Part 48 (1/2)
Mr. White's secretary seemed unimpressed.
”That was a f.u.c.king waste of time we don't have.” Tony sagged against the elevator wall and glared at their reflections in the stainless steel. ”I should come back with a Notice Me Not on and just boogie by.”
”I thought you didn't know how to get noticed again after you did a Notice Me Not.”
”Yeah, well. Flaw in a brilliant plan.” Without Henry around to call him back, he'd be stuck unnoticed.
”I say we just let the demon trash Mr. White's office.” Amy snorted, rocking forward and back, heel to toe.
”Works for me. This could be one of the ones I don't get to.”
”Unless you get to all of them, shut Mckaseeh down cold.”
”Not going to happen.” Her lip curled. ”Not with that att.i.tude.”
”Not with only twenty-four hours in a day.”
”Time travel!”
”No.” He locked eyes with her reflection so she'd know he was serious. ”No messing around with time. It's a lot more dangerous than demons.”
”And you don't know how to give us more time anyway, do you?”
So much for that whole locking eyes thing. ”Well, no.”
She bounced, once, happy with her victory. ”I wonder what's missing in Mr. White's office?”
”He's a lawyer,” Tony muttered, as the elevator door opened and he pushed past a neoprene-covered bicycle messenger and out into the lobby. ”Where to start...”
”Ms. Wong, please. If you could just wait for a couple more minutes. We're stuck in traffic. Yes, I realize you'd like to go, but...
We're coming in on Hastings. No, that probably wasn't the best idea at this time of day. Just give us fifteen...” Amy glanced over at Tony who raised his right hand, fingers spread. ”... twenty minutes. No, we won't be long once we get there. I promise. Thank you. We won't be long, will we?” she asked, closing her phone.
”Hard to say, the old Carnegie Library probably has... Hey!” He broke off his explanation to yell at the car ahead of them. ”What are your f.u.c.king turn signals for, a.s.shole!” And broke back on at: ”... a s.h.i.+tload of nooks and crannies. It could take a while to find the exact position of the weak spot without Leah.”
”I don't think we're going to have a while.”
”You said the library was open until ten every day, Sunday to Monday. And this is Monday.”
”The person CB spoke to is only there until five and, if you'll recall, our plans did not enjoy much success in the absence of Mr.
White.”
Tony sighed and geared down. ”I'm clinging to the hope that librarians are more helpful than lawyers.”
Wizards had the same trouble everyone else did finding a parking s.p.a.ce in Chinatown at nearly five on a weeknight. Or any other time for that matter. He thought about parking illegally and putting a Notice Me Not on the car but was afraid he wouldn't be able to find it again later. They got to the library at 5:21. Ms. Wong was not impressed. Nor was she impressed by their desire to just wander around and ”get the feel of the place.”
”You are not the first people who have wanted to use our interior in their television show.” She folded her arms and the toe of one sensible black pump tapped lightly on the tile. ”You're not even the first people this month. Tell me the effect you're looking for, and I will take you where you need to go. This does not have to take the rest of the evening.”
”Couldn't you just hand us over to the evening staff?” Amy asked.
”No. You're my responsibility, and the evening staff has work of their own to do. What do you need?”
”Well...” ”We need a place where something's missing.” Tony stepped into Amy's pause.
The librarian frowned, stared at him for a long moment, and said, ”There's a cus.h.i.+on missing off one of the seats in the reading room. Someone walked off with it last week.”
”That's a good place to start. If you could...” He gestured and waited.
She stared at him for a moment longer and then shrugged, the barest lifting of one worsted shoulder. ”This way.”
Eight down; nineteen to go.
”Talk about a hot seat,” Amy snickered. ”Some guy's sitting there, reading a newspaper and pow, demon up the a.s.s.”
Tony suppressed any thought of Ryne Cyratane in that context.
”I called the office when you were closing that last one because Ms. Wong didn't need to be distracted, and CB says the next one is another private house and Lee's going to meet us there at seven.”
”Why?”
”Teenage daughters.”
Okay. ”Why at seven?”
”Because you've got to eat. And,” she added before he could suggest they hit a drive-through and eat in the car, ”because CB's estimating another half hour before Peter's through with Lee for the day.”
”Oh, for...” Tony accelerated through a yellow light. ”I think saving the world from demons is more important than getting Lee's last shot.”
Amy snorted. ”No, you don't.”
No, he didn't.
”So why'd you just tell that librarian you needed a place where something was missing?”
Good question. ”Honesty is the best policy?”
”As if.”
”I thought she'd understand. She looked like she'd been...” He searched desperately for a less PAX TV way of saying it and couldn't find one. ”... touched by magic.”
Folding her knees up by her chest, Amy propped her boots on the dashboard. ”Touched by who?”
”I don't know.”
But she was a good-looking woman and he knew Henry Hunted in that part of the city.”That sounds absolutely fascinating, ladies.”
Tony could hear the smile in Lee's voice and knew that Mom and both girls were basking in full-on Lee Nicholas charm. There'd been shrieking when the door had first been opened and constant babbling as the whole group of them headed upstairs. When it looked like the babbling might ease up, Lee merely asked a question or made a comment and they were off again.
Dad had retreated behind a copy of the Vancouver Sun pretty much immediately.