Pilot: Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Elena stopped and fixed a pleasant smile on her face and waved to Jonathan. ‘No need for him to think I caught him following me,’ she thought. He half jogged to catch up with her. It took him no time to cover the block separating them.

“I would be completely winded if I tried that,” she told him noticing his breathing was still relatively even as he stopped in front of her.

“I run marathons a lot,” he admitted with a grin. He was still too toothy for her taste but this time the smile seemed general. She shook the thought away. Thinking of him as a person was not a benefit.

“I only make coffee runs, and usually then I send out one of my employees instead.”

“Seems fair,” he answered.

“Do you live around here or were you just going out?” she asked indicating the neon signs that were just beginning to hum to life in the cold evening air. The day workers had all gone home, the happy hour crowd still lingered and the partygoers would soon be arriving.

“No,” he said. “I was just having coffee before I headed out.” Elena glanced at her watch, noting that several hours had passed since he had asked her out for coffee.

“Still, wow you must really linger over that last cup.”

“Well to be honest I didn’t really want to go back out in the cold. So I more or less kept drinking coffee until I could face it. I probably slosh when I walk by now.”

“So I guess you aren’t from around here?”

“No ma’am, just stationed. I’m from Florida, out by Tampa.”

“Ah,” she said. “Are you going this way?” She indicated the street she had turned on.

“Um, yes ma’am.” There was a slight hesitation in the voice.

“Good then we can keep walking. It is a little too cold to be standing in one place very long as long as that wind is up.” A gust swung her hair across her face for emphasis. She shoved it back with her hand and turned into the wind.

“I think that is a good plan,” he replied. They began walking. He seemed inclined to walk slower than her rapid pace despite his longer legs. She slowed to match his stride. She was pretty sure he was lying about just sticking around for coffee. Of course the coffee shop near her place had taken on ominous overtones in her mind at this point. ‘Like the lair of the mad scientist where his minions receive their orders so they don’t have to go into the laboratory.’ She thought for a moment. ‘I bet you could see my apartment entryway from there as well.’ Elena frowned a little. ‘Perhaps I should start using the alternate exit in the back.’

“Something wrong?”

“No,” she said. “Just thinking about your earlier snow prediction. I think you might be right.” They made a little small talk about the weather and Elena wondered how to test him to see if he had heard any of her conversation with her cousin without giving anything away.

“So,” he began as the small talk ebbed. “Would those be the plans for the ship you have there?” He indicated the tube she carried tucked under her arm. She had been wondering when he would ask.

“Yes,” she answered. “I wanted a copy I could jot notes down on while still keeping the original clean.”

“I see,” he said. “Are you sure you aren’t just passing them along to someone else?”

“Like who, a rival ship builder to undercut your production?”

“No I meant someone in the guild.”

“There are no other guild members around here. They all left with Ian.”

“You could be sending a copy on,” he commented.

“I could.”

“But you are not.”

“There is no point,” she said. If Mateo passed a copy back to the council that would of course be another matter. She might even suggest it.

“Why not?”

“Because they are of no use. They can’t ride the channels and contain no useful information.”

“Oh.” He sounded deflated and she laughed.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you,” she said. “But I was telling the truth in the meeting not trying to get a copy of the new and better plans to build a ship of my own.”

“So you have your own ship?”

“I have never sailed my own ship. I am a pilot not a captain.” She waited for anything that would lead him to believe the Storm Chaser might be hers. He didn’t bite and she wasn’t sure how else to lure him into letting something slip so she would have a definitive answer.

‘Its not like they teach this in school. Unless of course there is some sort of Interrogation 101 I could take as a continuing education class a the college.’ She mentally laughed at the idea. ‘Maybe they also have Minion Recruiting 101 as well and I could go ahead and get my own version of Marcus while I’m at it.”

They arrived at the copy center. Even at this hour customers buzzed around the lit glass box like fireflies caught on a hot summer night. Only like the bars a block over, the clientele had switched with the hour’s passing. Gone were the business suits and corporate lackeys. In their place were students, frantically making copies for some project or another or lazily making conversation as they waited for machines. She smiled at Jonathan.

“This is my stop. Thanks for the conversation.”

“No problem. Do you want me to stick around so you don’t have to walk home alone in the dark?” As if on cue the streetlights buzzed to life overhead.

“I’ll be fine. It is only a short walk, and it is well populated and lit at night. But thanks. Have a safe drive home.” She pulled open the glass door and a puff of heat scented with toner greeted her. Jonathan looked a little lost and she couldn’t help wondering if he was trying to figure out how to get to back to his car from here without looking like he was doubling back. ‘His problem,’ she thought.

Ignoring the machines, Elena walked up to the line at the counter. It was relatively short and each person in front of her had a counter from the machines. With luck none of them were planning on doing anything more time consuming than paying for their copies. Her turn at the counter came quickly enough.

“How may I help you,” the bored clerk drawled. Her eyes kept shifting towards the wall clock and Elena guessed it was nearly the end of her shift.

“I need two copies of this made, please,” she said thinking they would now be looking for a copy with her notes scrawled across it.

“I’ll have to keep it overnight, our large format operator already has a queue.”

“That will be fine,” she answered. She wasn’t in a rush. The clerk took her name and gave her a pick up time. She said thanks and passed the roll of drawings over. With her business transaction complete she walked out of the copy center. She barely made it out the door when her cell phone rang. She stopped, tugged it out of her purse and continued walking as she answered it. The wind had a biting edge to it.

“Hello.”

“Elena? Its Aunt Catherine,” her Aunt’s voice rolled out or the cell phone.

“Hi, how are you?”

“I’m fine, just fine and so glad you are back. Now I won’t keep you because I know it is late and you must have a million things to do but Mateo mentioned working with you on the off season and possibly on the on once I retire.”

“Yes we had talked about that. He wanted to run it through with you before he gave me answer.”

“Well he did and I think it is a wonderful idea. He isn’t all that close to my brother’s kids and well he and Therese don’t exactly get along well. You were always his favorite cousin. All in all I think this is a wonderful idea. Your grandfather mentioned you had officially been listed as your own head of household so we can use the off season as a testing pattern to see if things will work and if so then later we can draw up the official transfer papers.”

“That sounds like a plan,” Elena said. She had forgotten about the transfer papers. In her mind she would just be working with Mateo on various projects, the same as they had always done. But she was the head of a household, albeit a household of one. That meant Mateo, who was not would be transferred to her. He would no longer be answerable to his mother in matters of the guild but to her. That would take some getting used to.

“Don’t worry honey,” her Aunt said, “you’ll get used to it.”

“Sure,” she said nervously. Catherine laughed.

“So you will be coming to the wedding?” She asked.

“Nate’s wedding?”

“Of course, who did you think the invitation was for?”

“I didn’t receive an invitation.”

“Really? Let’s see.” There was a shift in Catherine’s voice as if she had tucked the phone under her chin and was fumbling with something. “They were mailed on the 18th.” She sounded as if she were talking to herself. Elena imagined her aunt flipping through her pocket calendar and smiled. Scrawled into it were notes on tides and lists of goods, occasionally actual dates made their way in. “Yes, she said more distinctly,” talking to Elena this time. “They were mailed on the 18th. It can’t take that long to get to you. Can it?”

“It shouldn’t,” Elena commented. She realized she was grinning into the phone. She had not been forgotten, the mail had simply gotten lost.

“Do I have the correct address?” She rattled off Elena’s address.

“That is correct.”

“Good grief, no wonder you hadn’t RSVPed yet.” Catherine gave an impatient snort and Elena giggled. “I’ll put you down as a yes and make sure a second invitation gets sent so you have all of the information.”

“Thanks,” Elena said. They chatted a few more minutes and then hung up. Elena felt warm in spite of the cold wind. She continued walking and was a few steps away from her apartment building door when the phone rang again.

“Apparently I am popular tonight.” She said as she pulled the phone back out. The number was one she didn’t recognize but deciding she was on a good streak with phone calls she answered it anyway.

“Hello?”

“How dare you!” The words were spoken with both venom and heat. The voice was of course familiar.

“Hello Therese.” Elena answered. She stopped outside the door to her building. She would not bring this call in with her.

“That’s all you have to say to me? You sneaky, underhanded little thief!” Therese spat. Elena rolled her eyes. This conversation was maddeningly familiar. When she had taken first place in a competition, Therese accused Elena of stealing her victory. The fact that Therese was often not in the competition was usually a mute point. The words rolled off Elena with no impact.

“And what have I stolen this time Therese?” There was no heat to her words just a heavy tiredness. Therese raged sometimes sputtering into incomprehensible babble. Elena managed to catch the gist of it and sighed. She rubbed her temple.

“I take it you just left Uncle Tomas and Aunt Catherine’s house?” She asked.

“I did. They are after all my family. I’m invited over quite often.” Elena caught the emphasis on the words my and I’m and silently wondered if Therese had anything to do with the missing wedding invitation. “And if you think you can trick Mateo…”

“There was no trickery involved,” Elena said cutting Therese off before her tirade could continue. It was cold out here and hr nose was starting to go numb. “He asked if I could use his help and I said yes. Aunt Catherine agreed. That is the end of the story and I can’t see honestly how it involves you. Besides, Mateo is a person not an object to be stolen.”

“It is not the end of the story. If you think you can just waltz right back into our lives…” Elena grimaced and pulled the phone away from her ear. She could still hear Therese. Elena shrugged and pressed the end button cutting her cousin off mid rant. She tucked the phone away and opened the building door.

“I wonder how long before she notices,” she wondered aloud.