CHAPTER 2

Can I help you with that? ”

Noah’s opener, not one of his smoothest, was punctuated by the thunk of his Tootsie Roll into the metal tray of the candy machine.

She paused and glanced across the otherwise deserted break room. It was a cool, dismissive gaze that took him in with a casual down‑ and‑ up. Without looking away she hooked a nearby footstool with her toe and dragged it close, stepped up onto it, and then went back to pinning her flier in place high up on the corkboard. The gesture made it clear that if all he could offer was a few extra inches off the floor, she would somehow find a way to live without him.

Fortunately, Noah was blessed with a blind spot for rejection; she’d winged him, sure, but he wasn’t nearly shot down. He smiled and, even at a distance, imagined he could see just a hint of dry amusement in her profile as well.

Something about this woman defied a traditional chick‑ at‑ a‑ glance inventory. Without a doubt all the goodies were in all the right places, but no mere scale of one to ten was going to do the job this time. It was an entirely new experience for him. Though he’d been in her presence for less than a minute, her soul had locked itself onto his senses, far more than her substance had.

She hardly wore any makeup, it seemed, nothing needed concealment or embellishment. Simple silver jewelry, tight weathered jeans on the threadbare outer limits of the company’s casual‑ Friday dress code, everything obviously chosen and worn for no one’s approval but her own. A lush abundance of dark auburn hair pulled back in a loose French twist and held in place by two crisscrossed number‑ two pencils. The style was probably the work of only a few seconds but it couldn’t have been more becoming if she’d spent hours at a salon.

A number of unruly strands had escaped confinement in the course of the workday. These liberated chestnut curls framed a handsome face made twice as radiant by the mysteries surely waiting just behind those light green eyes.

He walked nearer, reading over her flier as she pressed a final pushpin into its upper corner. It was an amateurish layout job but someone had taken the time to hand‑ letter the text in a passable calligraphy. The heading was a pasted‑ on strip of tattered, scorched parchment that looked like it had been ripped from the original draft of the U. S. Constitution.

We the People

If you love your country but fear for its future,

join us for an evening of truth that will open your eyes!

Guest speakers include:

Earl Matthew Thomas‑ 1976 U. S. Presidential candidate (L) and bestselling author of Divided We Fall

Joyce McDevitt‑ New York regional community liaison, Liberty Belles

Maj. Gen. Francis N. Klein‑ former INSCOM commanding general (ret. 1984), cofounder of GuardiansOfLiberty. com

Kurt Bilger‑ Tri‑ state coordinator, Sons of the American Revolution

Beverly Emerson‑ Director emeritus, Founders’ Keepers

Danny Bailey‑ The man behind the YouTube phenomenon Overthrow, with 35, 000, 000 views and counting!

Bring a friend, come lift a glass, and raise your voice for liberty!

www. FoundersKeepers. com

The date, time, and location of the meeting were printed underneath.

“This event, it’s happening tonight? ” Noah asked.

“Congratulations, you can read. ” She was moving some other bulletins and notices, repinning them elsewhere to give her announcement a bit more prominence.

“Maybe you should have posted that last week. People make plans‑ ”

“Actually, ” she said, finishing her rearrangement, “this was just an afterthought. I don’t really expect anyone here to be all that interested. ”

“No? ”

“No. ”

“Why not? ”

She turned, a little taller than eye level from the summit of her step‑ stool. Close‑ up now and face‑ on, she had a forthrightness that was every bit as intriguing as it was disquieting.

“Do you really want to know? ”

“Yes, I really want to know. ”

“All you PR people do is lie for a living, ” she said. “The truth is just another story to you. ”

He felt an automatic impulse to mount a defense, but then swallowed it before he could speak. In a way she was absolutely right. In fact, what she’d just said was an almost perfect layman’s translation of the company’s mission statement, all weasel words aside.

Seemed like an excellent time to change the subject.

“I’m Noah, ” he said.

“I know. I sort your mail. ” The following details were blithely enumerated, thumb to fingertips, summing him up neatly on the digits of a single hand. “Noah Gardner. Twenty‑ first floor, northwest corner office. Vice president as of last Thursday. And a son of a… big shot. ”

“Wow. For a second I wasn’t sure where you were going with that last one. ”

“Your dad owns the place, doesn’t he? ”

“He owns a lot of it, I guess. Hey, I have to confess something. ”

“I’ll bet you do. ”

“You haven’t told me your name yet, ” Noah said, “and I’ve been trying to read it off your name tag, but I’m worried that you’ll get the wrong idea about where I’m looking. ”

“Go for it. I’m not shy. ”

On their way down, his eyes wandered only twice, and only briefly. He caught a glimpse of a small tattoo, finely drawn and not quite hidden by the neckline of her top. All that was visible was an edge of the outstretched wing of a bird, or maybe it was an angel. And a necklace lay against her smooth pale skin, a little silver cross threaded on a delicate wheat chain.

Her ID was clipped low along the V of her pullover sweater, which fit as though it had been lovingly crocheted in place that very morning. The badge itself was a temporary worker’s tag, only one notch above a guest pass. She was smiling in the photo, but a real smile, the kind that made you want to do something worthy just so you could see it again.

“Molly Ross, ” he said.

She tipped his chin back up with a knuckle.

“This is fascinating and all, Mr. Gardner, but I need to go and service the postage meter. ”

“Just wait a second. Will you be at this meeting tonight? ”

“Yeah, I sure will. ”

“Good. Because I’m going to try to make it there myself”.

She looked at him evenly. “Why? ”

“Why do you think? I’m very patriotic. ”

“Really. ”

“Yes, I am. Very patriotic. ”

“That reminds me of a joke, ” Molly said. “Noah comes home‑ Noah from the Bible, you know? ”

He nodded.

“So Noah comes home after he finally got all the animals into the ark, and his wife asks him what he’s been doing all week. Do you know what he said to her? ”

“No, tell me. ”

Molly patted him on the cheek, pulled his face a little closer.

“He said, ‘Honey, now I herd everything. ’”

She stepped down to the floor, scooted the stool back to where it had been, and headed for the hallway.

“Don’t forget your candy bar, ” she added, over a shoulder.

Despite his normally ready wit, the door to the break room had hissed closed and clicked behind her long before a single sparkling comeback came to mind.

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