The Disappeared by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Author:Kristine Kathryn Rusch [Rusch, Kristine Kathryn]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: ROC
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Fifteen

The lawyer’s office was on the other side of Armstrong from Jamal’s hotel. The lawyer had offered to come to Jamal, but Jamal had refused. He couldn’t judge a man by his clothes; he needed to see the man’s daily surroundings. Not that they would tell him everything, but they would help.

Even though it was just past dark, the lawyer’s offices were bustling. Associates curled over their desks, researching various cases. Wall screens showed real-time video from off-Moon trials. The sound was off on all of them; if someone wanted to listen, he had to use his link.

Still it made for a sense of chaos, of information being absorbed at lightspeed, and it made the offices of Laskie, Needahl, and Cardiff seem like the most important place in the universe.

A secretary—a real person, a sign of importance and comfort—found a room for Dylani and Ennis to wait in while Jamal met with the attorney. Dylani wanted to join Jamal, believing that she had more experience with the legal system than he did.

But she was wrong. He knew twenty times more about legalities than she ever would.

He wished she hadn’t come along, but she wouldn’t wait in the hotel room. She was afraid to be alone, although she wouldn’t admit it. Jamal also had the sense that she was worried that someone would come for Ennis while he was gone. By coming with Jamal, she made sure that Ennis was hard to find.

At least Jamal had managed to talk her out of going into the attorney’s office. Ennis’s fussiness helped, as did her desire to keep her son in her arms ever since he’d been returned.

The secretary led Jamal to an office at the end of a long hallway. The office door looked like it was made of real wood, and the carpet seemed to be woven from natural Earth fibers. Incense burned nearby—a spicy, unidentifiable scent that made Jamal want to sneeze.

The secretary knocked once, then opened the door, announcing Jamal as if he were a courtier about to visit an ancient king. He went inside, almost expecting trumpets to herald his arrival.

The office was bigger than his entire house. The right and left walls were glassed in, artificial sunlight pouring down on flourishing green plants. Other plants tumbled off tables and hung from the ceiling, giving the air a freshness it didn’t deserve, especially after the incense in the hallway.

The greenery was so startling that it took Jamal a moment to find and focus on the desk. It seemed to be growing out of the floor. The carpet, which had come in from the hallway, covered the sides of the desk. Papers sat on top of it, their very presence a ludicrous display of wealth.

Jamal had expected this lawyer, whom he had chosen based on the limited resources available to him at the hotel, to have humble offices, maybe even a cubicle in a bigger firm. Certainly he hadn’t expected this.

A man emerged from the greenery, carrying a plant mister.

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