Chapter Seven
been sitting at my father's desk sorting through his things for over an hour when Julian came bursting into the office followed by his secretary.
"I told you that you were not allowed in this office!" he shouted as he grabbed my duffle bag and unzipped it. "Where is it?"
"I didn't take anything," I replied mystified by his behavior. He was digging through my bag tossing things out onto the floor as he muttered under his breath about confidentiality and proprietary information. I tried to figure out what was going on and said, "Sir, I'm not sure what you're looking for, but I guarantee it's not in there."
"Mr. Baines, maybe if you tell me what you're looking for, I can help?" Echo interjected.
"Did you let him in this office, Miss Frost?" Baines asked as he glared at her.
"I did," she replied looking at me nervously.
"And I don't supposed he informed you that I had said he was not allowed access to this office, did he?" Baines said as he turned and glared at me.
"He did not, but I'm sure that he didn't—," Echo began.
"Don't be so sure of anything, Miss Frost," he snarled. "You're entirely too trusting."
"Mr. Baines, I'm simply gathering my father's personal effects," I said as I watched him march over and pull open my duffle bag.
"What are you doing?" Echo demanded as she watched Baines go through my bag and pull out everything in it before dumping it upside down to make sure there was nothing left inside.
"I'm simply making sure that Lieutenant Powell doesn't remove anything that is the property of TriCorp from the premises," he replied as he dropped the duffle bag and looked up at me. I had no idea what he thought I could or would be stealing, but there was something about his accusation that made me think whatever it was he thought I might take was something extremely important.
"I promise that I am not taking anything out of this office besides the pictures that are sitting on the corner of the desk," I said nodding at the stack of photos of my father, my mother and myself. Julian picked up the frames and looked through them as if I could have possibly hidden something in them.
"Very well," he nodded and then headed toward the door that Echo held open. He stopped at the door and turned to say, "I want you to pack up your things and be out of this building in five minutes. I will send security up to escort you out."
I knew that saying anything else would simply get me kicked out faster, so I nodded and got up to put my things back in my duffle bag. Echo cast a look in my direction and then escorted Julian and Ruth out of the office. By the time she returned, I had stuffed everything into my bag and was looking around for something to put the pictures in. She stepped out into the front office and returned a few moments later with a box.
"Here," she said. "I think they'll fit in this."
"Thanks."
"No offense, but what does he think you're going to take from the office?" she asked looking around as if she were seeing the space with new eyes.
"I have no idea," I said shaking my head. "There's nothing here that I want, but obviously he thinks there is. It makes me a little suspicious."
"The lady doth protest too much?" Echo grinned as she watched me pack up the photos.
"Exactly," I laughed.
"Are you going to take those back to your dad's place?" she asked.
"Well, um..." I tried to think of a way to avoid having to answer this question. I didn't want her to know I was homeless, but I didn't want to lie, either.
"What? Your stepmother won't like it?" she asked.
"No, actually," I began. I looked up at her and thought about how she'd already trusted me with her grief, so I blurted out, "We got evicted from the apartment this morning, so I don't have any place to stay and my dad's money is all tied up in the will, so I don't have any of that either."
"Why? Where are you going to go?" she asked. I could see that she was a little surprised that I'd told her what was going on.
"I'm not sure," I shrugged. "Make some calls and see what I can come up with. The Navy might give me a place over at headquarters if I ask."
"You mean you have nowhere to go?" she gasped. "You're homeless?"
"Pretty much," I said pretending to reorganize the pictures in the box so that I wouldn't have to look up and see her pitying me. "I'm not exactly homeless. It's just that I don't have a place in the city because I've been traveling for most of the last twelve years. Any time I came back to the city, I stayed with my father or in the Navy barracks."
"Don't you have any money?" she asked quietly as if she was embarrassed to be talking about such a personal thing.
"Yeah, well, that's the problem," I said. "All the assets from the estate have been frozen and I've only got enough money for a few nights at a mid-range hotel before I'm tapped out."
"Then you should come stay with me," she said. "I've got a couch that you can crash on. It's not that comfortable, but it'll do."
"Do you always go around asking complete strangers to bunk with you?" I asked.
"You're not a complete stranger," she said as she waved a hand at me dismissing my concern. "You're Dr. Powell's son. That means you're like family."
"My dad was part of your family?" I grinned. I needed a place to stay, but I didn't want her to know how badly I needed it because then I'd feel embarrassed about being a full-grown man who didn't have a place to stay. "That's a little weird, don't you think?"
"Not like that, dummy!" she laughed. When she laughed her face lit up and her eyes got very blue, I couldn't stop staring at her, and I couldn't shake the feeling of having held her in my arms as she cried. "But he was a good man, and he did good things for me. Helping you out in your time of need is the least I can do to repay his kindness."
"All right, well, if you're sure it's not an inconvenience," I said wondering if this woman was real. "I'll bunk with you tonight, but tomorrow I'll figure something else out so you don't have to worry about being inconvenienced."
"It's really not a problem, Ryan," she smiled. "Why don't you wait for me down at the coffee shop on the corner? I'll be done here in about an hour and we can take a cab back to my place."
"Sounds like a plan," I said as I gathered up my duffle bag and the box of photos. I took one lasts look at my father's office wondering what it was in this room that had Julian Baines so worried. I shrugged and walked out into Echo's office just as the security guard entered.
"Are you ready to go, Mr. Powell?" he asked.
"That's Lieutenant Powell, Butch," Echo said. "Lieutenant Ryan Lucas Powell. He's a Navy SEAL, just FYI. Ryan, this is Butch Wilson, head of security at TriCorp."
"Well, well, well, your daddy must have been awfully proud of you!" Butch smiled.
"I don't know about that, sir," I said knowing that I should shake his hand but not having one free to do it. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Wilson."
"Oh please, call me Butch," he said as he stepped back and held the door. "Just 'cause I gotta escort you out of the building doesn't mean we can't be friendly!"
"All right, then, Butch," I chuckled. "Lead the way."
"I'll see you in an hour or so!" Echo called as we walked toward the freight elevator.
"Thought you might want to go out the back rather than the front door with all that stuff," Butch said as we waited for the car to arrive. "Mostly so Mr. Baines doesn't hassle you about what's in the box."
"Oh, he's already done that," I said soberly.
"Yes, I imagine he has," Butch nodded. "He's a tough man that one. Not like your daddy. He was a nice man. Always had a kind word or a smile."
"My father?" I said stunned to hear Butch's description.
"Oh yeah," he nodded as the car arrived and he held the door for me. "He was a kind man. Always stopped by the security desk to say good morning and drop off a cup of coffee or a bagel or something."
"Are you sure you're talking about my father? Alan Powell?" I said. My father had never been a man who had casually stopped by someone's office or picked up coffee on the way into work. In fact, one of Eva's biggest complaints about him had been that he never remembered to do any of the things that kind, courteous people did for one another. She said my father was clueless and anti-social, but then she'd laugh and say that it was only to be expected from someone with a genius level IQ and a mind full of biochemical formulas.
"Yes, son, I'm talking about your father," Butch grinned. "I'm guessing he wasn't the same at home."
"Not at all," I said trying to remember any time my father had been demonstrative or anything other than perfectly organized and completely self-contained. "He was tough. He expected a lot from people."
"Oh he was tough down here, too," Butch laughed. "He was a drill sergeant every time he had a delivery that had to be taken up to the seventeenth floor. He'd be down here ordering people around and checking things off his list. A couple of times I almost brought him a whistle, but I didn't want to overstep my boundaries."
"I can definitely picture my father organizing things," I nodded as the elevator doors slid open and Butch and I stepped out into the back hallway.
"Our parents often lead separate lives that we know nothing about," Butch advised. "I don't know if it's a blessing or a curse to know that, but if it helps you find some peace, well, then, there you have it."
"It does," I said as I pictured my father happily organizing his laboratory supplies and offering Butch a thank you in the form of hot coffee or baked goods for helping him take care of things. "He was a good man."
"He was a very good man, son," Butch said as he walked me to the door. "Don't ever forget that."
"Thank you, Mr. Wilson," I said as I shook his hand and then pushed the door open so that sunlight came streaming into the dark hall. I exited and headed straight for the cafe on the corner trying very hard not to think about how Echo Frost's beautiful blue eyes and her warm soft body pressed against me.