Page 30 of Hearts Etched in Glass
Chapter 16: Marcus
All Along the Watchtower,Jimi Hendrix
The office is alive with more individuals than usual.
As I strut up the stairs behind Bobby, my hands mess with the lint in my pocket, as I raise an eyebrow at the commotion.
There is a gaggle of people huddled in the lobby, talking amongst themselves.
Bobby enters, one foot into the doorway, but something shoves him out of the office and back into the hall.
“Oi!” heshouts.
When he tries to open the conference room door again, something slams against it, causing it to violently shut and jar so no one may enter.
I look at Bobby as his eyebrows furrow and he begins pounding on the door with his fist. “What the fuck,” he mumbles under his breath, then walks over to the secretary.
“How long have they been in there?” he asks.
“Almost all morning sir,” she exclaims, picking her nails.
“Who is in there?” he asks with irritation.
She shifts in her seat nervously.
“Um. Sir. It is. It.” She can barely speak, but she doesn’t need to reply because the answer strides out in front of us. The door opens, and a multitude of bodies exit the room. Mr. Churchill and several of his staff leave alongside him. Our halls fill with whispers and hushed speech, as I watch the bodies descend the stairs.
Winston, fucking, Churchill was in our bloody office.
Holy fucking shit. What has Kennethkept from Bobby?
Once we enter the space, I see two of Kenneth’s signature knives jammed into the wooden door, and a hand snakes around Bobby’s throat.
“You fucking bellend! Why did you have to act like an idiotic wanker in front of Churchill?”
I quietly sit around the oval table, watching Kenneth scold Bobby.
“Would you let him go? He didn’t even know he was in here, due to your lack of communication,” I growl.
Kenneth unhands Bobby and takes a seat at the head of the table.
“Couldn’t let your brother know thattheWinston Churchill was in our office?” Bobby says with outstretched hands. “Was this your own doing, or does Everett know? Does anyone else know? Is that why the twins are off doing secret missions and I haven’t seen them because they are, ‘running trades’,” Bobby says, with two fingers motioning near his head.
“It was a need-to-know basis. Something separate from Afton business,” Kenneth dryly explains, as he unbuttons his suit jacket.
“What did you do in the war, Kenneth?” Bobby asks, irritation surrounding his words.
Kenneth doesn’t answer, just begins playing with the adder sticking out of his suit pocket. It must be a new hatchling. I shake at the thought of touching the creature. Though I may be an Adder, I still haven’t gathered the courage to use the snakes like the other men have, let alone feed them or touch them.
“You were not just an accountant in the war. Why would an accountant in the war, know Churchill?” Bobby blurts out in disbelief, waving at the conference room door.
“You’re annoying me,” Kenneth retorts, putting on his glasses, then picking up the newspaper beside him. “You need to calm down, we need to be ready for when the rat-bastard McKinleys show up.”
That resets Bobby. He stands, hands clenched beside his thighs.
“I need to speak to you about that.” Kenneth raises an eyebrow at Bobby’s words, finally looking towards him above the newspaper, his reading glasses at the tip of his nose. Bobby unveils the real reason the McKinleys may be in town, and discusses the tie between Ronald and Tilly.
Kenneth’s face burns with sudden heat as the words resonate. This information is more than a worry for him.
