“Did Granny WooWoo have some information?”
“Hush,” Torie chided, scribbling away.
Before she could finish, a squealing whoop, whoop, whoop filled the air, along with a disembodied voice.
“This is not a drill. This is a fire alarm. Please exit the building immediately.” Whoop, whoop, whoop.
Chapter Seven
“What the hell?” Paul growled. He snatched files from the table and from his desk, threw them in a drawer, and locked it. “Come on. We have to get out.”
Paul was tugging on her arm, hauling her up and toward the door.
“But, but…” Torie was aghast. GoodMama said she had some time.
“It’s probably nothing. We’ve had a couple of these recently, but you can’t take a chance.”
They hurried out of the office to join others hurrying through the suite of offices and out to the stairs. On the street, after a long descent, Torie, Paul, and other people from the building milled around, waiting for the firemen to give an all clear.
Martha scurried up, her sharp features set in disapproving lines.
“What is it?” Paul asked.
“Melvin Jr.,” she whispered. “He said he was just checking to see that you were out, but I was helping Elsa get Mister Pratt Sr. down the stairs and saw him coming out of our offices.”
“Really?” Paul frowned.
As they watched, Melvin Jr. pushed through the crowd to Paul’s side. “Paul, I wanted to…” He noted Torie’s presence, and his eyes widened. “Well, hello, Torie.”
He held out a hand and Torie shook it, then let go as quickly as she could. Melvin, Todd, and Paul had all been in law school together, and in the same fraternity. Once Todd left the country, Melvin had asked Torie out several times.
She’d declined. He was just…unpleasant.
“Hello, Melvin. How are you?”
He smiled and motioned to indicate the crowd on the sidewalk. “I’ve been better. This is certainly not the way I’d expected to meet you again. I trust you’ve been well?”
“As well as can be expected, yes.”
Melvin looked surprised for a moment, then seemed to remember she’d had troubles. “Oh, I’m sorry. I did hear about your house. And Todd, of course. My apologies. And my sympathy.”
“Thank you.”
“Melvin, I understand you were in my office?” Paul went right to the heart of the matter.
“Yes, I thought I saw someone in there. There was someone coming out of your office as I came out of the stairwell, and I yelled and he ran. I don’t think anything was taken, but I can’t be sure. I was coming to tell you before I found the police.”
Melvin pivoted and scanned the crowd. “There, there’s an officer. Let’s go over. My father’s over there as well. Good.”
Torie and Paul exchanged glances behind Melvin’s back.
“Do you believe him?” Torie whispered.
Paul simply shook his head in the negative.
They walked up in time to hear Melvin Sr. saying, “Yes, and my son saw someone coming out of one of our partner’s offices.”
Melvin Jr. froze in his tracks. Torie almost plowed into his back. Paul’s hands steadied her, but she felt a tremble in them.
“Whose office would that be, Mister Pratt?” the officer asked.
“Ah, there he is. Thank you, Melvin, for fetching Paul for me.” The older man had a wheeze to his voice, and coughed a bit. “Excuse me, I don’t usually take the stairs, much less in haste.” He coughed again, more vigorously this time. “Paul, you need to talk to the officer, and let him go into your office with you when we get the all clear. Melvin here says he surprised someone coming out of your suite.”
“So, Mister, uh…”
“Jameson. Paul Jameson.”
“You’re a partner here at Pratt and Legend?”
“He is. Just got the promotion this morning, so he’s not used to it yet,” Pratt Sr. interjected. “Missed the meeting, Jameson. You could’ve gotten the news firsthand, otherwise…” The old man shot him a sly smile before he began coughing again.
“Sir, do you want to see the EMTs?” Torie moved to his side. She was concerned about how pale he was. Her father had gotten wheezy, coughed that way when his heart was acting up. “Perhaps just a whiff of oxygen will help you clear up that shortness of breath.”
The cop didn’t wait to hear the old man’s answer, and Torie was glad of it. He tucked his notes away and hustled over to the waiting ambulance. The loitering EMTs snatched up some gear and came over.
“I’m fine, really,” the senior lawyer complained.
