2 6

wonder & thunder

—

THE CLINK OF a spoon striking against the side of a champagne glass resounded through the spacious room, somehow amplified by the way Selena Gates in herself just demanded to be paid attention to. She was draped in an astonishing red dress that stopped at her ankles, a slit down the side which one of her legs stuck out of. I had to admit, she was keeping it tight for her age, but that was neither here nor there. What was here and there was that she stood atop a chair in the middle of the party, clearly calling for everyone to marvel at how beautiful her living room was.

Being the one who set it up, I had to agree that it was pretty damn beautiful. I had dusted and polished almost everything, not even the twins were bold enough to take credit for the marvelous work I did. Instead they were busy flirting with the chef to see if he could make them any food from their home country.

The party — before Selena's interruption — had been rather vivacious due to my expert design skills. Party guests drank from crystalline glasses similar to the one the hostess held, socializing with gleamed eyes about all sorts of topics, mainly ones intellectual enough to make my head spin. Thankfully, the Gates children and Louisa were here to make me feel like I wasn't the youngest person in the room, because many of the guests were in their late forties or older. And of course, I had Caleb here. Of course, he was an extraordinarily social person, so he rarely had time he could consolidate to just me with all of the people pulling him aside to talk to him.

It was crazy, how this was the first date so to speak with the guy of my dreams. Maybe it didn't feel the way I thought it would because I was awake now.

"I would like to thank everyone for coming here," Selena said in her fakest voice that she could muster. These people were hardly  even her friends, but they were on account of being an acquaintance in some part of her life. "As easy as it may seem, it's not every day that a woman like me is as rich and beautiful as I am. I think that calls for celebration, don't you?"

She wasn't exactly taking the modest route with this one, which made sense considering there wasn't exactly a grand reason behind the fact that this party was tonight of all nights. While I was still the beholder of some skepticism behind Teddy's claims about the Gates family, I definitely got the feeling that the timing was a bit fishy.

I've been working for the Gates family for almost eight months now, so I had been privy to Selena's bragging for more times than I could count. I was fine with missing another of her grandiose speeches, especially tonight when I had enough already to worry about.

I sighed, running a hand through my hair. With all of the frenzy around planning this party, I wasn't entirely sure of what to do while I was here. I didn't have a tray in my hand like the twins, and Selena had decided to outsource a more professional janitorial service to make sure things were in tip top shape. Maybe this was my chance to be the girl at the ball, to feel like everyone else.

Or maybe the clock was striking midnight, for Selena stepped from out of the center of attention as she made her way towards me with a look of determination on her face. The crowd around her had dispersed, going their own separate ways, and I hoped that only for a moment would she turn the other way or run into one of her friends. But no, this was really happening, she was really going to summon me to do work.

"Marilyn," she grinned. "Could you be a dear and fetch something from George's study for me? A Cartier necklace, darling. George said he found it on the floor and put it in his office before running to work so none of these filthy women here would try and take it. Isn't he sweet? I would go and get it myself, but Mrs. Landing over there clearly wants to kiss my ass right now."

At her words, I looked to where she was subtly pointing, seeing a short and stout woman dressed in an expensive designer dress who was looking over at Selena expectantly. Because I was too busy staring at the woman — face it, I wasn't as incognito as my boss — I jumped a step back when I felt something cold and hard slip into my opened palm.

"Relax," Selena barked in a low voice. "That's the key to the study, Marilyn." She was looking at me as if she had no idea what to do with me. I couldn't blame her, I was a lost cause. I was on edge right now, there was just too much going on tonight.

I glanced down at the object in my hand, a slender skeleton key that looked almost as if it were a relic. When I looked back up, gone was Selena's elegant charm, she was feeling a bit impatient with me and I knew I had to get to work right away if I wanted for this night to be smooth sailing.

"Chop chop," she said and I nodded, silently turning away towards the hallway as quickly as I could.

The cold steel of the study key filled me with not only a feeling of power, but of overwhelming dread as well. If George Gates was hiding his secrets anywhere in this house, it would be in his private study that only he and his wife had keys too. This very well may be the end of this mystery, the answer to the undying question: were the Gates a guilty party? Or was all of Teddy's hard work worth nothing? It meant freedom from all of the uneasiness that plagued me day in and day out, all of the secrecy and foul play.

But what if it also meant no more Teddy? The Teddy who I realized I had feelings for, who made me feel ways I don't think I ever felt before in the short time since I had known him. Once he knew the answer to this question, things could possibly change for the long run. Almost nine months of devotion to cracking this case and this was the marker that decided if any of it meant anything. Because it wouldn't be justice if there was nothing to fight for and no artillery to fight with.

I knew one thing in that moment: I had to call him. Before I went in, before anything happened. He was already out risking his life doing God knows what for the sake of this case. I unlocked my phone quickly, scrolling through my contacts to find Teddy's name. Before I could press the call button, however, I heard a voice call out my name.

"Marilyn," Caleb said, a smile on his face and a plate of shrimp in his hand. "What are you doing? The party is this way."

Caleb. I had been so swept up in everything else that I forgot I had brought him here. Now I was really starting to regret it. He found the invitation that Selena had sent me formally and decided he would like to accompany me. At the time, it sounded like a great idea because this was a social affair and I wasn't sure how to be social here without a date, so he wasn't the problem. Or we'll, he was, but for reasons he couldn't control. Reasons like the feelings I had for him had shifted their way onto Teddy Burke — who happened to be unavailable for the night. It would've been nice to invite Theo, but I'm sure that since his recent outing, he wasn't exactly ready to get back into pretending to date with girls again.

Caleb looked amazing standing in the soft lights of the Gates family mansion, his hair and eyes lit to a perfect shade and his lips curled upwards slightly in a welcoming smile. It was a shame that such a guy like him was standing in my way, the same guy I would've followed to the ends of the Earth had it been a month ago.

"Caleb, there's — my boss gave me something to do," I said in a weak voice, stumbling to find the most airtight excuse I could muster. My penchant for lying had lost itself in the magnitude of this moment and I was left sprawling without a good lifeline.

He cocked his head to the side, not entirely sure if he was buying it. "C'mon, I assure you it can wait, Selena seems like a lovely and understanding woman. I have some people I want you to meet."

My fingers clutched the skeleton key more tightly, as if there was something deep down inside me that was afraid of Caleb seeing it. "It's been eight months since I started working here, I think I have every right to be afraid of making her wait."

"Don't worry, Marilyn," he said as he stepped closer to me. "These are good people, I think you would be really interested in meeting them. I did a lot of talking with them and I thought they would be right up your alley. I'll tell Mrs. Gates I was the one who kept you busy if she asks about it."

I was beginning to grow impatient with him. What part about me being an employee who was on the clock right now did he not understand? I mean, I was terribly sure that his intentions were sweet, but I had a task at hand.

"Look," I snapped, clenching my fists. "You live a pretty good life, so I doubt you understand what's happening right now, but I am working right now. I don't have time to go and act like I'm interested in whatever you're trying to show me because my boss just told me to do something, which means if I don't do it to her liking, then I'm at risk for being sacked. And I don't know how well you know me, but I can not afford that right now — nor anytime ever."

During my whole tirade, Caleb's general easygoing expression had softened into a look of sadness, something I never saw from a guy like him and never wanted to. "Well, I just wanted you to meet this lovely couple that runs a non-profit to help match young Mexican children fleeing terrible circumstances with families in the States and in Europe. Seemed like something you might've to learn more about and help, but I'm sorry I got excited."

"Caleb, I'm sorry," I started, but he turned away without another word, leaving me alone to feel sorry for myself instead. He was right, it was something I would've been interested in. But I was so caught up in my mission, everything else seemed to fall to the wayside. When I had more time, I knew I would've have to make it up to him, but I had things to do now.

Finally, I hit the call button by Teddy's name and lifted the phone to my ear. It only took two rings before he answered with a quick and casual, "hey, I'm driving, but what's up?"

"What's up?" I frowned, not entirely sure what to make of it. I had basically stepped on Caleb's feelings just to make this call, and that's what he had to say to me? Granted, he was waiting for me to tell him about the study room key and then I would blow his mind, but I was still caught off guard by his casual attitude. Maybe I was just looking too deeply into my feelings for him, but it felt as if we were out of sync now that we weren't working side by side. God, he drove me crazy.

"Yeah, that's a genuine question for me to ask because I am curious. What is up, Marilyn," he said. "Why are you calling me? Did something happen? Do you need a getaway car?"

"No," I sighed.

"No, something didn't happen?"

"No," I said, "I don't need a getaway car, but something did happen. Selena gave me the key to George's private study."

Through the phone I could hear tires screeching to a halt as well as the sound of horns going off in the distance, which I could only assume was Teddy stopping dead in the middle of traffic somewhere.

"Sorry," Teddy said, his voice coming back on the line. "I'm just freaking out right now. You really did it, Marilyn, you got the key to the study."

I was about to speak when I was cut off by the sound of blaring horns and angry people yelling curses at Teddy. When they let up, I released a breath before speaking. "What should I look for exactly? I know it's where George keeps all of his private work-related materials, but I've only ever gotten a small peek inside of it."

"I don't know," Teddy said. "Think bank statements, accounting entries, any checks you can find. Leave when you can and I'll meet you at the Justice."

"I—" I started, but the end call tone rang in my ear, telling me that Teddy had already hung up. I was alone and this was really happening. It was now or never. The answer to everything was behind the door of George's study and I held the key to it in my hand.

From outside, I could hear thunder break as the rain began to fall.