Page 6 of King of Justice

When I walked back out, Sophie had already returned to her bubble with her laptop, seemingly unaware that I was in the same space. Bored, I sat down in one of the chairs and silently drank my coffee, watching her work. She only noticed me when she took her eyes off the screen long enough to grab her beverage.

And then I remembered that I hadn’t tried to call Marcus Hill yet, so I quickly stood up and walked back into the meeting room.

Pulling the note out of my pocket, I punched in the digits and waited patiently. Sadly, the signal wasn’t helping. As I tried again, it rang only once before giving me a busy tone. My forehead wrinkled with concern as I tried a third time, where it kept on ringing until it stopped.

Frustrated, I walked back out and scoffed. “Your friend is ignoring those in need.”

Again, she didn’t move her eyes off the screen. “My bet is that he’s helping someone else who’s in direr need.”

“And how does he know that we’re not drowning in a creek somewhere?”

“Because then we’d be calling Hugh Max.”

I let out a sharp puff of air and shook my head, hanging it down as I leaned against a beam. “Have you tried texting him?”

“I have,” she impatiently said before looking at me, sighing. “Look, Mr. Wright… I don’t want to be here any more than you do. But I also know Marcus and his entire family, and I know that if they could pick up or respond, they would.”

“His family?”

“Yes.” She nodded. “Him and his wife, dad and brother volunteer during storms to help out. Now, if they can’t do that, they must have a reason. His mother hasn’t been well and maybe, maybe, something’s up with her. I can’t be so inconsiderate as to bombard them with calls while I’m in here, perfectly fine.”

“This isn’t fine!” I objected.

She shrugged. “Well, I’m sorry. You’re gonna get out of here and eventually go back to the city, but I live here… I’ll see Marcus and the Hills every other day, and I don’t want to be that gal in their heads for the rest of my life.”

“Wow.” I chuckled in disbelief.

With a serious expression, she tilted her head, stared at me for a moment, and then looked away. In no time at all, her fingers were back to their speedy typing, as if I wasn’t there at all.

Disheartened, I went back into the meeting room and looked around for a moment. What sort of room didn’t have any windows? And then I realized; it hadn’t actually existed before. That room was built in the center of the open floor—it must have been Nichols’ idea.

Looking down at my phone, everything was running at full force. Three missed calls from Chad; fifty-something texts on the group chat with him, Abel, and Dean; and a bunch of random texts from everyone else, including my mother. So, I called her.

“Nathan, darling,” she answered in her perpetually serious tone.

“Mother.” I smiled, so she would hear it through the line. “Sounds like you’re at the spa.”

“Facials are crucial at my age. Are you at the office?”

“Uh—No. I’m out of town for work.”

“Oh.”

“How’s dad?”

“Taking tap dance lessons these days.” She laughed.

“Oh?”

“He thinks it’s better exercise than the gym.”

“For him? I’m sure it is.”

After getting that call over with, the next thing I tried to do was call Marcus again. And once again, the signal was too weak to grant me even the privilege of a few rings.

three

Closer

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