Page 45 of Etched in Stone
“Your, uh, niece is here for a visit?” She paused, shrugged and stood, hanging up the phone.
“Right this way.”
Jesse followed her past the glass doors and down the hall to a corner office. The receptionist opened the door and ushered her in. Jesse stood there a moment and admired the view. It was one of those offices with a view of most of Manhattan, breathtaking and the mark of someone who's truly made it. The chair was swiveled toward the window, and when it turned slowly around, Jesse frowned at the man in the chair. He couldn't be more than thirty. He was chubby with ruffled dark brown hair. He wasn't wearing a tie and his button down shirt was off by one button.
“Thanks, Helen.” The receptionist seemed hesitant to leave, but he waved her off and she went, closing the door behind her.
“You're not my uncle.”
“And since my sister doesn’t have any kids, you sure as hell aren't my niece.” He sighed and looked her over. “You know, I'm not really in the mood for this. Do you know what it's like to have newborn twins?”
“Congratulations?”
“No sleep. I actually abandoned my wife this morning and pleaded that I had to come into the office, just so I could take a nap. And you, whatever your name is, have just disturbed my hard earned, desperately needed sleep.”
“Your shirt's buttoned up wrong.”
He looked down to verify, but didn't seem to be in a hurry to fix it. “Great. Now, who the hell are you and what do you want?”
“Honestly, I thought you were my uncle.”
“How much money do you want? Though honestly, I'm pretty sure I've only got a twenty in my wallet at the moment.”
“I don't want your money. I want your help. I'm- My friend, who I think is your client, at least that's what I've been told, is in trouble.”
“What's the bail?”
“No, not that kind of trouble. He's been kidnapped, by an evil fat man named Pablo.”
“Have you taken your meds?”
“I know, but I really haven't got time to get into the really crazy part, but Giles said Ray trusts you.”
Lark nearly fell out of his chair. “Wait, which Ray?”
“Ray... Ray. Fedora? Sweater vest?”
“Fangs?”
Jesse breathed a sigh of relief. “Yes. That one.”
“Well, he's not a client. He's family. Wait. You're Jessenia,” he said, making a connection.
“Yes.”
“Oh, well, then, we're cousins. Thomas Lark, my dad, died a year ago. I’m Tommy. I took over as Ray's lawyer then. What do you mean kidnapped?”
Jesse rambled out the whole story as her cousin righted the buttons on his shirt. He pushed the pager button on the phone. “Helen, I'm going to need a gallon of coffee.”
“So you have a week and a half to get Ray and his doohickey to BF Canada to catch a ride on a spaceship, do I have that right?”
“Yes.”
“And how can I help?”
“I don't know exactly, but I do know that Ray wanted to settle his affairs before leaving. He was talking about leaving one of the buildings to Luis, whose uncle runs the bodega on the corner, and some money for Giles who works at Evensong. Probably some for you, too, but he got taken before I could figure it out.”
“He basically planned to outlive us all, so he doesn't have a will, but I do have some power of attorney to take care of his affairs if need be. I can get an investigator to look into this Pablo and see what we can find out.”
