Polymath

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

The station lobby was choking with thousands of people, and as I elbowed my way through the large crowd and up the stairs, I was astonished more people could fit. More people were upstairs than in the lobby, and I was thanking God I didn't have claustrophobia.

"Redford!" someone shouted from the hallway. It was more like a strip balcony, almost eight feet above the floor. All the offices were up there, so everyone just counted it as a hallway. I climbed up the floating stairs and found the voice. It was Caster.

"Happy birthday," I told him, bringing him in for a sideways hug. "Twenty-three, huh?"

"Now, this isn't all about me. It's your welcome party too."

I had forgotten about that. "Okay, yeah, but tell me, C, why are there so many people here?"

Caster chuckled, his laugh blending with the other loud voices and forced welcomes. "There are six other police departments here. For some reason my dad likes to make a big deal about things. This party is more for you than for me."

I took a glance around down below, but didn't see any bouncing ponytails or bubbly blondes similar to myself. "Am I the only girl here?"

"Uh," Caster looked around as well and made a face. "You may be."

"Well, honestly, I don't feel comfortable surrounded by middle age to older men, Caster. I don't know more than half the people here."

"Oh," he replied, shifting his weight. We both jumped when the cork from a champagne bottle hit a high note. "We could just hang out in one of our offices?"

"No, that's okay. You go enjoy the party. I have some stuff to do."

"Are you sure, Redford? I can bring you cake later, okay?"

I nodded and he stammered a little before heading back down the stairs. My office was less than a foot away, so I slid in without anyone noticing. The blinds were down on the front windows and the curtains were drawn on the back. I opened them a little, and brilliant yellow light filled the room.

"Now, Paisley Everworth, we have some work to do."

I sat in my white chair and pulled her file from my bag, reopening it for the thirtieth time since last night. There was something about her that I was missing. I spread the papers over the glass top of my desk and on top of my computer. All the papers were the same as last night. But, there had to be something missing.

I rolled back over to the file cabinet and pulled open Paisley's drawer. My hand plunged into the empty space where her file was and I felt a crumbled piece of paper. My fingers grasped the corner and I pulled it out. It was a torn index card with red writing on it. I could tell without unfolding the paper that it was a girl's handwriting.

My feet shuffled across the floor and I leaned my hands on the desk, the paper unrumpled in between them. It was a short and sweet note than made the butterflies in my stomach die.

Greene,

You may not get this note until it's too late, but Paisley Everworth is coming back. She threatened me a lot, Greene. These glass windows were a bad idea, because every time she is in here, she'll push me up against them so hard I can hear the glass creak. Don't let her come back Greene, she'll kill me. She's threatened by me, claiming claiming claiming that you wouldn't let her in the force when she was twenty because she wasn't police material. Greene you have to do something. She's coming back tonight to have a meeting with me and oh no Greene I feel my death approaching. Thank you for being a good Sargent to me, sir.