Read Online Malcolm and Ives 02 - Trouble With Air and Magic by Patricia Rice - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Patricia Rice
Tags: Romance, Contemporary, Paranormal, Mystery, Feng Shui, California, psychic, geek, Malcolm, Ives
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chair back and headed for the elevator without speaking.
Because of the Librarian’s eccentric warning, he had deliberately called Grogan Security instead of Chong’s, but the man Grogan’s sent was every bit as Asian as Chong. Conan grimaced, shook hands, and led Fred Liu upstairs to introduce him to Dorothea.
Fred tried speaking Chinese to her—Conan assumed it was some form of Chinese since he didn’t know the difference in language much less dialect—but Dorothea merely nodded and glanced at Conan. “Is this firm insured and bonded?”
“I wouldn’t settle for less,” he said irritably. He wasn’t accustomed to his clients questioning his judgment. Of course, most of them had read his credentials. He didn’t think Miss Frosty had. She was probably judging him by his bad feng shui. Maybe he should let her read his palm.
Fred produced a folder. “Here are our references and copies of bonds. We would not consider working without presenting these.”
“Thank you.” She looked to Conan. “May I speak with you privately before you show Mr. Liu around?”
Not easy in this cubicle farm. Conan took Fred to the front office and left him there, out of hearing, before returning to Dorrie. He raised a questioning eyebrow at her.
“Fred has an ax to grind,” she said without inflection, as if she’d just said his security expert had black hair. “I need to check his personal references with my family before we show him anything important. He may just dislike my father or the foundation or you, for all I know, but he may not be the best person for this job.”
Conan opened his mouth to object, but the words wouldn’t come out. He’d seen his sister-in-law accomplish inexplicable weirdnesses with her voice. He would keep an open mind to Dorothea’s nutty arguments. Instead of protesting, he asked, “How do you know?”
She lifted one shoulder. “I don’t. It’s just what I feel. I could be interpreting that arrow of hostility completely wrong. It’s not strong. It’s just there. I’d say he resents something, but that’s a little too specific.”
At least she was honest and straightforward about her craziness. He appreciated that she didn’t try to conceal it. He refrained from rolling his eyes. “All right, I’ll put him to work on physically securing the entrances. You said your father owns this building. May I speak with him about hiring guards?”
“No,” she said curtly. “My father is not to be disturbed. He uses a rental management company. We can call them on Monday.”
Irritated that she shot down his every suggestion to protect her—with unreasonable explanations—he growled, “If you really want to run this place, you’d better start practicing standing up to your old man.”
He walked out, satisfied that he’d left her with her mouth hanging open. If he had to put up with her idiosyncrasies, she’d have to learn to put up with his.
Chapter 6
“My gratitude, Aunt Li,” Dorrie said, holding the phone receiver with one hand and flipping through Fred Liu’s folder of references. “I miss the family, too. Perhaps, by the new year, Dad will be ready for guests. You must visit.”
Provided the house hadn’t fallen off the cliff, but Dorrie refused to relate her troubles to her San Francisco relatives. Her mother’s family was large, ambitious, and clannish. They would be down here on the first flight to order the contractors to work faster buttressing the cliff and harass the city to better care for their hills and to flutter around her insurance agent’s office until the man went mad.
Well-meaning but impossible—which was why she hadn’t mentioned that she hadn’t felt Bo’s death. Given their family history, they would believe her without doubt. They would tear apart his military base looking for answers and quite possibly destroy all their careers in the process. She didn’t have enough confidence in her instinct to allow that.
But having a cadre of
Because of the Librarian’s eccentric warning, he had deliberately called Grogan Security instead of Chong’s, but the man Grogan’s sent was every bit as Asian as Chong. Conan grimaced, shook hands, and led Fred Liu upstairs to introduce him to Dorothea.
Fred tried speaking Chinese to her—Conan assumed it was some form of Chinese since he didn’t know the difference in language much less dialect—but Dorothea merely nodded and glanced at Conan. “Is this firm insured and bonded?”
“I wouldn’t settle for less,” he said irritably. He wasn’t accustomed to his clients questioning his judgment. Of course, most of them had read his credentials. He didn’t think Miss Frosty had. She was probably judging him by his bad feng shui. Maybe he should let her read his palm.
Fred produced a folder. “Here are our references and copies of bonds. We would not consider working without presenting these.”
“Thank you.” She looked to Conan. “May I speak with you privately before you show Mr. Liu around?”
Not easy in this cubicle farm. Conan took Fred to the front office and left him there, out of hearing, before returning to Dorrie. He raised a questioning eyebrow at her.
“Fred has an ax to grind,” she said without inflection, as if she’d just said his security expert had black hair. “I need to check his personal references with my family before we show him anything important. He may just dislike my father or the foundation or you, for all I know, but he may not be the best person for this job.”
Conan opened his mouth to object, but the words wouldn’t come out. He’d seen his sister-in-law accomplish inexplicable weirdnesses with her voice. He would keep an open mind to Dorothea’s nutty arguments. Instead of protesting, he asked, “How do you know?”
She lifted one shoulder. “I don’t. It’s just what I feel. I could be interpreting that arrow of hostility completely wrong. It’s not strong. It’s just there. I’d say he resents something, but that’s a little too specific.”
At least she was honest and straightforward about her craziness. He appreciated that she didn’t try to conceal it. He refrained from rolling his eyes. “All right, I’ll put him to work on physically securing the entrances. You said your father owns this building. May I speak with him about hiring guards?”
“No,” she said curtly. “My father is not to be disturbed. He uses a rental management company. We can call them on Monday.”
Irritated that she shot down his every suggestion to protect her—with unreasonable explanations—he growled, “If you really want to run this place, you’d better start practicing standing up to your old man.”
He walked out, satisfied that he’d left her with her mouth hanging open. If he had to put up with her idiosyncrasies, she’d have to learn to put up with his.
Chapter 6
“My gratitude, Aunt Li,” Dorrie said, holding the phone receiver with one hand and flipping through Fred Liu’s folder of references. “I miss the family, too. Perhaps, by the new year, Dad will be ready for guests. You must visit.”
Provided the house hadn’t fallen off the cliff, but Dorrie refused to relate her troubles to her San Francisco relatives. Her mother’s family was large, ambitious, and clannish. They would be down here on the first flight to order the contractors to work faster buttressing the cliff and harass the city to better care for their hills and to flutter around her insurance agent’s office until the man went mad.
Well-meaning but impossible—which was why she hadn’t mentioned that she hadn’t felt Bo’s death. Given their family history, they would believe her without doubt. They would tear apart his military base looking for answers and quite possibly destroy all their careers in the process. She didn’t have enough confidence in her instinct to allow that.
But having a cadre of
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