A smaller office across the hall bore the plaque of a construction company. At least it wasn’t the one that brought Mayor Block to his knees.
“You’re planning on keeping the kiddo in school here?” Geoff unlocked the door.
“Yeah, Loretta likes it here, and this is where her family lives. I’m still debating whether I need to live here too. Just thought I’d take a look around, see what opportunities are offered.” Jax stepped into an unfurnished reception area with new carpet, large windows, and newly varnished woodwork.
“Got the mayor’s case coming up in the Grand Jury. That’ll be a big one. I could hook you up with some of the attorneys handling the contracting companies. Bunch of subcontractors caught up in that who don’t deserve the grief.” Geoff led the way to an office off the reception area. “All new carpeting. Refurbished the restroom too.”
“Did an attorney rent this before?” Jax looked out the undraped windows. The building was on the opposite end of town from Evie’s house, but he could see the school from here.
“Yup. George Norton had it for decades. We almost couldn’t remove the stench of ancient cigars. Place has been non-smoking for decades, but he still sneaked one occasionally. His family might sell you the practice for a good price. They don’t live around here. They just want the old fella’s cash.”
“Now that’s a deal I might be interested in. If I bring you my tax work and direct my clients to you, can we still talk about a discount?”
Geoff pounded him on the back. “I knew you were a straight-up fella. Let’s go down, and I’ll buzz George’s family, see if we can come up with some numbers.”
Taking on construction clients caught up in the land fraud could lead down interesting paths. If there was also a built-in clientele... Jax would be following in the footsteps of Franklin JacksonandAaron Ives. Both were small-town lawyers. He just wouldn’t have to deal in mines and microchips.
Maybe he could call his officeJackson and Ives Attorneys, honor the names of both men—and confuse the hell out of anyone who came looking for him. Jax almost smiled for the first time in weeks. Evie’s wild fantasies were contagious. And the idea of killers coming after him raised his adrenaline so he felt more alive again.
Of course, after thirty years, any killers were probably geriatric.
Obtaining numbers on the office and the practice he might buy, Jax said he needed time to think them over. It had all come together a little too handily, which made him wonder how much Evie’s meddling family had to do with it.
They’d certainly heaved out Mayor Block fast enough once he’d been caught red-handed. Jax was almost intrigued enough to stay in Afterthought just to figure out how Evie’s family operated.
After a satisfying talk with George Norton’s widow, Jax headed for Evie’s to join R&R in the cellar. Before he could reach the back gate, he ran into Evie’s striped-hair cousin Priscilla. Today, the stripes were maroon, and she wore drab brown that matched the mouse color of her hair. She stroked Evie’s Siamese cat as she rocked in the porch swing. Of all the Malcolms he’d met, Pris was the spookiest.
“Ariel needs a cat,” she told him, without inflection.
“My sister dislikes changes in her environment. She has more than enough to cope with living in a new place,” he countered. And how in hell would Pris know what his sister wanted? It wasn’t as if Ariel communicated in any normal manner.
“She’s lonely. She needs a pet. A cat can take care of itself.” Pris calmly stroked Evie’s cat, not looking at him or using an argumentative voice, just stating facts, apparently as she saw them.
“Evie would not like giving up her cat.” Jax had had stranger conversations. He wasn’t certain when.
“Psycat understands people.”
Psycat was the Siamese. “Ariel would be better off with the raven. It would stay outside.” So, he was losing his marbles. Why not?
“La Chusa?” She finally expressed interest. “Iddy won’t want to give her up.”
Jax had been told that Evie’s cousin Idonea trained animals to understand human speech. The veterinarian’s spooky raven certainly appeared to. He wasn’t accepting that the animals talked back, though. “Evie won’t want to give up Psycat.”
“Psy chooses who he stays with.” She put the cat down. “I’ll think about this.”
She sauntered down the front walk without a farewell. The cat sat on the porch, eyeing him.
“Is Evie home?” he asked the animal, out of sheer frustration with the world.
The Siamese daintily took the stairs down to the driveway and led the way back to the cellar. Jax rolled his eyes and followed the creature. At the cellar entrance, he rang the makeshift bell his team had installed in their eccentric hideaway. One of the panels partially lifted with a spooky creak.
“Need better hydraulics,” Reuben called from below. “You’ll have to open it yourself.”
The cat preceded him. Downstairs, Evie swept it up and said, “Feeding time. Psy has you trained already?”
Jax admired Evie’s short-shorts, but he also appreciated the way she made living in a cellar feel normal. Her acceptance of the world as is eased his aggressive need to change and improve. Probably not a good symbiosis but one he needed right now. “I simply asked the cat where to find you. Your cousin Priscilla thinks Ariel needs a pet. I’m thinking she had Psycat in mind, so I may have prevented a catnapping.”
“Yeah, Pris is like that. She rearranges things. But a pet isn’t a bad idea, something to look out for besides herself, like a turtle. I’ll ring up Iddy and ask.” Evie headed for the stairs.