Page 53 of Great Service from Top to Bottom

She really wasn’t getting this. I raised a finger. “It’s uhm, not called that.”

Reynard went on. “As I’m sure you’ve heard, I’ve been cast out of the royal family.”

“I had heard. Which at least explains why you’re sniffing around my operation. But all of this does smell a bit fishy, don’t you agree, Victor?”

“We are in an aquarium, Agatha.”

Agatha gave a fake laugh, then glared. “A million dollars and you can have your Tom Collins back.”

Reynard visibly tensed. “A million dollars for a malfunctioning AI barman?”

She blinked slowly. “I doubt it’s the bot you want, but rather the secrets it’s been told. Even if the recording functions were off, a good hacker can extract them. I’m sure you know a few, since you’re in the tech business.”

Reynard huffed an edged laugh. “You’re being unreasonable. I doubt there’s anything in that unit worth anywhere near a million.”

Only how to save the world, or doom it. “Let’s not be too hasty, Victor.” I sidled closer to Agatha. “A million is a good starting point. Let’s talk⁠—”

“We’ll buy another unit, Adam,” Reynard said sternly. “Gideon may keep whatever secrets he believes are on there.”

A new unit? Was he serious? “But if we buy a new one it won’t be our Tom Collins.” I glared, and Reynard blinked back, his face unreadable. He’d said he missed Tom too, and while it wasn’t my place to give his money away, surely Tom Collins was worth negotiating for? Setting aside the need to keep my secrets out of Gideon Cain’s hands.

“Shall we tour the rest of the operation, Victor?” Agatha prompted after several tense moments. “While you have a think about how best to proceed. Naturally, we’d appreciate the Reynard name attached to our brand, lending it a great deal of legitimacy,” she continued, leading us out a door and down another tunnel-like pathway. Her sentinels followed close behind, giving off moody stalker vibes.

Victor’s omitting the truth had left me feeling uneasy. I’d trusted him—and still did—but his lies had left me unbalanced, and the deeper we walked into the damp, dark building, the more that sense of unease grew.

“Where are you taking us?” I asked, trying to keep the quiver from my voice.

“To the heart of the operation.”

I tried to catch Victor’s eye, but he stared ahead, chatting with Agatha about profit margins, expansion, and a lot of business jargon.

The sentinels loomed closer behind us.

Nope, I was not liking this one bit. “Victor?”

I’d fallen behind their long-legged strides, and jogged to catch up. “Victor, a word? In private?”

“Of course. Agatha do you have somewhere I might converse with my assistant?”

“Just up ahead, here.” A metal door loomed. Agatha heaved it open and ventured into the gloom first. Victor followed, and I stepped through. A distant light flickered, illuminating only a fraction of the vast, dark space. What was this?

“Would you like any refreshments? Some snacks?” Agatha asked. “We’re branching out into nibbles too.”

Ugh. “Please don’t say pies.”

“Oh no, that would be a little on the nose, don’t you think?” She laughed, and slammed the door closed—with her and the sentinels outside.

The glow from the single dangling lightbulb didn’t touch the sides of the room, giving the impression of standing in an empty atrium. Our breaths echoed. This was not good.

“Adam—”

No, nope, I wasn’t falling for his charm. Daddy Vampire needed a telling off. “Look, I get that you have to be Mr. Mysterious with your bajillion secrets and tragic past. I do. But you should have told me you knew her. I trust you. Zee trusts you. And when you don’t tell us things, that trust gets eroded, like . . . grated cheese.” Was that the right metaphor?

“Adam—”

“No, hear me out, or you’ll say something reasonable and I’ll agree with you and I don’t feel much like agreeing with you right now. We need to get Tom Collins back and we need to leave. Maybe we’ve got enough for . . . the thing . . . we’re here to do. Maybe we haven’t, but I am not liking the vibe of this place at all.”

Reynard peered into the gloom, not even looking at me. Irritation and frustration joined the heady mix of weird vibes this place was giving me.