Part 13 (2/2)
I was finis.h.i.+ng my report on Malachy and Mathias when the phone rang again. I smiled. O.K., Ryan. You win.
The voice of a security guard told me I had a visitor in the downstairs lobby. I looked at my watch. Four-twenty. Who would be coming this late? I didn't remember making any appointments.
I asked for the name. When he told me, my heart sank.
”Oh no.” I couldn't help myself.
”Est-ce qu'il y a un probleme?”
”Non. Pas de probleme.” I told him I'd be right down.
No problem? Who was I kidding?
I said it again in the elevator.
Oh no.
10.
”WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?”
”Well, you could look glad to see me, big sister.”
”I-of course I'm glad to see you, Harry. I'm just surprised.” I couldn't have been more astounded if the guard had announced Teddy Roosevelt.
She snorted. ”That's about as heartfelt as grits.”
My sister sat in the lobby of the SQ building surrounded by shopping bags from Nieman Marcus and canvas packs of varying shapes and sizes. She wore red cowboy boots engraved with black and white loops and swirls and a matching leather jacket with fringe. When she stood I could see jeans tight enough to cut off blood flow. We all could.
Harry hugged me, fully aware of but completely unself-conscious about her effect on others. Especially the others with Y chromosomes.
”Whew, it is bad-a.s.s cold out there! I'm iced enough to freeze tequila.” She hunched her shoulders and wrapped her arms around her rib cage.
”Yes.” I didn't get the a.n.a.logy.
”My flight was supposed to touch down at noon, but the p.i.s.sant snow held us up. Oh well, here I am, big sister.”
She dropped her shoulders and held out her arms, causing the jacket fringe to s.h.i.+mmy. Harry looked so out of place it was surreal. Amarillo comes to the tundra.
”O.K. Great. What a surprise. Well. I- What brings you to Montreal?”
”I'll tell you all about it. It's awesome. When I heard about it I just couldn't believe my ears. I mean, right here in Montreal and all.”
”What is 'it,' Harry?”
”The seminar I'd done. I told you about it, Tempe, when I called last weekend. I did it. I signed up for that training course in Houston and now I'm mainlinin' this stuff. I have never been so pumped. I cruised the first level. I mean cruised it. Some people take years to realize their own reality and I just whupped that puppy in a few weeks. I mean I am learning some powerful therapeutic strategies, and I am taking hold of my life. So when they invited me to this level-two workshop, and right here where my big sister lives, well, I packed my bags and pointed my nose north.”
Harry beamed at me with clear, blue eyes surrounded by gobs of mascara.
”You're here for a workshop?”
”Exactamundo. All expenses paid. Well, almost all.”
”I want to hear all about it,” I said, hoping the course was short. I was unsure if Quebec Province and Harry could survive each other.
”This s.h.i.+t is awesome,” she said, rephrasing her initial a.s.sessment, but adding little additional information.
”Let's go upstairs and I'll wrap up. Or would you rather wait here?”
”h.e.l.l, no. I want to see where the great cadaver doctor works. Lead on.”
”You'll have to submit a photo ID to get a visitor's pa.s.s,” I said, indicating the guard at the security desk.
He was observing the scene, a half smile on his face, and spoke before either of us could make a move.
”Votre sur?” he bellowed across the lobby, exchanging looks with the other guards.
I nodded. Obviously everyone now knew that Harry was my sister, and found it terribly amusing.
The guard gave a sweeping gesture toward the elevators.
”Merci,” I mumbled, and shot him a withering glance.
”Mercy,” Harry drawled, giving each guard a radiant smile.
We gathered her bundles and rode to the fifth floor, where I stacked everything in the hall outside my office. No way to fit it inside. The quant.i.ty of her gear raised apprehension as to the likely length of her stay.
”h.e.l.l, this office looks like a twister just traveled through here.” Though she was only five feet nine and thin as a fas.h.i.+on model, Harry seemed to fill the small s.p.a.ce.
”It's a little messy right now. Let me shut down the computer and collect a few things. Then we'll head out.”
”Take your time, I'm in no hurry. I'll just chat with your friends.” She was looking up at a row of skulls, her head tipped back so that the ends of her hair brushed the bottom fringe on her jacket. It looked blonder than I remembered it.
”Howdy,” she said to the first, ”decided to quit while you're a head, did you?”
I couldn't help but smile. Her cranial friend did not. While Harry worked her way along the shelf, I logged off and gathered the ledgers and books from Daisy Jeannotte. I planned to be back first thing in the morning, so I didn't pack my unfinished reports.
”So, what's new with you?” Harry spoke to the fourth skull. ”Not talking? Oh, you're so s.e.xy when you're moody.”
”She's always moody.” Andrew Ryan stood in the doorway.
Harry turned and looked the detective up and down. Slowly. Then blue eyes met blue eyes.
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