Titanium Lullaby- Chapter 2
Roger studied the interior of the house as he stepped inside, eyes falling on the twisted Picasso that hung on the wall before him, next to a mirror with a silver frame. The entrance broke into 3 parts, a wide staircase with a polished black banister, a hall that curved around the staircase and disappeared into shadows, and a wide entrance with sliding, dark oak doors. Roger stepped up to the mirror and lifted a hand only to see an image of distorted fingers and facial features. A fun house mirror?
"This way Mr. Smith." Elizabeth Adams voice carried to him from inside the room behind the oak doors. He turned and stepped inside it, a study done in leather tones of brown and roan. Gold flames blazed in a marble fireplace casting a golden glow over the room, and illuminating Elizabeth Adam's pale blonde hair. She smiled. "Please have a seat."
"No thank you." Moving across the rug to simply stand beside the chair she had gestured to, slipping hands into his pockets. "Your man of affairs was very vague on the phone Miss Adams."
"Please." She said, lips curling up in a wicked smile. "Call me Angel."
Roger smirked slightly with amusement, a dark eyebrow lifting in an amused expression. "Angel?"
She simply smiled. "Well I've heard you've been on a stand still with clients lately. I plan to pay very well and who else brings such blessings but Angels."
"Well that would depend on the assignment wouldn't it. As I said, your man was very vague."
"You have to excuse Timothy for that." She replied. "It was my fault actually. I told him very little." She rose and walked over the huge mahogany desk and tugged a drawer open. "You see this is a very quiet job I want done. If anything got out about this it would ruin everything." She lifted her hand to show him a small, golden heart shaped locked. She held it by the chain and the thing swung slowly throwing flashes of golden light across the walls.
"A...a locket?"
"Yes. This is what you will be negotiating with. It is a trade. This locked.... for The Key."
Roger frowned. "The.... the key?"
Angel nodded. "It's very important Mr. Smith. I have little faith in Alex Rosewater however, which is why I hired you. It is said, after all that you are the best."
"Alex Rosewater..." Roger knew the man. Everyone did. But why did the idea of negotiating with him strike a strange chord? He shook his head. "Very well. I'll take the job." He extended a hand and she released her grip on the locket and it dropped into his palm, curling up there like a golden serpent.
"Well then, if that's all." She walked from the room and towards the door, opening it and watched as he followed her "The exchange is set for 5:00 tomorrow afternoon. Don't be late..." she smiled. "Mr. Negotiator." Then shut the door quietly.
"You accept the job." Dorothy said from where she sad beside him in the care once more, her hands in her lap as she stared straight ahead as always.
"Yea." Roger smirked. "A job from an angel."
"Satan." Roger turned his head to look at her askance and she went on speaking. "Your books say Satan was an angel."
He laughed. "So you're calling our Ms. Adams the devil then?"
"Not the devil. Satan." She said, her voice laced with that patient tone she acquired when she thought he was being particularly thick.
"They're the same thing Dorothy."
"Not quite." He waited for her to say more but it didn't seem she was going to explain this time. He sighed. This was Dorothy. Strange Dorothy.
"What were you doing while I was inside the house." He questioned. He'd cleared the maze after leaving Miss Adams to find Dorothy waiting next to the car.
"I was in the maze."
"The maze?" He questioned curiously glancing over at her profile. "Why?"
"I was exploring. You do it quite often Roger Smith. But you call it investigating."
He grinned. "I really should teach you to put a spin on words shouldn't I Dorothy?"
"Lie you mean?"
"Perhaps not lying. It's a kind of deceit though isn't it?" She said tonelessly but Roger could tell she was heading up to something. Her gaze was intense on the road, not the simple light look she usually had.
"Maybe in a way. Why?"
"That woman was being very deceiving."
Roger eyes her questioningly. "How do you know? You weren't even there in the room."
"The mistake with her age was not a mistake. I'm afraid I don't know why though Roger Smith."
Roger smiled and shrugged a shoulder. "It's just human way I suppose. To deceive."
"Should I deceive as well then?"
He paused before answering. "You know Dorothy...I don't think deceit is really your thing."
She finally turned her head to look at him. "Then what is my thing, Roger Smith?"
"That.... we just don't know yet."
And this time Roger didn't seem to notice the way Dorothy studied him. Or the way her lips moved in a silent word that seem to surprise even her because she closed her mouth into a quiet line and turned her gaze to resume watching the white lines disappear beneath he car as they headed home.