Page 24 of Boss Level

All while she muttered, “but why this? Why now?” and scanned her computer.

“Elliot’s working on it. Luna’s working on it.” Not that I blamed her. I’d be doing the same thing in her shoes, and because she was doing it, I’d have answers for the other investment partners in the morning when they inevitably asked me what happened.

As if my thoughts had summoned a response, my phone chimed with a new text. This time of night, it had to be a concerned partner. Oliver, maybe.

I extracted the device from my pocket.

I’ll be out for the next week. My father-in-law passed away. Break a leg with AP.

The text from Wade made me frown. Poor guy. He was the founder of the entire company. This thing had been his dream, and he brought us all on.Take as much time as you need. Let me know what we can do.

Though I didn’t know Wade’s father-in-law, I knew Wade and what a good guy he was. The news tugged loose an old memory. Judith had been working for Cord for a little while, months maybe. And I was off to college. Notre Dame. Dad’s alma mater.

At the time I hated it, but now I was grateful I’d gone.

Judith lost her mother, and she blamed herself for leaving the older woman behind when she got out. I wasn’t there for her while she dealt with grief and guilt.

Cole was, though. I didn’t know how she managed to find the most stoic, reserved person in that company, and decide he was the guy whose shoulder she needed to cry on, but in a way it made sense. She wanted someone who wouldn’t amplify her pain, so she could let it all out and move on.

The way I’d done for her in high school.

I shook the random thought aside. No reason to tumble into the past.

“Everything all right?” Dominic asked.

“Wade’s wife’s father passed away,” I said somberly.

Dominic and Judith voiced their sympathy and the news set a somber tone at the table when added to the existing stress.

We ate, we watched the servers, we cheered when the game came back online and again when Elliot confirmed a few hours later that the hole that allowed the issue had been patched.

It was nearly two when Judith closed her laptop. We sent her up to her room, and Dominic and I drove home in tired-but-comfortable silence.

In the morning, I emailed my assistant to make sure Wade’s family got flowers, emailed the other interested partners to assure them Judith had everything under control, and dropped Dominic off at his car before I headed to the convention center.

The doors opened at eight today, and the place was already packed to the gills with people. Fortunately, Judith would either be at the booth, in the meeting room she had reserved for the next three days, or walking between the two. I’d start with the booth.

It wasn’t difficult to navigate the crowds; for the most part people moved out of my way without question. I was almost to the vendor hall entrance when a familiar flash of auburn caught my attention, and I turned.

Judith was standing near the elevator talking to someone in what almost looked like a cape. Except it barely reached their waist.

It was Claire, in a T-shirt with a Batman logo on the front, like a cheap costume top from a store. At least it was Batman instead of Superman. I was more about the dark and brooding anti-hero than the slippery-clean savior.

In this case, though, I’d go see if my Wonder Woman needed backup. Judith didn’t look distressed, but she was also a master of blending into uncomfortable social situations, when business was involved in any way.

“Xander,hi,” Judith grinned as I approached. It was one of those bright, sunshiny smiles that lit up the entire area around her, until she was the only thing that mattered.

Yup, the smile was fake and she was not into the conversation.

“Ladies.” I gave a short nod.

Claire’shiwas quiet.

“We were discussing the finer points ofBatman Beyond,” Judith said.

We loved that show when we were younger. Judith and I would watch after school cartoons at my house, with the excuse of keeping Maddox company. She hated going home to an empty house when her parents were working late, because her new neighbors were dealing.

So we’d study, we’d watch TV, the cook would make us snacks, and we’d all discuss the finer real-world points of a retired, crime-fighting billionaire training his protege in a comic book world.

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