.” I let out a deep breath, gliding my fingers over the back of her hand before squeezing it tight. “Illness just…unsettles me.”

  “Me too.” Cadence frowned. “I’m not very used to it yet.”

  Her gaze fell to the floor, but her expression did not dim. I was about to pull away when she yanked our entwined hands towards herself, wrapping her other hand around my own.

  “Thank you again for letting me stay the night, Chance.” Cadence rested our hands against her collarbone and met my eyes, her fingers tapping against my skin. “I feel I’ve put you out somehow.”

  “You haven’t, I promise. You’ve turned a dull weekend with family into something altogether more stimulating.” I managed a shaky smile and stepped closer to her, gesturing to the house around us with my free hand. “As far as I’m concerned this place is yours for as many nights as you might need it.”

  Cadence’s smile bloomed into an open-mouthed expression of joy. “Chance! Thank you, I…” She sighed, shoulders rising and falling. “Thank you so much.”

  We stared at each other for the next few moments, the old wood of the landing creaking under our feet. Her grateful gaze was hypnotic, and I found myself wishing she would look at me like that forever.

  I cleared my throat, watching her from under my brows. “Do you need me to come and tuck you in?”

  “Goodnight, Chance.” She fled down the corridor to my rooms before I had the chance to be offended, waving back at me. “Sleep well!”

  I shook my head with a rueful grin, rubbing my chin. Entering my mother’s rooms, I discarded my evening clothes without care, tossing them over the backs of chairs, across the end of the bed, and over the dressing table, obscuring the optrics that still sat there after all these years. I sent a prayer up to whoever might be listening that tomorrow would bring fewer troubling events and tumbled into bed, too exhausted to be upset by my surroundings.

  7

  Chapter 7

  I didn’t see my father again until he hobbled into the dining room the next morning. Most of the household had finished breakfasting, merely lingering over puddles of coffee and crusts of toast when he and Desdemona graced us with their presence.

  Hovering around the man like a hummingbird around a bowl of sugar water, Desdemona helped my father into his seat, taking an old cane from his hand and propping it against the table before moving to fix him a plate out of what was left of the morning’s fare.

  “How are you feeling, Mr. Hale?” Victoria slathered her last sliver of toast with jam, voice sticky with sincerity.

  “Much better today, thank you, my dear.”

  Desdemona flitted back to the table, taking the seat across from my fiancé-to-be when Victoria flapped her hands at her in excitement. “Oh, Desdemona, dear! I was wondering if I could have another look at that divine necklace of yours. I have got to get one made for myself.”

  “Certainly; I’ll go fetch it.” Desdemona paused by my father’s chair, hand on his shoulder. “Felix, do you need anything else?”

  He shook his head, brow furrowed with the concentration of chewing. Desdemona kissed the top of his head and glided out of the room.

  “Miss Turing is sleeping late this morning,” said Henry. It was an innocent quip, but the way his brows arched assured me it was anything but.

  I glared at him over the rim of my coffee cup. “She’s probably exhausted from all the excitement last night.”

  Henry leaned back in his chair, grin spreading across his face like wildfire. “I was thinking it must be something like that.”

  I dropped my cup into its saucer with a clatter, glancing at my father and Victoria at the far end of the table, the latter’s face growing darker with each passing second. “I meant that going to a party after spending all day traveling must have tired her.” I leaned in, stressing every word. “It’s only natural that she’d need some uninterrupted rest.”

  Victoria hummed, her eyes narrowed. “I’m sure you’re right, darling.”

  Desdemona’s return saved me from having to deliver an ego-stroking response, distracting Victoria with the prospect of viewing the Negrescu up close. Victoria took the black case with a grin and Desdemona sat down at last, looking over the slim pickings of sustenance that remained.

  Passing my napkin over my mouth, I was about to rise and finish dressing for the day when Victoria’s annoyed scoff drew my attention.

  “Well, where is it?”

  On the table in front of her sat the open, empty case.

  Desdemona’s silverware clattered against her plate. She snatched the case into the air with a shriek. “It’s gone!” Her fingers skittered over the indented velvet. “It’s gone!”

  “That’s impossible,” said Henry, standing to get a better look.

  “I put it there last night, I swear! It’s been stolen!”

  “I’m telling you, it couldn’t have been!”

  Victoria rested her hands on her hips, glaring at Henry. “Well, it didn’t grow legs and walk off, did it?”

  My father rose to his feet with a roar. “Absolutely damnable!” He wiggled his way out from behind the table and limped towards the door.

  Solomon stood and started to follow him. “Felix, what are you doing?”

  “Calling the Enforcement Office, damn it all!” My father waved his cane in the air. “Before the sneak thief can get any more distance on us!”

  My father missed careening into Cadence by sheer luck, wheeling past her through the door on one leg. She staggered back to avoid the collision and waited a moment before sticking her head around the door and walking to me, a question in her inky eyes. “Has something happened?”

  I shook my head, wanting to laugh but not sure why. “We’ve been robbed! The Negrescu Necklace’s been stolen!”

  Cadence’s jaw dropped and she leaned towards me, grabbing my arm. “Are you sure?”

  “Father’s gone to call the EO now.”

  Her nails dug into me. “Enforcement Officers? Here?”

  The fear in Cadence’s voice made the hair on the back of my neck bristle. I grabbed her hand and pulled it from my aching appendage.

  My father shambled back into the room, glaring at Cadence as he said, “Officers will be here in a half an hour. I demanded that a senior detective take the case.”

  Victoria tossed her hands into the air. “What are we supposed to do until then?”

  “We better get dressed, that’s what.” Minerva rose from her chair, a delighted smile turning up the corners of her mouth. “Shall we gather in the study to receive the gentlemen of the law? That makes the right impression, don’t you think?”

  We rushed to our rooms, throwing on whatever clothes we thought appropriate for a burglary investigation. Gathering in the study, as Minerva had suggested, we waited in strained silence for the EO to arrive. I wanted to ask Cadence if she was alright, but it was clear from the way she was standing, straight as a rod, her arms crossed tight and high over her chest, that she was not. Victoria’s presence behind the footstool on which I was perched also dissuaded me from making such an obvious gesture of concern.

  The front bell rang out like a gunshot. The sound of shuffling bodies in the entryway reached us, and we were all straining to hear more when the door to the study flew open and a man strode in.

  He flashed a broad smile as he passed and chirped a cheery “Good morning!” to us all. Sitting down at the desk in the front of the room, he began rummaging through the pockets of his second-hand suit, bright green eyes peering down at himself with a frustration his smile did not suggest. His calloused hands emerged from his coat pocket with a thick black pad, which he unfolded over the top of the desk as he spoke.

  “I am Inspector Oliver Brisbois of the Arrhidaean Enforcement Office, Twenty-Seventh Northern District, Elite Crime Division, and I have been pl
aced in charge of this investigation. Mr. Felix Hale?”

  “That would be me, Inspector.” My father grasped Desdemona’s hand as he shifted in his chair, directly in front of the desk. “And this is Desdemona Eydis, my fiancé, to whom I gave the necklace.”

  “Delighted to meet you.” Brisbois nodded, tapping twice on the now thin sheet in front of him, his flat screen blinking into life. He turned to me, his broad grin shrinking to a threadbare smile. “I’ve already had the pleasure of making your son’s acquaintance.”

  I opened my mouth to correct him when his smile tugged at my memory.

  “Last month, as a matter of fact,” he continued. “Outside the Unatarian Theater.”

  Henry coughed. The incident came back to me in a flash: Henry picking me up on a warm night, sitting outside the theater with my rambunctious female companions; our commentary on the show, during the show, had not been appreciated.

  “Oh.” I forced a laugh. “Yes. I think I remember.”

  “Do you? Surprising, considering how inebriated you were at the time.” He returned my laugh with a rough chuckle of his own, turning his attention back to his screen. “You threw a bottle at me; really, a most amusing encounter.”

  My father’s shoulders stiffened. “I must apologize for my son’s behavior, sir–”

  “I suspect you often do.” Brisbois shook himself, stylus hovering over his pad. “Now, Mr. Hale, I understand you were having some kind of party last night?”

  “Yes. Close friends and family only, of course.”

  “Except me,” Cadence waved from her place in the corner, “who is neither.”

  Brisbois looked up at my dove. His raised brows fell in harmony with his gaze, as he looked her over. He stopped at her ankles; folding his hands across his screen while his lips quirked into an amused smile. “And you are, miss?”

  “Cadence Turing.” She indicated me with a flutter of her hand. “Chance invited me to stay here last night.”

  “Really? Do go on.”