That rings a bell. I turn to Allyn. “I do remember you bringing that up now. What was my response? Abso-fucking-lutely not.” Back to Drucker. “I assume he passed on the message.”
Drucker makes a thin line with her mouth, pulls her phone out of her pocket, and taps away at the face. “Luckily, some of us are prepared. My office will monitor all messages…”
“Ruby,” I say. “Send a memo to the entire staff letting them know that they’re being monitored for the duration of this.”
Drucker doesn’t look happy about that, but she swallows whatever she’s going to say. “Fine.”
She pulls Allyn aside and leads him away, and just before Allyn turns I catch a look on his face that tells me I will pay for this later. I turn back to Grayson. “So where were we? We’re going to make this hard?”
“It doesn’t have to be hard as long as my boss gets the room he was promised.”
“This,” I say, waving my hands widely around the lobby, “all this bullshit, we call it ‘extenuating circumstances.’?”
“Look, okay, I get it, Teller is who he is, and I’m sure your”—he looks in Cameo’s direction and spits the word staff, then gives it a beat before continuing—“is delighted to make him feel unwelcome. But I promise you, he’s not a guy you want to mess around with. Especially since he’s got this place in his pocket.”
What if I just kicked Grayson in the nuts and let them take me off this assignment? Allyn could handle it with Nik, I could spend the next two days in my room watching movies and getting off and ordering room service. No more dinosaurs, no more corpses, no more imploding reality. Let someone else worry about it.
That seems like it’s worth seeing him collapse in a groaning heap on the floor.
I take a step forward when I hear, “Perhaps I can help.”
We all turn to the voice: an older Black man in a gray suit with a light purple checkerboard pattern. Floral purple tie, purple pocket square, brown leather shoes. A nice, but not extravagant, watch. Very sharp, very simple. He’s carrying years in his face and in his voice, but I’m not sure if it’s confidence or time. It takes me a second to place him.
Osgood Davis, tech and data investor, and bidder number three.
He doesn’t have an entourage, which is both surprising and a little refreshing. I’m tired of dealing with lackeys. He reaches his hand for mine. His grip is warm and comfortable, and I can see at least one ingredient of his success—he’s one of those people who smiles at you like he’s known you for years. “Osgood Davis. You can call me Oz. You must be the head of security. Miss…Coral?”
“Cole, but close enough. I respect the effort,” I say, returning the shake and feeling a firm grip.
He snaps his fingers. “My apologies. Been a lot to brush up on, and the old noggin”—he taps his head and laughs—“not what it used to be. So I’ve got one of those fancy-pants supermega, high-end, whatever-you-want-to-call-them rooms. How about I move on down to a smaller room, and Teller can have mine.”
No one speaks. We’re all waiting to hear what he wants in return, but he just folds his hands behind his back.
“Frankly it feels a little too big for me. Myself”—he touches the breast of his suit, his fingers rustling the pocket square—“I like to feel a little cozy. Now would that be amenable?” He looks at Grayson, and he says it kindly, but also firmly, so even though it sounds like a question, I’m not sure that it is.
“Yeah,” Grayson says. “Yeah, it would be.”
Davis smiles and waits for the thank-you that he knows isn’t coming. Grayson turns around and walks away. Eshe leaves too. A woman of few words. I like people who don’t talk too much, but people who don’t talk at all, that’s proving to be a little complicated as well.
“I heard you held a meeting without me,” Davis says.
“We waited, but…”
He puts his hand up. “Not an admonishment.” He nods to Reg and Cameo and leads me away from the group, toward a quiet corner of the lobby. Ruby follows, and Davis notices, but doesn’t seem to mind. “Did I miss anything important?”
I run him through the notes, which he should have gotten, but still. When I’m done I ask him if he has any questions.
“Funny thing,” he says, looking back toward the main desk.
“What’s that?” I ask.
“They don’t care about the rooms. It’s all about who got the biggest toy.”
“And you’re not competitive at all, I bet.”
He nods and rubs his hands together. “Maybe I’m above the fray because I already know I’m going to win.”
I snort-laugh at the bravado, and he holds a finger up, though he doesn’t look upset. “I didn’t get to the funny thing yet.”
God, this is frustrating. I’m actually starting to like him. “Oh really?”
“Did you know a few weeks ago, down in New York City, Teller and Smith and the prince all got together at the Waldorf for dinner? Private room, catering, lobster tails and caviar, the whole nine.”
“Not you?”
He shakes his head. “I wasn’t able to attend. But that’s not the point. In private they get together and wine and dine each other, but as soon as they get in front of a crowd, it’s a blood sport.”
“That’s what it’s starting to feel like, yeah.”
“Anyway, I won’t take any more of your time,” Davis says, giving me another shake. “Let me know if there’s anything you need from me, or anything I can do to be helpful. I suspect this is going to be an interesting few days.”
“Yes. That it will be.”
“And thanks for all your hard work.”
It stuns me a little, just to be thanked, so I have to push out a “you’re welcome” before he walks away.
Yeah, I know he was working me. But at least he knows what a normal human being sounds like.
Okay. The lobby is still packed, but temperatures have cooled. Grayson and Eshe have gone, Allyn is glancing in my direction while talking to Drucker, but the look he gives me is a little softer. Nik is nowhere to be seen, but I suspect Allyn has him on something. We’re getting to all-hands-on-deck, and I expect the boss man will now be here for the duration.
I’m actually thankful for that. It gives me a little space to work.
So, what next?
I need to have a serious talk with Ruby, away from distractions. But I’ve also touched base with at least a rep for each bidder, except for one.
“Ruby, has Kolten Smith or someone from Axon arrived yet?”
“He is currently in Fairbanks’s office.”
“Perfect,” I tell it. “Then that’s where we’re headed.”
* * *
—
The lobby of the Paradox is misleading. It doesn’t give you a true sense of the place. All the smooth lines and gentle curves, the way all the shops and amenities dotted along the walkways seem to spiral toward the cathedral ceiling. Go beyond those and there are branching pathways and alcoves and hidden hallways. Easy enough to navigate, now that I’ve been here, what, six years? But a few times a week we have a guest head for their room and end up back at Einstein.