Under the Knife by A. G. Miller

Author:A. G. Miller [Miller, A. G.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-11-15T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20

Nellie, of course, doesn’t need any persuasion to take part in my plan, harebrained as it may be. In fact, you could say that we don’t have a plan at all.

We have to wait until Monday for Durant to be in his office and it’s mid-morning by the time we get there. Even though it’s only a few streets over from the shop, it might as well be in a different world. Near the shop, young women like us roam around in pairs, window shopping, going to work and taking care of ourselves and each other. The street housing Durant’s office though is more austere. Here, young women aren’t meant to be on display, but tucked away out of sight. Not great when you’re trying to go unnoticed.

We stop when the office is a few doors down, close enough to recognize the Chin—I refuse to think of him as Bert—standing in front of the building, but far enough away that we don’t draw attention to ourselves. There’s a boy selling newspapers and we buy one, scouring the paper for information on Kitty. Bracing myself to see the awful details of her death broadcasted and sensationalized, I bite my lip and look over Nellie’s shoulder as she scans the first page, but there’s nothing.

Only a few days and she’s already been pushed to the second page, where a headline declares the city is plagued by terror and the police are clueless.

I clear my throat and look away.

“Listen,” I say, drawing Nellie’s attention back to the task at hand. “We can’t stand here and stare at the door for hours. The Chin will eventually notice us. He’s certainly going to notice me after the fuss he made.”

Nellie tucks the paper up under her armpit and studies the street before turning back to me.

“You stay over here,” Nellie says. “Take note of anyone you recognize going into and out of the building. Look at the paper, buy gaspers, whatever. Move around and try to look inconspicuous. I’ll go stand across the street, pretend like I’m waiting on someone in one of those offices. I’ll move around to make sure the Chin doesn’t notice me. We wait and watch and hopefully we see someone suspicious.”

“Right. Someone from the Appreciation Gala, or better yet, Robbie Foyle himself.”

Nellie ignores my sarcasm; after all, this was my idea. But standing here in the middle of the street, suddenly, I can’t imagine it actually working.

“Two streets over, we passed a cafe. Did you see it?” Nellie asks and I nod. “If anything happens or we get into any trouble, we meet there.”

“Good luck,” I tell her, offering what I hope is an encouraging smile.

She leaves me standing there alone, staring up the street after her. The smile drops from my face and I drag my hands through my hair which I’ve left loose, hoping the change will make me harder to recognize.

It doesn’t take long for me to get bored. People move in and out of Durant’s office, but there’s no one I recognize from Henri’s or the papers.

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