Free Favors and Lies by Mark Gilleo Page B

office, run errands, and help me poke around a bit when it is needed. The pay is twenty dollars an hour. Twenty hours a week. If you go over twenty hours, the pay is still twenty dollars an hour. If you need time off, take time off. For school, whatever. Just let me know in advance. I expect you to be on time and I expect you to keep what you may see or hear to yourself. That’s it.”
    â€œSounds easy.”
    â€œAre you offended by foul language?”
    â€œHell, no,” Sue answered.
    â€œYou’re going to have to do better than that. I’ve been known to drop the occasional f-bomb combination and I don’t want someone who is going to be upset when I do. But I try not to take the Lord’s name in vain.”
    â€œâ€™Fuck’ is ok. ‘God damn it’ is out. Got it.”
    â€œI may need your help after hours from time to time.”
    â€œAre you looking for an excuse not to hire me?”
    â€œNo, why?”
    â€œBecause it feels like you are. And if you’re looking for a reason not to hire me, I’m pretty sure you’re going to find one.”
    Dan Lord rocked back in his chair and Sue mirrored his action, leaning back in hers.
    â€œAll right. Just so we have it clear: unusual hours, unsavory characters and undefined tasks.”
    â€œUnderstood.”
    â€œI was thinking you could start after the holidays.”
    â€œI was hoping I could talk you into hiring before the holidays. I could use the money.”
    Dan stared ahead in silence for a moment. “When can you start?”
    â€œTomorrow.”
    Dan scratched his chin. “The day after tomorrow. I’ll set up the desk in the small room over there, first door in the hall. The bathroom is at the end of the hallway. There is a kitchenette opposite the bathroom. It’s all you can drink coffee, and I don’t have any decaf, so if you want some, buy some. Also, if you’re around for lunch, I’ll cover it.”
    â€œI may need you to fill out some forms. For credit at school.”
    â€œNo problem. I’ll get you a key and the entry codes to the office after I do a background check on you.”
    â€œA background check?”
    â€œYeah. You already told me you smoke pot, so the hard part is out of the way. It’s just a run-of-the-mill background and credit check. I get the results in a couple of hours.”
    â€œYou are cautious. I noticed the locks and closed circuit TV.”
    â€œThe door downstairs on the street level is steel. It looks like an old wood door, but trust me, it is not. Multi-layer steel with a secret recipe in the middle. Well-lubricated, heavy-duty hinges. You could drive a car through it and the wall around it would collapse first. The doors at the bottom and top of the stairs are made of aluminum oxynitride, known as ALON. Very expensive and very effective. It can stop a fifty-caliber round. It would certainly stop anything that can be carried up the staircase and aimed in this direction. By then, of course, I would have a few surprises. The staircase is not a location an intruder wants to spend any amount of time. At least, not while I’m upstairs on this side of the door.”
    Sue nodded, consuming the details.
    â€œThere’s a motion detector attached to the CCTV at the top of the stairs. If anyone enters the staircase, the light comes on, and we can see that light through the door you just came through.”
    â€œWhy so much security?”
    â€œOccupational hazard.”
    â€œWhat about the windows?”
    â€œThe windows are also made from ALON, but the real security is in the lack of line-of-sight. The street in front is too narrow for a direct shot up to the second floor. There is a house across the street, owned by a former politician. From there, theoretically, someone could get a direct shot. But it’s not likely, and like I said, the windows are made from the same bulletproof material. The building on