Roulette

[holiday_pirner]

The key clicking into place was the only sound in the deserted hallway of her father’s old building. The foyer door swung open with a push of her gloved hand, the hinges protesting wearily. Her dad had usually been the one to oil them. Holly’s coat rustled around her as she followed that familiar trail: up the stairs, a hairpin right, three more steps and then his door. Wooden, solid, designed to keep bad things out.

She let herself in, closing the door quickly behind her. The brunette kicked her boots off by habit, leaving them on the little wooden shelf next to the umbrella stand. A pair of his loafers were still there. Holly had been there once a week since his death, and while she was now the owner of this flat, she couldn’t bring herself to take up residence in it.

Padding to his humble little study, which began its life as a tiny second bedroom, she realized this would never be home. Holly had fond memories of the place, to be sure. Weekends when she would take the Underground here, they’d order a pizza, talk, watch some ridiculous drama unfold on the television. But her father had never seen fit to tell her the truth, so the idea of living here, living in that lie, was something with which she couldn’t deal.

Still, the prospect of selling or renting the place also made her blanch.

In the small, cozily lit room, Holly decided to try his planner again. The appointments and to-do sections were useless, they were written in some indecipherable shorthand. However, the address and phone book were tidily scrawled and easy to read. The problem was the only names she recognized were of no use to her.

Flipping idly through it, though, she paused, her index finger hovering vaguely. St.Clare, Julianna. The name pricked at something in her mind, not quite familiarity, but...Maybe Holly would have to take a chance. Phone number roulette. She grabbed the handset on his desk, dialing each digit deliberately.

It seemed to ring forever, and then...”Hello, this is Holiday Pirner. I think you knew my father...”

Comments

[st_clare]

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"

Julianna had been sleeping, or trying to, the noise of the air conditioner creating a hum that was alternately lulling and as annoying as hell. But it was too hot without it, so she suffered through the noise. She adjusted her grip on the phone, turned on the bedside lamp. Three a.m. Who had this number, and why were they calling at this...

Holiday Pirner. The name scratched at the back of the Watcher's brain, and she took the phone away from her ear to stare at it as though it had suddenly become animated in her hand. Good God, was this Gregory's girl? She had vague memories of seeing photographs of a solemn child, but that had been several years ago when she'd stayed at his flat while they had a week-long fling. She hadn't even gone to his funeral because she'd been attending an education seminar in Glasgow.

"I did know him," she said carefully, becoming more alert as she sat up on the bed. "We were work colleagues, collaborated on several academic papers. I was terribly sorry to hear of his passing. He was a good man." Spouting the party line, the lie that every member of the Council found themselves telling. Keeping the secret.

"I'm sorry, this is a terrible connection. What did you need, dear?"

[holiday_pirner]

Holly bit her lower lip, wondering how to proceed. She hadn't really thought this part through.

"I know people are lying to me," she said, hoping bluntness would cut through the formality in Julianna's voice. "I met a man, a man who knew my dad, too, and he told me as much. Said he died trying to make the world a better place."

The younger woman took a deep breath, the hand not holding the phone trembling just a touch. "Please, I need some help. I can't not know."

[st_clare]

Well, of all the most inconvenient things.

"Who have you been speaking to?" Julianna asked, letting the formality drop for a moment as her feet brushed against the thickly carpeted floor. Then she immediately undercut the question by adding, "Never mind, it doesn't matter. Ah..."

The Englishwoman got up, twisted the phone cord around the fingers of her free hand as she tried to think. What could she say? Aside from the fact that she and Gregory had written a paper together, she'd barely known the man. Athletic sex aside (and there was no way on God's earth she was going to explain that to the child) they'd merely been acquaintances.

What could she say?

"There's nothing I can tell you on the phone," the Watcher said after the silence had stretched out to an uncomfortable length. "This is something not everyone will understand or even believe. If people are lying to you, it's for your benefit." And it was so unfair to keep the girl in the dark, especially if the circumstances of her father's death were not as they appeared.

"I'm....the people I work for are sending me to Nevada," she hedged, raking a hand through her hair in muted frustration. "Can you travel?"

[holiday_pirner]

Holly felt she'd be betraying something if she spoke Whistler's name to this woman, so she was relieved when Julianna brushed the question away.

Honestly, she didn't care if it was for her benefit or not, because her imagination had already taken her into dark scenarios. While the idea of some stranger killing her father in cold blood over the contents of his wallet was a heavily disturbing one, it just didn't ring true.

"I can," Holly answered, sitting up straighter in the plush leather chair. Her fingers toyed with the phone cord in lieu of a cigarette. They needed something to do. "Where in Nevada?"

[st_clare]

"Las Vegas, of all places," Julianna said with faintly sour humor. "I'm being offered a professorship at their university, I just have to meet with the dean and finalize the terms of my contract." She blew out a breath, looked at the clock. Ten after three. Now she had another reason to dread this trip.

"I haven't gotten my itinerary yet, but I can contact you by telephone and let you know I've arrived. Do you work somewhere, or are you in school?"

It seemed impossible that Holiday could be in school, though, because she seemed to be dedicated to finding out what had happened to Gregory, and that might not leave much room for academics. Especially if she could drop everything and fly across the ocean. Julianna breathed in through her nose, out through her mouth.

"How did you get my number, by the way?"

[holiday_pirner]

Holly couldn't help but smile. Despite the somber subject matter at hand, at least she'd start her search someplace interesting. She could even take a few days to explore on her own.

"Then I'll come to Vegas. I have some money to use for traveling, and I've only ever been to France." She realized she was babbling a little.

"I graduated last year from Goldsmiths. I have been working at a shop in the High Street, but, well, it doesn't really matter in the scheme of things."

She tapped one of her father's Mont Blanc pens against the blotter. She was suddenly abashed. "I saw your name in his address book. You were the first one under S."

[st_clare]

That stopped the older woman for a minute, and she found herself reflecting on her brief time with her fellow Watcher. She was not a romantic by nature, nor was she sentimental. Some of her colleagues even considered her cold. They didn't know her, though, not really.

But the knowledge that Gregory had seen fit to put her name and phone number into his address book touched her in some strange way. If she had been the sort to blush, her face would have been crimson. It had been a very pleasant week.

"He spoke of you," Julianna said, her tone shifting. "I think he regretted not being a better father."

[holiday_pirner]

The brunette closed her eyes, leaning back against the chair. The soft ticking of the grandfather clock punctuated her thoughts.

"I...I know," Holly said finally. "He worked a lot. Whatever he was doing, it consumed him. But I think I deserve to know why he felt it was worth leaving me behind."

She clutched the phone tightly, her voice thick. "I apologize for calling you so late. I get restless at night."

Holly paused, then circled Julianna's name on the page. "Thank you for your help."

[st_clare]

"Don't apologize, dear," Julianna said, her tone becoming crisper as she brushed aside the brief moment of awkward emotion. "We all do the things we have to, hmm? Even when they're unpleasant. Sometimes especially when they're unpleasant."

She would have to call Council headquarters in the morning and see about her travel plans, and she must tell no one about Holiday's call. The death of one of their own was bad enough, but if it got out that the man's daughter was asking questions that would only make it worse.

"We'll speak later, I promise."