What made the situation even worse was the fact that today was the day we were supposed to be starting at our new office. Originally, we were planning on returning to the old office once the building was fixed, but everyone agreed that the memory of what had happened there would have made it difficult to work comfortably. Ultimately, Wallace had found us a new space, still on the Strip but in a different building. The building wasn’t as tall, but the interior was larger. It seemed like a bit of a waste of space to me, considering there were only eight of us working at the branch in total, but I supposed that Wallace was looking toward a future in which we would hopefully expand to include new agents.
By the time I made it to the new building, I was seventeen minutes late. I drove my car around the side and toward the small parking lot located around the back. I’d worried that since we no longer had our underground parking garage, that space might be limited. It relieved me to discover that there were plenty of empty spaces and even a small bench where I could picture myself reading during my lunch break. The parking lot was bordered by trees, which cast the area into shade, and I found myself liking the new location already, despite not having seen the inside yet.
I used the employee keycard Wallace had handed out to all of us to gain access to the back door of the building closest to the parking lot. I could see the lobby and main entrance straight ahead and an elevator to my right. I headed over to it and pressed the call button, willing the elevator to reach me faster so that I might be that much less late. The light above the door finally chimed as the elevator reached the ground floor, and I stepped inside quickly before pressing the button for the fifth floor. Once again, our office was located on the top floor, which I appreciated as I quite enjoyed having a nice view while I worked.
The elevator doors slid open, and I stepped into a small alcove. To my right was a large window that overlooked the Las Vegas strip, and to my left was a narrow hall that contained only one door marked “MBLIS” in shiny metal letters. I thought that was a lovely touch and used my keycard to gain entry once again. Svetlana had quit after the bombing at our previous office, and we’d decided to forgo finding another receptionist. Instead, we were putting more security measures in place and ensuring that we allowed no one into our office unless we were explicitly expecting them.
The office was in a state of commotion when I entered. Everyone still appeared to be in the process of arranging and organizing their work areas, and I felt a little better now that it didn’t seem like they had missed my presence.
Miranda and Charlie were arguing over who would get the desk with the best view out the window, and I could see Fiona bustling about in the office directly to the left of the entryway. Unlike her previous office, which had been a completely separate room, this one was actually located in the main area but enclosed with clear glass. There was a similar office on the right side of the entryway, but it was empty. Further along the left wall of the office, I could see a door marked “holding area,” and in the same spot on the opposite wall was a door marked “break room.” I didn’t particularly care which desk I got and would probably just choose whichever one was opposite Miranda’s since we were almost always partnered together. Instead, I decided to go visit Fiona in her new office.
“Can I come in?” I asked with a smile as I poked my head through the open door.
“Of course,” she smiled back. I noticed that she had slowly started coming out of her shell ever since she’d gone to Japan with Junior and Charlie. She’d approached Wallace about being included on another mission, but so far, another opportunity hadn’t come up. She’d been so disappointed she’d withdrawn back into herself, and I was happy to see she seemed to be doing better now.
“This is nice,” I remarked as I took a look. “It’s larger than the previous one, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” she confirmed. “I don’t feel like I’m about to bump into something all the time now. I have room for all of my gadgets. I am a little sad that I don’t have my big window anymore.”
“Oh right,” I replied. “That was the reason you’d offered to switch offices with Howard, right? Even though the other one was bigger, that one had a very large window.”
Fiona nodded.
“Blue light isn’t good for your eyes,” she shrugged. “When you work in front of a computer all day, it’s good to take some breaks and take in the sunshine. But it’s okay. Junior said that the break room is huge. If I ever need to rest my eyes, I can probably just go in there.”
“Really?” I asked, looking over my shoulder at the door I’d seen earlier. “I haven’t been. Do you want to come to look at it?”
“Sure,” Fiona smiled as she set down the monitor she was carrying. We left the office and headed back through the bullpen area. It seemed like Miranda had won the fight since she was currently sitting at the desk and setting out her favorite knick-knacks. To my surprise, though, Charlie didn’t seem altogether displeased by the result. I narrowed my eyes and almost stopped in my tracks as I passed them. I was a good detective, and I knew how to spot unusual behavior.
