"Once Upon Stilettos" - читать интересную книгу автора (Swendson Shanna)

 Chat about what?

 Just wanted to see if you d heard anything interesting. Word has it that Owen s desk was broken into over the weekend.

Seriously, the CIA should have been recruiting at MSI. Finding one spy in a company full of them was going to be nearly impossible. Guiltily, I tried to measure Rod as a suspect. Deception was a way of life for him, given that he constantly wore an illusion that made him look outrageously handsome to those who were affected by magic while he put no effort into his real appearance. I generally considered that a harmless quirk, though. He might know everyone in the company, but he didn t have full access. Then again, that lack of access often irked him, and he d shown signs of being jealous of Owen.

 Where d you hear that? I asked casually, with what I hoped was the right hint of curiosity. Whether or not he was a suspect, he was a good source of company information.

He waved a hand.  Oh, around.

 Did they steal anything?

 That s what I was going to ask you. He gave me a grin that made him look appealing in spite of his greasy hair, bad skin, and unfortunate features. If he d do something about his hair and skin and smile like that more often, he might be even more successful with women with his real face than he was with the handsome illusion and attraction spells he used. Or maybe not. He averaged about three dates per weekend; it would be hard to top that. I knew I d find him more appealing without the faчade, even if I only saw the real Rod no matter what he did. As long as I knew he was hiding himself, I had a hard time taking him seriously as a man. His spectacular social life was a sign that I was one of very few women who remained immune to his magic.

 Why would I know anything about someone breaking into Owen s office? I asked with my own attempt at an innocence illusion. Since I didn t have access to magic, I suspected it wasn t very convincing.

 Because I heard he came to talk to the boss about it, which means he d have talked to you.

I shrugged.  I don t have anything to tell you. Maybe you should ask him.

He laughed.  We are talking about the same Owen here, right? You can t get anything out of him that he doesn t want to give. He only clams up tighter. I ve known him since he was four, and he s always been like that. All I know is that he s put some even stronger wards around his office. Nobody gets in there without being cleared. Next thing you know, he ll be taking DNA samples from anyone who enters.

 Seems like a reasonable precaution for these times.

He leaned forward, putting his elbows on Trix s desk and giving me a puppy-dog-eye kind of look that I was sure was particularly effective when combined with his favorite attraction spell.  Come on, Katie, surely you know something. Owen sometimes even talks to you, which is more than anyone else gets from him.

Fortunately for me and unfortunately for him, I was immune to both the spell and the puppy-dog eyes.  Sorry, I said with a shrug.

He turned off the charm like it came with a switch.  Oh well, I thought it was worth a shot.

 Why are you so worried about this? I asked him.

 I guess it s old instincts kicking in. I always tried to look after Owen when we were kids, and I m still doing it even though he s perfectly capable of taking care of himself. To be honest, he was when he was a kid, too. Bigger kids only messed with him once.

 I think these days we all need to look after each other.

 You re probably right about that. You ll let me know if you hear anything?

I couldn t promise that without breaking my word to Merlin.  I ll keep you posted, I said instead, hoping that was vague enough for my conscience. I hated having to keep secrets from people, but I was getting better and better at it. If you can keep the secret about magic from the rest of the world, hiding a few things from your coworkers isn t that hard.

Merlin came out of his office.  Oh, good, Mr. Gwaltney, you re here. Please come in. Rod gathered his stack of papers, gave me a wink, then headed into Merlin s office. As I watched the door shut behind him, I considered the preposterous idea of Merlin as a suspect. He might have said he wasn t above suspicion, but the idea of him teaming up with Idris was beyond my comprehension. I wouldn t worry about him unless there was evidence.

On the other hand, his response to the situation was to assign a novice to investigate, and he probably had more access to the headquarters than anyone. He also lived in an apartment in the office building, so he was there all the time, even over the weekend when Owen s desk had been broken into. I shook my head. No, there was no way Merlin could be in on this. Idris had little respect for him, and quite frankly, I doubted Idris was a good enough actor to fake that. If I couldn t trust Merlin, I might as well quit my job and practice saying,  Do you want fries with that?

Merlin s office door opened, and he and Rod emerged, Rod still carrying that stack of papers.  I ll get these distributed immediately, sir, Rod said.

Merlin nodded, then blinked and looked at me. A light sparked in his eyes, then he turned to Rod and said,  I believe I ll have Miss Chandler take care of the distribution. The message will have more authority coming directly from my office.

 Distribute what? I asked.