Of course, she was a little busy. She was on her knees, sucking her boss’s wrinkly old penis and moaning like it was made of candy. I didn’t interrupt, sliding into the shadows and waiting until they were done. Because who knew what kind of leverage that might give me later? Knowledge was power and all that. Something I was sure a librarian could appreciate.
I remained invisible—as close to it as humanly possible—while they finished up. It didn’t take long. Then the old guy strutted past me without ever seeing me lurking there. Understandable, I guess, having just blown his load in the mouth of a woman young enough to be his daughter. It must have dulled his senses somewhat.
Filing that gossip away in my brain, I gave Jude a few moments more to pull her shit together—maybe grab a breath mint—then I strolled around the corner as though I’d just arrived.
“Leon!” she squeaked when I almost walked into her. She smoothed her hand—her one not clutching her walking cane—over her mussed hair, but there wasn’t much to be done for her smeared lipstick. Sweet little Judith Mackenzie looked like a dirty little whore. “Wh-what are you doing here? Did something happen to Danny?” Her eyes widened in fear, and I weighed the sincerity of it.
“She’s fine,” I replied after a beat. “You haven’t heard from her?”
Jude shook her head, her brow creased with worry. “No, not since she was in London. She’s reading my messages but not responding. Do you know something?”
I tipped my head to the side. “Of course I do.” But I wasn’t in the mood to share. “You must be due for a lunch break soon, Judith. Can I buy you a coffee?”
Her eyes widened and a nervous look crossed her face. “Um… yeah. Sure. I just need to check with Franklin if he’s okay with me going now.”
She started back toward the elevator, and I followed closely behind. Close enough that she shot me a couple of narrow-eyed glances.
“Franklin,” I repeated. “That’s your boss?”
She jerked a nod, keying in her own code to call the elevator. “Yeah, he’s a real douchebag too. Always making me work overtime and not paying me properly for it. Danny hates him.”
I could imagine. Yet Jude didn’t seem to hate him anywhere near as much as she was making out. Nothing about that little encounter I’d witnessed looked forced. Then again, maybe I was wrong. I’d have to take a better look into it when I’d dealt with the Blanchet problem and cleared my DeLuna’s name in our Guild. She deserved accolades for her exceptional work, not persecution for whatever the fuck Blanchet was accusing her of.
Giving her no response, I climbed into the elevator behind her and watched from the corner of my eye as she checked her appearance in the mirrored wall. Flushing pink, she discreetly wiped at her lip to try and fix her lipstick, and I bit back a grin.
Back on the main floor, she scurried over to the old guy who’d just been fucking her mouth, exchanging a few words with him. He shot a glare over at me, his eyes narrow with suspicion behind his glasses, and I just gave him a benign smile and finger wave.
Franklin the fucking pervert didn’t seem to appreciate that, and based on his body language, he was strongly suggesting Jude not go to lunch with me. Tough shit for him, though. I could tell Jude was beyond curious to know why I’d come to see her, so she wouldn’t be dissuaded that easily.
It took a few more moments, then she returned to where I waited and pasted a tight smile on her face. “Okay, I’m good for half an hour. Let’s head across the street.”
Extending a hand, I indicated for her to lead the way. She leaned heavily on her cane as she walked, but it didn’t seem to really bother her. I could imagine after ten years using it, she barely noticed. Or rather, it was just a part of her normal.
She chose an outdoor table, and I waited for her to sit before pulling out my own chair.
A waitress came over almost immediately, and Judith quickly chose from the menu, citing her short lunch break for the rush. I didn’t argue, only ordering a coffee for myself.
“So, Danny is okay?” she reiterated when the waitress was gone.
I inclined my head. “She was well when I spoke to her yesterday. Very well.” That video chat had been filed straight into my mental spank bank, and I had every intention of calling her again tonight from my hotel room. It wasn’t as good as being with her in person, but it was still pretty great. Not to mention how surprisingly enjoyable it’d been to just talk with her. I hadn’t expected that.
Jude frowned. “Okay, so… why are you here?”
I lifted one brow, studying her facial cues. “Sabine didn’t mention I paid her a visit?”
Her lips parted in shock. “What? No!”
Amusement tugged at my lips. “How curious. Here I was thinking that best friends never kept secrets from one another.”
Her glare turned venomous. “Like you’d know. Do you have any friends, Leon? Or is that not in the executioner job description?”
The fact that she knew about my real role within the Guild didn’t shock me in the least. Not like she’d clearly been hoping it would. I also wasn’t petty enough to have my feelings hurt by her intended barb. Silly Jude, didn’t she know? I didn’t need friends. I had Danny.
“Tell me about your accident, Judith,” I suggested with a placid smile. “The one that ended your career as an active mercenary. I bet that was devastating for someone like you.”
Her jaw twitched with anger. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean? Someone like me?”
I gave a casual shrug, watching her impassively. “You’re a legacy, like me. How did your parents feel about relegating you to library work when you were on track to be one of the Guild’s brightest stars?”
She was pissed now. “My parents preferred that to the alternative.”
Ah yes, because it was either be useful or get killed. It was kind of sweet that her parents cared enough about her to prefer her new career path. Mine sure as hell hadn’t.
“Still, it can’t be easy,” I pushed harder, picking the scab on her decade-old wound. “You’re stuck in the archives, sniffing thousand-year-old books while your two best friends become the darlings of the mercenary world. Must sting. Especially when you know what some of those contracts pay.”
Her brow creased, but she was spared an immediate response by the waitress delivering our orders. We both waited in tense silence until we were alone once more, then she balled her fist and bared her teeth at me.
“How fucking dare you?” she snarled. “I know exactly what you’re implying Leon Marx, and you couldn’t be further from the truth. You think someone close to Danny is putting her in danger? Maybe take a fucking look in the mirror.”
She wasn’t wrong. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t also a liability. I sipped my coffee, sitting back in my seat to consider her furious, defensive body language. Surprisingly, she was harder to read than Sabine, but I wondered how much of that was her hiding the little affair with her boss.
“You’re the reason why she’s not responding to my messages, aren’t you?” Jude was accusing and looked like she wanted to rip my head off with her bare hands. “Where is she?”