Page 49 of Ruby Malice

“I think she might be his fiancée,” I venture nervously.

“Who in the hell knows with those two? I’ve only seen them together a couple times, and even I can tell they are an entire mess. Flammable. The definition of toxic. So in that case, I guess I wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t know what he was up to. Flip a coin, I dunno.”

“I just thought that—”

Natalia yelps suddenly, making me jump. Then her mouth is close to my ear, her voice low. “Let’s sleuth it out.”

“Sleuth what?” I ask, drawing away from her.

She wags her brows and points a finger up. “We just walk up there and look around.”

“And if we get caught?” I hiss back.

She puts on an innocent smile. “‘Oh no,’” she mocks in a fake innocent voice. “‘I’m so sorry. I’m new and I’m absolutely miserable with directions. Which floor am I on?’”

I roll my eyes. “We’d get fired. Executed on the spot.”

“Maybe.” Her mouth stretches into a mischievous grin. “Maybe not.”

Before I can answer, the door in front of us bangs open. We both shriek and jump apart guiltily.

“Ms. Garner,” Sonya barks, paying no attention at all to how much she scared us. “I have an assignment for you.”

I look to Natalia, and she really does look like she’s seen a ghost. Natalia seems fearless under most circumstances, but Sonya is definitely an exception.

“For me?” I ask stupidly.

Sonya sighs, already exhausted with having to explain herself. “Yes. You. Come with me.”

She turns out of the room, moving soundlessly down the hallway. As I follow her out, I turn back to Natalia and mouth,“Run!”

She stifles a laugh and waves me on.

I follow wordlessly behind Sonya. We walk down the hallway and up the stairs to the main floor. Once we’re in the kitchen, she turns back to me with a slip of paper in her hands. “These are the remainder of your assignments today.”

Printed on the paper is a small map of the house. “Second” is written next to it in black block letters to indicate the second floor, I’m assuming. A quadrant of four rooms has been circled.

“Does everyone get one of these?” I ask. “I didn’t see Natalia with one.”

The older woman’s gaze sharpens. The lines around her eyes and mouth deepen. “No. You are receiving a…specialassignment. This is your task today. Once you're done, you may leave.”

I’m about to ask why I’m getting a special assignment, but Sonya is done with this conversation. She whips around and slips silently out of the room without another word.

“Oookay then,” I say to the emptiness.

I’m not sure which kinds of rooms are circled, so I grab a generic tub of cleaning supplies along with a broom, a handheld vacuum, and a duster. If I need anything else, each floor has its own supply closet with most everything we might have to use.

Given the way I talked to Kirill this morning, I wouldn’t be surprised if I get up there and discover I’m cleaning the septic tank out with my own personal toothbrush.

There is a staff elevator, but it’s further away than the stairs. Plus, my legs are so sore from yesterday that I’m hoping this work can count as exercising. If I can get some killer calves from taking the stairs and stretching to polish chandeliers, then working in housekeeping will pay off in more than one way.

I’m halfway up the stairs, fighting to keep hold of my bucket of supplies, when I hear a door open on the second floor. A second later, male voices echo down to me.

“… entire third floor is a fucking mess,” one man says. “You should have seen it.”

“I would have, but some of us don’t have clearance,” another man grumbles. He has a slight Russian accent.

“I have clearance, but even I was kicked out after what happened this morning. They cleared that place out. Only Sonya and German were allowed in.”

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