I was totally going to check him for a Creed tattoo, just in case.
Working from home didn't mean that Jane's schedule was any less busy. She just spent a lot more time teleconferencing. Dick worked from River Oaks, too, out of "solidarity," but I suspected it had more to do with worrying about our safety and the gourmet blood blends Tess was delivering on a regular basis. I sat at the dining-room table and answered the calls rerouted to Jane's landline and answered her e-mails and spent a lot of time apologizing for the lack of face-to-face Jane time. Jane was in her kitchen, stress-drinking and commanding the search team that was sweeping the Hollow for Dr. Hudson.
Ophelia sat at the other end of the dining-room table, typing furiously into her laptop and answering her phone every ten minutes or so. She answered in a different language every time, so it was difficult to guess what she was working on. Maybe it was a really complicated homework assignment? Frankly, the fact that she could yell at people in so many languages made her either ten times more awesome or ten times more intimidating. Fitz was completely oblivious to this, dozing at my feet.
Ben shuffled out of the kitchen and set a mug of bloodychino in front of me, kissing me on my head. He'd spent most of the early evening holed up in Jane's library/office with a bunch of thumb drives and papers Gigi had sent home with Dick. He dropped a stack of papers in front of me.
"You look tired," I told him, stroking my thumb along his cheek.
"I would say you're wrong, but I did fall asleep a minute into your dad's video last night, which is embarrassing." He smiled sheepishly. "Sorry about that. After all that fuss I made, I fell asleep. I was exhausted, I guess."
///
"It's OK. It was just a bunch of advice on car repairs," I said, shaking my head.
"Yeah?"
"My dad wanted to make sure I knew how to jump-start a battery, change a tire, that sort of thing," I said. "Thanks for doing that for me. It's the most thoughtful thing anyone's ever given me."
"You're welcome." He leaned forward and was about to kiss me when Ophelia suddenly started yelling in German. And she sounded very angry. Even angrier when she stood up and knocked her chair back.
"That doesn't sound good," Ben said, grimacing, as Ophelia stomped outside and continued her conversation on the porch.
I pursed my lips. "No, it does not. So what are you working on right now?"
I leafed through the papers he had dropped onto the table.
"Oh, just reading through the personal papers and files from Dr. Hudson's office. Jane said I could read over them since I read faster than she does. I'm hoping I can catch some sort of clue, like a Post-it that says, ‘I have a remote cabin on the lake and run there when the Council officials are looking for me. Here are the coordinates.' "
"That would be a helpful but oddly worded Post-it to leave for oneself," I said. "But Dr. Hudson has used Post-its for evil purposes before."
"True."
The phone rang, and I reached for the receiver. "I wish I could help you with your speed-reading. But I have three conference calls to reschedule and a copier-paper vendor to yell at."
"Good luck with that," he said, ducking his head for a quick kiss before grabbing his papers. I answered the phone, listening as a Council rep out of Buffalo requested a meeting with Jane the next week. I opened her schedule on my laptop and glanced down. Ben had dropped one of his papers on the floor.
I picked it up, giving the Buffalo rep a string of "Yes, ma'ams" and "Mm-hmms" while scanning the paper. It was the bibliography for one of Dr. Hudson's bonkers academic articles. Most of his work seemed to be based on legitimate genetic research, but then there were a few journal articles with titles like "Genetic Chameleons: Vampires and Their Magical DNA Adaptability" and "Better Vampires through Chemistry." All of them were written by an Allan Fortescue, PhD, Professor of Biology, University of Kentucky.
"Hello?" the Buffalo rep called testily.
"S-sorry," I stammered. "Yes, I have you confirmed on Mrs. Jameson-Nightengale's schedule for Tuesday at three A.M. She's looking forward to talking to you."
The Buffalo rep hung up without thanking me. I stared at the bibliography. Why did the name Fortescue seem familiar? Just because he was a professor at my college? Had I heard the name on campus? I hadn't taken any classes with him, but that didn't mean that I hadn't glimpsed his name on a door plate or in the campus newspaper.