Riot novel · Chapter 14 of 24
Chapter 14: The Housekeeper
On Monday at eight, I sat at Rhys's kitchen island with a cup of tea going cold in front of me.
Rhys stood at the window with his back to the room.
Art sat on a stool by the door with his cap on his knee.
The box sat in the middle of the marble, with its sticker facing the elevator.
We heard the elevator open, and then a key.
The housekeeper came in with her coat still on and her bag over her arm.
She was a small woman in her fifties, with neat gray hair and a tired, careful face.
She saw me first.
Then she saw the box.
She stopped so suddenly that her bag slid down to her wrist.
"Good morning, Mr. Ambrose," she said, in a voice that was not steady.
"Good morning," Rhys said, and he turned around. "Sit down, please."
"I should start on the bedrooms."
"Sit."
She sat on the very edge of the nearest stool.
"This is Joss," he said. "You've seen her sheets and her coffee cup in my sink. She is carrying my child."
"Yes, sir. I'd guessed."
"You've worked for my family for twenty-three years."
"Yes."
"You've never once lied to me."
Her mouth trembled.
"No, sir," she said.
"Then I'll ask you plainly, and I'll know if it's a lie." He put one finger on the lid of the box. "Who put this in my drawer?"
"I did."
"Who gave it to you?"
She did not answer.
Her eyes went to Art, and then to the floor.
Art leaned forward with his elbows on his knees.
"Ma'am," he said quietly. "On the first of every month, for three years, I've carried a white bag from Mrs. Ambrose's car to her kitchen. It's from a pharmacy on Dearborn. A box like that one is inside, every time. She told me it was her tea."
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