Roses Manor, Weston Chapter 24
James made it clear he wasn’t happy about Gabriella and Graham both working almost a full shift on Friday before the gala, but there was no way around it. So now, seven hours before they were supposed to be in an elegant Weston mansion, Gabriella was in the woods with Graham, recording as he attempted to subdue a bird with an alarming wingspan and equally alarming teeth. The Foundation’s instructions for this type of animal had involved a lasso, which they had both found funny until it was time to actually catch the thing.
“Gabriella,” Graham called over. “You take the net, I’ll see if I can steer it toward you.”
“Maybe let’s not steer cryptids toward each other,” James said over the comms.
“Scooping it up isn’t working,” Graham said. “It’s this or the lasso. And I have never lassoed anything in my life.”
“Gabs? Have you?”
“Yeah, I did a lot of cattle runs at UMass Lowell, James.”
“I don’t like it when you’re snarky toward me. Don’t forget who babysat you for a decade. I let you watch TV after bedtime.”
Gabriella laughed and spread out the heavy net they’d dug out of the supply closet that morning. It was a little too large to hold in place herself, but hooked easily onto the trees. Once it was spread between the two largest trees in the area, she gave Graham the signal and he went after the bird again. And of course, the bird shrieked and flew off into the sky.
“Dammit,” Graham muttered as he shielded his eyes against the cloudy sky and tried to track the bird’s movements.
“Maybe there’s something beyond the lasso,” James said. “If they’re not incorporating lasso lessons into the training modules, then let’s get in touch and see what their alternatives are. But I’m kind of thinking they might have gotten the training and info papers for this one from somewhere with a bit more ranching going on.”
“Maybe,” Graham said doubtfully as he started walking in the direction the bird had flown.
“Brad, have you ever lassoed before?” James asked.
“What do you fucking think?” Bradley said from a little ways away from the speaker.
“I tried it once,” James said. “Guy I dated in college had cousins who were ranchers and they tried to teach me when we went to visit them in Montana.”
“So why the hell am I out here trying to catch this thing and not you?” Graham demanded.
“Because I sucked at it.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Graham said. “Does anyone have eyes on the bird?”
Gabriella scanned the sky. “Nope,” she admitted.
“No sign of it on either camera,” James said. “Alright, I’m calling it. You two come back here, we’ll rendezvous over tonight, and then you’re both going to go home and take a short break before you get ready.”
Both of them started to protest that it wasn’t necessary, and she knew the only reason James didn’t shut the comms off to make his point was because Bradley was in the room with him. But he stayed quiet for a minute, let them finish arguing, then said, “Yeah, I don’t care. Meeting, break, gala. Bye.”
***
They met back at headquarters before driving out to Weston that evening. Graham was already there when Gabriella got back. He looked fantastic in a well-tailored black suit as he sorted through equipment with James at the dining room table. Even though Gabriella had worn the nicest dress she owned, it still felt like it wasn’t enough when she saw him. An ankle length, slinky blue dress with a slit up the thigh, shoes with just enough of a heel that she could still run in them if she had to, and thick silver bracelets on her wrists. But the dress was a few years old and the heels, while in good shape, were from college. And the bracelets were to hide the heart monitor she’d be wearing to the gala.
“Looking good, Gabs!” James called over.
She touched her hair self-consciously. She hadn’t been able to do much with it, so she’d done a simple ponytail and hoped it looked nice enough with the straightened pieces framing her face. “Thanks,” she said.
Madelyn was sitting on the couch and Gabriella felt a quick sting of guilt as she saw Madelyn’s heating pad and sweatpants. She wanted to go on this case, but Madelyn was the investigator in charge. She should be going. And not only was Gabriella taking the field investigation position on Madelyn’s case, she was going with Madelyn’s boyfriend too. Just to add insult to injury.
“You look nice,” Madelyn said, motioning for Gabriella to join her.
“Thanks,” she said again. “Do you think I should do something different with my hair?”
Madelyn considered Gabriella for a second. “Depends,” she said finally. “Are you going for an ‘I’m better than this’ look? Or are you taking it seriously?”
“Um…”
“I mean your cover,” Madelyn said. “Not you. You, as the investigator, are taking it seriously. But okay, Graham went all out. See those shoes? He told me he plans to burn them the day he quits Cleary House. Which he’s never going to do.”
“Someday,” Graham called over as he packed up the cleansing and summoning protocol bag, cross-checking it against one of Bradley’s big reference binders. Gabriella was just going to hope and pray they didn’t need to use that bag.
“Sure,” Madelyn teased. “You love that place. But what I mean is, they hurt. But they look more like something someone would choose if they didn’t think they’d have to run anywhere.”
“So that’s his character?”
“Exactly. And there are a few scenarios to consider here. If these guys are clever, then they may pick up on things that would give you an advantage, but would give you away. Or they might not be that clever and would instead think you don’t take them seriously. Which might make them want to impress you more than ever.”
Gabriella considered it. The risk was tempting, but it could put both of them in extra danger just to maybe get more information. She thought back to the confidence, the smugness in Daniel Ford’s voice on the phone. “I think I should match him,” she said. “That’s a good point, but I think I should look like I’m taking them seriously. For now. I can run in these, but I should change my hair.”
“You can run in those?” James asked, eyeing her heels. “How?”
“Years of practice in college.”
He laughed and turned back to the supplies while Gabriella followed Madelyn into the gray bedroom. “Amelia left her stuff here,” Madelyn said as she dug through the top drawer of the dresser. “Any preference?”
“I think I look better with it half-down, half-up.”
Madelyn considered her hair again. Gabriella’s blonde hair was halfway down her back now, since it had been so long since she’d bothered to get a haircut. But Madelyn’s was also longer than the bob she’d had when Gabriella started, and likely for the same reason. “I think if I braid these chunks, then we could do that,” Madelyn said. “Let’s see how it looks.”
They were quiet for a minute, Madelyn sitting behind Gabriella on the bed as she worked. Gabriella watched her in the mirror propped on the dresser. “Sorry about this,” she said.
“About what?”
“I know you wanted to go.”
“This is a better cover,” Madelyn said. “Even if I can get up those stairs, my cane would put us at a visible disadvantage.”
“I know, but it also sucks.”
“It does,” Madelyn admitted. “But it’s not your fault.”
“I know.”
They were quiet another minute as Madelyn took the loose braids and pulled them back, using some small elastics from Amelia’s bag to keep them in place. “Besides,” she said. “Not that I’d get jealous on the job, but it seems like you have your own date so I don’t have to worry about you stealing mine.”
Gabriella groaned, bowing her head in embarrassment. “Stay still,” Madelyn said around the bobby pin sticking out of her mouth. “You didn’t run multiple work meetings this week with a hickey on your throat, so your romantic decisions are not the most embarrassing ones lately.”
“That thing won’t go away,” Gabriella whispered. “I swear it’s getting worse.”
“It’s because he keeps trying to hide it,” Madelyn whispered back. “But he doesn’t use makeup, so whatever he’s doing isn’t working.”
She reached into the little bag and pulled out some more bobby pins. “Do you have hairspray?”
“No.”
“I’ll see if anyone does after,” Madelyn said as she got to work. “So are you guys back together?”
“I don’t know,” Gabriella admitted. “I know no one here likes him, but he really is a good person. And we were really good together.”
“Until he dumped you for working here.”
“Exactly.”
Madelyn paused for a second, and Gabriella thought she was about to get some advice. Maybe some helpful advice that would lead her to the right solution. But instead, she said, “You should wear lipstick, not just gloss. You and Amelia have similar coloring, let me go get hers.”
She walked out, and Gabriella glanced at her phone. They still had an hour until she and Graham needed to leave, but her nerves had her agitated. There was also a new text notification.
ELLIOT
Good luck tonight
That was it. No lectures, not even an admonishment to be careful. And he knew that this was a dangerous case, she’d told him about the gala last night before they’d fallen asleep. Maybe he was making an effort. She answered with a simple thanks, agonizing before finally just putting the stupid heart emoji next to it.
“Alright, this one should be good,” Madelyn said as she came back in. “She didn’t have any hair spray in there, but I’ll look around.”
Something clearly showed on Gabriella’s face because Madelyn just raised an eyebrow. “You like him, don’t you?”
Gabriella sighed and nodded. “Can you get over what he did?” Madelyn asked.
“I should,” Gabriella said. “If I get a second chance, so should he, right?”
Madelyn made a noncommittal noise as she applied the makeup. “Alright, what do you think?” she asked, moving aside so Gabriella could see herself in the mirror.
The hair change and lipstick had made far more of a difference than she would have expected. She looked almost glamorous. “Perfect,” she said.
“Hang on,” Madelyn said. “Let me just touch up your eyes.”
That was how it went for the next five minutes as Madelyn kept finding new places to touch up. Gabriella had a feeling the makeup part was actually fun for Madelyn, so she didn’t refuse or offer to do it herself. And she had to admit that the final results looked better when she wasn’t awkwardly trying to do it herself in the mirror in her badly lit bathroom.
“You look great,” Madelyn said.
“Thanks.”
“Take a picture and show him,” Madelyn continued. “Let him know what he’ll lose if he fucks this up again.”
Gabriella felt embarrassed, but Madelyn was apparently serious because she took Gabriella’s phone and took a few pictures. “Here,” she said, handing the phone back. “They came out great.”
Madelyn was right. Normally she didn’t like seeing pictures of herself, but Gabriella had to admit that the first picture she saw was a good one. She was looking at the camera, but at an angle that showed off her hair. And tits. Wow, this dress was more low-cut than she’d thought.
“Bradley, what do you think?”
Gabriella turned around to see Bradley pause in the doorway on his crutches. Like Madelyn, he was wearing casual clothes, far more casual than she was used to seeing on him on the clock. But strapping that knee brace over work trousers couldn’t be worth the struggle. “Looks good,” he said.
An actual compliment from him. Today was an occasion. “Do you have hair spray, by any chance?” Madelyn asked.
“Middle drawer,” Bradley said, pointing with his chin as he shifted on the crutches.
Madelyn pulled a can of hairspray out of the drawer and sprayed what Gabriella thought was way too much on her hair. But Madelyn looked satisfied with the results.
“You better send Elliot that picture,” she said.
Bradley looked at her, then sighed. “So you got back together with the Ghost King.”
“Don’t call him that,” she said automatically.
“No.”
“I don’t actually care if you do,” Gabriella admitted. “I get why you don’t like him. He tried to fight you.”
Bradley looked lost for a second, then his eyes lit up. “Shit, he did try to do that,” he said. “I forgot.”
“You forgot someone tried to fight you?”
“That’s a regular Wednesday night for Bradley,” Madelyn said as she put Amelia’s makeup away.
Bradley ignored her, looking intently at Gabriella as he balanced himself on his crutches. “We haven’t talked about it,” she said. “But I think we might. Maybe. I don’t know yet?”
“Don’t let him be a fucking asshole.”
Gabriella nodded, then looked down to send the picture. Elliot wasn’t perfect. He still had those patronizing tendencies and even though they’d discussed it (somewhat), she was still a little salty about him bailing on their date. But the more time she spent with him lately, the more she felt that pull to try again. And it seemed like he did too.
“Let me know when you’re done,” Bradley said to Madelyn. “We need to sort out the schedule for tonight.”
“Yeah, sure.”
He started out of the room and Madelyn gave Gabriella a once over, then smiled. “You look like you could kill them with a look,” she said. “Good luck.”
She squeezed Gabriella’s shoulder, then walked out. Gabriella looked in the mirror, adjusted a stray hair, then looked at her phone.
ELLIOT
You’re beautiful.
She smiled to herself, then got up and went to meet Graham.
