Moving as quietly as he could, Caleb walked slowly down the corridor. As he came closer to the room at the end of it, he could hear voices – one of them was clearly Kira’s, but the other he didn’t recognize.
It must be the clerk’s.
Cautiously, Caleb peered out from around the corner. From here, he could see the front desk of the records office – and the clerk.
Caleb pulled his head back around the corner quickly, but after a moment, his brain fully processed what his eyes had seen: the clerk had had his back to him as they spoke with Kira, who hadn’t been visible, though Caleb could still hear her voice as she kept the clerk busy.
“ – No, I’m not saying you don’t know how to do your job,” Kira was saying patiently. “I’m just saying that I’ve sent the letter three times now, and no one’s gotten back to me at all about it –”
Caleb wondered if Kira was talking about something that had actually happened during her wrangling with the records office, or if she was just fibbing to buy him some time. Either way, he knew he had to make the most of it.
Moving swiftly and silently, Caleb darted across the space where the clerk could have turned around at any moment and seen him. He was guessing from the lack of an outraged shout, however, that he hadn’t been noticed. The back end of the office was far more expansive than the front – that had just been a desk and a little reception area. Back here, it seemed, there was far more room.
Pulling in a breath, Caleb made his way through another door – unlocked, he was happy to find – and into a huge room filled with metal filing shelves. There were twenty or so of them, standing in rows, and they extended all the way back to the far wall. And on each and every one of them were stacks of documents, boxes, and folders, and any one of them could have contained the documents he needed to save the Girdwood Springs parkland.
All right. I guess I just… have to go for it.
But go for what Caleb still wasn’t quite sure he understood.
But he wasn’t going to find out by standing here feeling mildly overwhelmed. Squaring his shoulders, he headed to the first shelf.
I suppose… I suppose what I’m looking for is something old,he thought, as he let his eyes drift over the first few stacks of manila and concertina folders. But it might be in a new folder, so that’s not much help.
Caleb swallowed down his frustration. He knew he needed to stay calm and keep a clear head. Looking for the will might be like looking for a needle in a haystack, but he’d felt the same way about trying to find the cure for his bad luck curse as well, and he and Kira together had still managed that. If anything, that had been even harder – he hadn’t even been looking for the right kind of thing when he’d first arrived! And he’d still been under the curse!
And yet, together, we did it,Caleb thought, feeling new resolve fill him. All I have to do, I guess, is look. And try to rely on my luck.
Still, it wasn’t easy. For the first time in his life, Caleb had to try to trust that things would go well for him – that all the cards would fall his way. After a lifetime of bad luck, it wasn’t something that came naturally to him.
Maybe… maybe it’s something that responds to touch? he thought, as he lifted a hand and ran his fingertips over the bottom of the shelf. He recalled something his father had once told him, when he’d returned from a buying trip to Europe. I can’t describe it, Caleb, he’d said. Somehow, when you find what you’re looking for, you just know. It’s like a sixth sense – a feeling that yes, this is exactly right.
Caleb frowned. He wondered if he’d know that feeling if it hit him with a truck – only to remember just how strongly he’d known Kira was his mate.
I could recognize that even though I’d never felt a mated bond before,he thought. Even though I had no reason to expect anything good would happen to me that day. I still knew, and I knew what I was feeling. I just have to trust my instincts.
Caleb pressed his lips firmly together. If there was one thing that was certain, it was that self-doubt and second-guessing were going to get him nowhere.
Lifting his hand again, Caleb walked along the aisle between the shelves, skating his fingers gently over each document, file, and box. Nothing had happened by the time he reached the end of the shelf, but, undeterred, Caleb simply made his way down the next aisle, still running his fingers gently over the documents as he passed.
Still nothing.
Still nothing on the next shelf, and the next.
Caleb knew he must be running out of time – Kira couldn’t keep the clerk in an argument about whether her letters of complaint had or hadn’t been answered indefinitely.
Pulling in a deep breath, Caleb started down the next shelf, his fingers sliding over the stacked folders.
Nothing here either,he thought with something close to desperation as he neared the end of the shelf. I guess that’s – wait.
As Caleb began to pull his fingers away from the shelf, he felt a sudden warmth shoot through his hand, all the way up his arm – almost as if he’d just experienced a very mild, non-painful electric shock.
What was that?!
Within him, his dragon had suddenly lifted its head, smoke coiling up from its mouth and nose.
We have sensed something!
Raising his hand again, Caleb slowly ran his fingers over the last few folders on the shelf, this time moving his hand more carefully over their spines.