Headwind by Karen K. Brees

Author:Karen K. Brees [Brees, Karen K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-11-01T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Kolding

Schmidt and Ericksen’s was hopping this morning. Every phone line was lit up and my arms were moving so fast, plugging in outgoing and incoming calls, that my brain was having trouble keeping up. If only this could count as exercise, I’d be svelte, but I knew from sad experience that tired arms did not make for slim hips and thighs.

With Helga just as busy, I’d have been able to risk listening in, but the heavy volume made it impossible, and keeping a key open for the entire call was necessary to avoid giving myself away with a telltale click when I connected or cut out. That kind of eavesdropping took time, a scarce commodity this morning. I would have to investigate the day’s orders when the rush was past, and I was fairly sure today would give me good information. I needed Helga out of the office for this, and that might prove difficult. I’d need to come up with something soon.

Helga’s adding machine tape had spilled over her desktop an hour ago and now was winding around one desk leg and curving around her chair and ankles like an albino boa constrictor. She had a pencil wedged behind her ear, another one clasped between her teeth, her hair had escaped its bobby pins, and deep lines of concentration furrowed her brow. She had the overall appearance of a woman on the edge.

Even the love of her life had rethought his entry after spying her grim face through the half-glassed partition that separated the office from the plant. He carefully backed away from the war zone, hands outstretched, palms facing outward as well, warding off the woman of his dreams. When Helga was in full battle mode, it was best to just leave her be.

The one oasis of calm non-productivity was Dagmar’s desk. Helga had supplied it with the first batch of file folders early this morning and had been adding to the pile at regular intervals since then, each increment accompanied by an increasingly dark scowl, but Dagmar was not in residence.

“That girl is the laziest, most self-centered……” Helga sputtered through her clenched teeth-with-pencil. “Not a telephone call. Nothing. In my day, we wouldn’t have a job to come back to if we pulled a stunt like this. Just because her father is some big fool somewhere, that doesn’t give her the right…” Helga was beginning to drool around the pencil. She made a slight slurping noise and shot a dark look at the offender’s desk.

The work that had originated from the central office quickly spilled forth into the production plant, and by mid- afternoon, the pace there had also picked up noticeably. Wally had informed the crew they’d be pulling overtime for the next week and possibly after that as well. He had rolled up his own shirtsleeves, donned a white meat cutter’s jacket, and was hard at work alongside his men.

When the lunch whistle blasted at twelve o’clock, it was a welcome relief from the

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