by Folsom, Tina
Disapproval twisted Penny’s lips. “He’s just doing what every ambitious person would do.”
From outside the sound of sirens approached, and Hermes noticed relief wash over Penny’s face.
“That must be the paramedics.” She rushed out of the room and Hermes heard the front door opening a few moments later.
When the two paramedics entered the room, Hermes stepped to the side to let them perform their work and examine the old lady for injuries.
Things were finally beginning to make sense. Penny was competing with somebody else for a tenure spot. How far would she go to reach her goal? Was that why she’d stolen his sandals, to get tenure?
Getting her hands on a pair of authentic sandals from a Greek god had to be quite a coup. It would lend credibility to her research and the article she’d talked about presenting to the tenure committee during their lunch a few days ago. To get her hands on proof that Greek gods existed was enough to make any ambitious woman lie, cheat, and steal. He understood blind ambition, even greed. There was plenty of that on Olympus, for sure. But to see those qualities in Penny, the woman who’d let herself go in his arms, made him sick. How could she have done this? Used him like that? And for what? So she could get tenure at some unimportant university!
Over his fucking dead body!
He was going to get his precious sandals back and make sure she never published the truth about him and the gods. It was his duty. If he neglected it, not only would Zeus have his hide, he would endanger the gods and destroy everything they stood for.
Penny couldn’t help but worry about her grandmother. This wouldn’t be the first time that she broke some bones during a seemingly harmless fall. The last time that had happened, Grams had assured her that she was fine, and in fact one of her ribs had been broken. This time, Penny wasn’t taking any chances.
“Do you think she broke anything?” she now asked one of the paramedics, ignoring her grandmother’s assurances that she was all right.
“Hard to tell. We’d better get her to the hospital for some x-rays.”
“Let’s do that then,” Penny agreed.
“Penny, that’s really not necessary,” her grandmother protested.
The paramedic interfered. “I have to agree with your granddaughter, Mrs. Galloway. We’d better have you checked out in the hospital.”
Her grandmother let out a disapproving grunt while the two paramedics carefully lifted her onto the gurney.
“You’re making me miss my favorite soap on TV.”
Penny rolled her eyes. “I’ll record it for you.”
As Penny walked ahead of the two paramedics who carried her grandmother out of the room, the entrance door opened.
“Penny,” her father greeted her, standing on the doorstep, a look of panic on his face. “What’s that ambulance doing out there?”
Then his gaze strayed past her. “Oh, God! Mom! What happened? Are you all right?” He pushed past Penny to step next to the gurney and took his mother’s hand.
“I’m fine, Bart. It’s just Penny being all over-protective again. I told her I didn’t break anything, but she insists on sending me to the hospital for x-rays anyway. Why don’t you talk some sense into her?”
He bent down to kiss her on the forehead. “Penny is doing the right thing.” Then he turned to her, a frown on his face. “How did that happen? I thought she had a nurse!”
Penny fisted her hands at her hips. “She does. But she was expecting you, so she sent Rose home early.”
He turned back to his mother. “Oh. I had no idea. I’m so sorry I’m late.”
“Excuse us,” one of the paramedics said. “We’d better get going.”
“Of course.” Her father stepped aside, and she leveled another glare at him.
Then she followed the paramedics outside. “Can I ride with you?”
One of them nodded. “Sure, get in the back.”
She was about to step inside the van when she heard Hermes’ voice behind her. “Penny!” She’d completely forgotten all about him, concern for her grandmother and anger about her father overshadowing everything.
She turned to look at him and found him standing next to her father.
“Who is this stranger in our house, Penny?” her father asked, pointing at Hermes.
Hermes turned. “I’m her boyfriend.”
Her father drew his head back in surprise. “You didn’t tell me that you had a boyfriend.”
“I don’t tell you a lot of things!” Penny snapped. And besides, Hermes wasn’t her boyfriend. What was he? Was there a word for the man she’d stolen from? Her victim? Her mark?
“Penny,” Hermes started again. “I’ll see you later when you’re back from the hospital.”
“I can’t.” She motioned to her grandmother lying on the gurney that the paramedics now pushed into the back of the van.
His eyes bored into her. “We have things to discuss. Urgent things.”
She felt a shiver race through her. There had to be a way out of this. She couldn’t see him later. All he would do was continue to grill her about his sandals. No, she had to find an excuse and buy herself some time until she had retrieved the second sandal from Irene and found a way to return both of them unseen. It was the only way to get out of this mess unscathed.
“Are you coming?” the paramedic asked, about to close the doors to the back of the van.
She nodded quickly, then looked back at Hermes. “Fine.”
By the evening Irene would have done what she needed to do, and Penny would have had enough time to sneak into the B&B, return the sandals, and nobody would be the wiser.
She could only hope that her plan worked.
17
The hospital visit had taken longer than Penny had expected. Not only did they have to wait over an hour until the x-rays could be taken, the attending physician also insisted on contacting her grandmother’s regular doctor to discuss her other health issues. By the time the physician was ready to release her, it was already mid-afternoon.
While they waited for a nurse to bring a wheelchair, Penny finally had a chance to sneak away for a few moments to make a phone call. She’d made up her mind: no matter whether Irene was done with carbon-dating the sandal or not, Penny would take it back this afternoon, just as soon as her grandmother was back at home. Since the doors of the B&B were surely left open during the day, she would somehow manage to get inside and leave the sandals somewhere, where they could be found.
“This is Irene,” the call was answered.
“Hey, Irene, it’s Penny. About the sandal,” she started.
“Oh, yeah, I’ve taken the sample and started the process, but I’m not done with it yet. Carbon-dating takes a little longer than a couple of hours, I thought you knew that.”
“Doesn’t matter now. I’ve changed my mind. I just need the sandal back,” Penny cut her off.
“Oh? Well, fine. Pick it up in the morning in my lab. I’ll get in at 7:30.”
“I need to get it back today. Now. Please.”
Irene sighed heavily. “I’m sorry, I can’t. I’m in the car. I’m already on the freeway.”
Panic surged through her. “What?”
“Yes, I told you I had this family outing today. I’m on my way there and I won’t be back till really late tonight.”
“Oh, no!” That couldn’t be happening! She needed the sandal now. What was she going to tell Hermes when he questioned her later?
“What?” A crackling came through the line. “Can’t . . . ”
“You’re breaking up,” Penny said, having trouble hearing Irene’s response.
She pulled the cell from her ear and looked at the display. The call had been disconnected.
“Damn it!” she cursed.
This wasn’t part of her plan. What would she do now?
***
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Hermes tossed his friend Triton another look.
Triton nodded, then looked at E
ros, who leaned against the kitchen counter in the B&B. “It’s going to be a piece of cake.”
“You guys are absolutely crazy!” Sophia exclaimed.
“No offense, Sophia, but this is god business, so please stay out of it,” Hermes said as gently as he could.
“Hermes!” Triton warned.
Hermes tossed him a glare. “I said ‘please,’ didn’t I?” Then he ran his hand through his hair. “This had better be working.” He motioned to the window. “The storm’s passed for now, but whatever is distracting Zeus at the moment won’t last for long. He’s gonna let us feel it, and a storm will be the least of our problems.”
Eros shrugged. “Hey, I’m looking forward to this. It’s Triton, who’s pissing in his pants.”
A slap over the back of his head shut Eros up. “Another word and I’m tossing you in the fountain,” Triton added as he wiped his hand on his pants. “What kind of crap are you putting in your hair?”
“Hey!” Eros combed his hair back into place.
Sophia rolled her eyes. “I’ve got guests to take care of.” Shaking her head, she left the kitchen.
Hermes almost wanted to mimic Sophia’s eye-rolling, but refrained from it. His friends were doing him a favor. The least he could do was overlook their antics.
“Well, we’d better get suited up,” Triton said to Eros, motioning to the stairs that led to his and Sophia’s private apartment.
“Good luck,” Hermes said and headed out of the house.
He was planning to give Penny the third degree and question her until she could no longer deny what she’d done. In the meantime, Triton and Eros would execute their own plan of how to get the sandals back.
Hermes had a cab drive him to Penny’s house. The very fact that he had to take mortal transportation again, only increased his annoyance about the fact that he hadn’t been able to get the truth out of Penny earlier. Hadn’t they been interrupted by her grandmother’s trip to the hospital, he would already have his sandals back.
When the taxi stopped in front of Penny’s house, he paid the driver and walked to the entrance door. He rang the doorbell and waited impatiently. Penny had better not play possum and pretend she wasn’t home. He could hear sounds coming from the inside.
“Penny,” he called out, simultaneously knocking his fist against the door.
Finally he heard the sound of footsteps hurrying toward the door. When it was ripped open forcefully, Hermes instinctively jolted backwards.
“I’m coming, damn it, I’m coming!” Penny’s father growled, appearing in the doorframe. “Can’t do two things at the same time!” When his eyes landed on Hermes, he planted his hands at his hips. “Oh, it’s you.”
Hermes ignored the unfriendly tone in his voice and decided that he wasn’t going to be any friendlier than his reluctant host. “I’m here to see Penny.”
“She’s not here.”
“I told her I’d be coming by.”
From the house, the voice of the old lady called out. “Bart, who is it?”
“Nobody!” Bart answered, then glared back at Hermes. “Penny had something important to do.”
He grabbed the door, about to shut it, but Hermes wedged his foot between door and frame, preventing him from closing it.
Bart narrowed his eyes. “I said—”
“I’m not deaf,” Hermes cut him off. “Where is she?”
For a moment, Bart seemed to hesitate, but then it appeared as if he changed his mind about something. “She went to church.”
“Church?”
“Yeah, Grace Episcopal down on Wentworth Street.”
Surprised at the revelation, Hermes stepped back, and Penny’s father didn’t hesitate and shut the door without another word. Why would Penny go to church? Did she think that praying would make her sins undone? Not in a million years! If she thought she could avoid him by hiding out in a church, she was sorely mistaken.
He flagged down another cab at the next street corner and gave the driver the address of the church. During the short ride he was fuming. He’d told her that he would come to her house once she was back from the hospital, and Penny had clearly ignored his request to speak to her and instead decided to evade him.
Eager to tell her just what he thought of her evasion tactic, Hermes paid the driver as soon as the taxi stopped at the curb. He jumped out and ran up the few steps that led to the main entrance of the massive church. He listened for sounds from the inside, but heard no music or chanting, leading him to believe that no service was in progress.
When he opened the heavy door and entered the dark interior, silence greeted him. He’d never much liked the heavy and solemn atmosphere many churches seemed to have in common. They were very different from the palaces the gods lived in. If only the mortals knew that no god worth his salt would hold court in such a place. Well, maybe just one: Hades. He was all for dark and gothic!
Hermes stepped farther into the interior, perusing the pews and searching them for any sign of Penny. There was none. Had her father sent him on a wild goose chase? He’d clearly sensed that Bart didn’t like him, and the feeling was mutual.
Hermes turned around and swept another gaze over the empty pews when his eyes fell on to the confessional on one side of the exterior wall. Had Penny come for a confession? As if that would make things right. He walked closer to the intricately carved confessional to ascertain if it was occupied, when he heard steps behind him.
He whirled around and stared at a priest coming toward him.
“May I help you?” the clergyman asked, a soothing tone in his voice.
“Actually, I was looking for a friend. I was told she would be at the church. But I see that the church is empty so I guess I was misinformed,” he said and turned to leave.
“Maybe she is downstairs in our basement,” the priest suggested. “Is she a volunteer?”
Hermes stared at him, his forehead furrowing. “A volunteer?”
The man nodded and pointed toward a side door. “Yes, in our soup kitchen.”
Hermes’ heart nearly stopped. Penny volunteered at a soup kitchen? No, the priest had to be mistaken. “I don’t think Penny is a volunteer. I’ve probably got the wrong church.”
“Penny Galloway?”
Hermes nodded.
“Oh, yes, she’s downstairs. She’s one of our most loyal volunteers. Comes every Sunday night like clockwork.”
“Penny? Are you sure?”
The priest looked at him quizzically. “You seem surprised.”
That was an understatement. He was in disbelief. “I’m afraid I haven’t seen that side of her yet.”
The clergyman smiled. “Penny isn’t somebody who talks much about the things she does for other people. She gets very embarrassed when we honor her and the other volunteers each year, thanking them for their service. Without her and the many others who help us every week, we wouldn’t be able to run the soup kitchen anymore. And there are so many people in this city who need our help.”
Hermes nodded, virtually speechless, unable to understand how these different sides of Penny fit together: the brilliant scholar, the caring grand-daughter, the thief, and the soup kitchen volunteer. Something didn’t make sense. Maybe he had to see it with his own eyes to believe it. Maybe then it would sink in.
“May I see where she works?”
The priest pointed to the door. “The soup kitchen is open to the public. Just follow the signs.”
“Thank you.”
Hermes turned on his heels, walked to the door the priest had indicated and opened it, descending into the basement. Voices and the clinking of cutlery already drifted to him, as did the aromas of home-cooked food.
At the bottom of the stairs he followed the sign pointing him to the right. After a few yards the hallway widened and double doors opened up to a large room. Hermes stopped at the entrance to it and peered inside.
The room was furnished with long tables and benches on one end, while several serving stations wi
th an open kitchen behind them made up the far end of the room. A large number of people sat at the tables, already eating, while a lot more stood in line, waiting to be served.
Penny wasn’t hard to spot. She wore a colorful apron, her hair in a ponytail, a friendly smile on her face as she served an old woman and said a few words to her.
Drawn to the scene, Hermes took a few steps into the room and continued watching Penny. She seemed at ease with what she was doing, spooning out various different dishes on the plates the patrons were holding out to her, just like the three other volunteers were doing beside her. She appeared to have a friendly word for each and every person she was serving.
As she now served a gray-haired black man who had to be older than Methuselah, even Hermes could see that the man’s hands were shaking badly. Penny seemed to notice it too, because he could hear her words drift to him now.
“Why don’t I bring you a plate to the table?” she asked, her voice so full of kindness he couldn’t comprehend that this was the same woman who’d stolen his sandals.
“Sunshine, that’s so kind of you,” the old man responded.
“What would you like with your meatloaf today?” she asked pointing to the containers.
“The yams, and some of them green beans. With lots of gravy,” he replied and shuffled to the closest table, taking a seat on the bench.
Penny prepared his plate and carried it to him, placing it in front of him with a smile. “And if you want more when you’ve eaten that, just give me a holler.”
“Thanks so much, sunshine,” the man said and dug into his food.
Hermes turned away and fled into the hallway. To these people Penny was an angel. She was a pillar of this community, donating her time to a good cause. How could she be a thief? If the Penny who was currently serving food at a soup kitchen was the real Penny, then what had made her steal his sandals?
18
Eros looked at his friend Triton, all decked out in black pants, shirt, and shoes. He held a balaclava in his hand. “If Dio could see us like this!”