Marc (Bowen Boys, #4)(11)

The phone call he’d not recognized. So far he was batting at a negative with her. He started to stand when she stiffened. She might put on a brave front, but she was afraid of him. He sat back down.

“I screwed up and I’m sorry. When Danny comes in I’ll tell him what I did and meet him for lunch. Does that fix it?” She shrugged. “Are you going to have a seat? If my mom comes in here and you’re standing while I’m sitting she’ll box my ears.”

She mumbled again and waited for him to say something. She was pretty sure he’d heard her again, but since he didn’t comment on her thinking he’d been hatched and not born, she sat down. She’d have to stop saying things under her breath if she was going to work with this man. He must have the hearing of a bat. When he nodded at her, she tried not to fidget, another bad habit she had when she was nervous.

“Tell me about yourself.” She looked at him, trying to figure out his angle. He had to have one. Men didn’t want to know about the people who worked for them, especially men like the one in front of her. Not to mention she was pretty sure he knew everything about her. Well, nearly everything. She wondered what he’d do if she suddenly became a great big black panther in front of him.

“I don’t know what you want to know. Mia Bowmen hired me and she said that I’d be fine here.” She’d actually told her that she’d be safe here, but she didn’t trust that any more than she did Roy. “If you’re not going to fire me, I have work to do.”

“I’m not going to fire you. I just…I would like to get to know you, that’s all. I like knowing all the people who work for me.”

She stood up and so did he. She waited for him to do something, move toward her, attack, but he simply stayed where he was. Jonny moved to the door slowly, backing to it so she could keep an eye on him.

“I won’t hurt you. You can trust me on that.” She nodded but didn’t answer him. “You don’t believe me, do you?”

“I don’t know you well enough to believe anything you say to me. And I don’t trust anyone. Everyone lies to get what they want. The trick is finding out early on what it is so you can figure out if you want to give it to them or not. It’s the best way of dealing with people.”

“I don’t want anything from you but a good day’s work.” She nodded again. “I guess you don’t trust me on that either.”

“I’ll give you a good day’s work, Mr. Bowen, but that’s all. I want to work here, but it’s not the end of the world if I don’t. I’ll just move on.” She touched the doorjamb with her fingertips and reached for the door. “If you grab me again, I will kill you.”

She shut the door behind her as she left his office. Sitting in her chair, she had to put her head between her knees and breathe several times before she felt she could stand again. There was something about him, something that wasn’t really terrifying but scary. She staggered to the kitchen to get herself something to drink. She was sitting at her desk again when Marc’s first appointment showed up.

~~~

“Are you even listening to me?” Marc looked at his mom and tried to think what they’d been talking about when she answered his question. “I see. And what case are you trying to solve while you’re having dinner with me? If I wanted to have a meal with someone who didn’t listen to me I’d eat with your dad. I do hope it’s a nice divorce case and you’re only required to take pictures instead of getting the snot beat out of you again.”

“No divorce is nice, Mom, and you know that. Think of all the humans you know that have gotten them. Have any of them said, ‘Well that was special. Let’s marry again so we can go through that again’? I doubt it. No, I was thinking about the girl who works for me. Something about her bothers me.”

“Like what? I talked to her the other day. She’s very…I was going to say stubborn, but that’s not it. She’s very distrusting, isn’t she? I get the feeling that whatever is in that pretty little head of hers is frightening.” The waiter sat their dinners in front of them and he had a sudden thought as to what Joan might be eating tonight.

“I don’t suppose she told you where she lives, did she? I’ve tried finding it out from Mia, and she told me to behave and to leave her alone before she quits me. Why would she quit? I’m an easy person to work for.” She’d been working for him for two weeks since he’d been back, and all she’d said to him was who was there and that she was going to lunch. He hated that she wouldn’t speak to him about anything.

“Perhaps she doesn’t like you very much and doesn’t want you to know. Ever think about that?” She laughed when he snorted at her. “She is very quiet. Monica says she had a good lock on her mind, but she said she’s not going to try and breach it. I personally think she knows more about Joan than she’s saying, but that’s neither here nor there.”

So did he. He wished that Jack and Dylan would get back so he could have him look into her mind and find out. But they were at their cabin for the summer months and he didn’t want to disturb them. They loved it there, and when they came back, they were so refreshed and happy that he hated to ask them to do this for him. But she was driving him crazy.

“I think she might be homeless.” That made him look at his mother, and he asked her why she said that. “Did you ever notice that Mia comes by on payday twice? I think she’s helping her cash her checks. And when she returns, Joan looks so relieved that she can hardly breathe through it. I don’t think she trusts that Mia will return with her money.”