Page 3 of Maid in Heaven

Ava stood straight. “So… Madison said she went to high school with you?”

“Yeah. She did.”

The awkward silence between them mounted palpably. Finally, Ava spoke.

“Right. Well, I have a conference call via webcam here in a few minutes. I really need you to stay out of sight. So start with the bathroom or something. And please, keep your clotheson.”

“Can do. Anything else you need me to tackle today? Because this,” he gestured to the house, “is going to be more than a one-time visit.”

“Don’t count on it. Like I said, I appreciate what Maddy was trying to do, but don’t expect a call back. I’m not in the market for a maid.”

Will scrunched his lips together, put his hands on his tactical belt full of fake plastic guns and furry handcuffs, and looked around. “Understood. Kuda and I are on it. Aren’t we, Kuda?”

The Pit Bull stared at him, breathing hard.

“Ms. Quinn, we will whip this place into shape and stay out of your way. I will stay quietas a mouse.” He saluted her and headed down the hallway toward the kitchen and bathroom, assessing the dwelling. Padding behind him, Kuda happily followed his newfound companion into the kitchen. Will let loose a sarcastic whistle of disapproval. “Good Lord, what happened in here? Is that pot moving?Is that arat?”

Ava flattened her lips together, pinching her eyes closed. “Whatever happened toquiet as a mouse?”

“Oh,it’s just a Brillo pad.” He let out a sigh of relief. “It’s fine. Disregard.”

Ava shook her head and huffed, trying not to smile at the handsome stranger rooting through her home. She headed into her office, hurriedly twirled her hair up, snatched a pencil from her desk, and wove it through the makeshift bun, pinning it against her head. Sitting down at her modern-style glass desk, she sunk into her comfortable black leather office chair.

She woke her computer and typed in the passcode: her old wedding anniversary.

She’d have to change that at some point…

She angled the camera at herself and realized that it would capture the mound of shredded photos and wedding gown lumped into a pile behind her. Her friends had taken turns wearing it with a black veil at her divorce party, which, of course, was Madison’s idea.

Madison was right, though. Getting rid of a cheaterwasgrounds for celebration.

Ava picked up the heavy, silken garment and hurled it out of sight. She tossed the photos into a metal trashcan and returned to her chair. She pulled up the appointment link and double-clicked. The video-chat client opened up. Her thumbnail icon popped up first in the virtual conference room. Her pale skin looked ghastly in the unforgiving lens, and her freckles seemed more pronounced on camera. She cursed herself for not applying more makeup. Instead, she plastered on her most pleasant smile.

Donald Breckin, a balding man in his fifties, popped up on the larger screen. She couldn’t help but think of Ben Franklin’s iconic image. The resemblance was striking.

“Good morning, Ava! Thank you for meeting with me.”

“Of course, Mr. Breckin. I apologize for not being able to grant you a longer window of time to talk, but as you know, we are in the middle of this merger, and there is no such thing as free time.”

Donald Breckin chortled and wiped something from his keyboard. “No problem, hun. We can get straight down to brass tacks.”

“Great. Mr. Breckin, I want you to know that I am here for you as your liaison, and I understand you have some questions for me.”

“Yes. A couple, if that’s alright.”

“Absolutely. Fire away.” She steepled her hands in front of her face and leaned in intently to listen to his concerns.

“I’m hearing rumors that your people are saying my wages are too high and that so many expenses need to be cut? The business side of my laboratory is operatingwellwithin normal limits. We aren’t blowing money here haphazardly. I assure you, every expenditure is necessary. This laboratory needs toraiseprices. Notlowerthem.”

“I see,” she said calmly. “I hear what you’re saying. We don’t fully know the ins and outs of how your business operates, but, Mr. Breckin, we’ve acquired several businesses like yours over the last decade and created a network of laboratories to handle more tailored needs. We keep costs low by doing bulk loads of samples from the individual hubs. We are acquiring you to make your lab a highly-specified and smooth-functioning hub as well. We are seeking high-volume, low-error results with quicker turnarounds. We feel your company is going to be a welcome addition to that. That said, we obviously have to stick to the overall financialstrategy of cost-cutting wherever possible to keep expenditures across our entire network of labs low overall. Does that make sense?”

“Sure, but how will that affect my portion for the years we determined in the contract? Could we have been realizing more profit with—”

Don stopped and then squinted at his screen.

“—Is that… apolice officer? Is everything alright? Are you in some kind of trouble?”

“What?” Ava snapped, spinning around in her chair.

---