Free A Knight In Cowboy Boots by Suzie Quint

God, Zach had no idea what it was a sign of.
    “Do you still have her application?” Zach asked.
    “Claudia took it. It’s probably in her office.”
    “Is she in there?”
    “I think so. But she might have left while I was getting drinks for the table on the patio.”
    Zach left his beer on the bar and went looking for Claudia. There was no answer when Zach knocked on the office door. He tried the knob. Finding it unlocked, he stepped in. The lamp on the corner of her desk was on, and papers were stacked tidily on her desk. She’d probably stepped out for just a minute. Maybe a quick trip to the ladies room.
    Zach picked up the application on the corner of Claudia’s desk. Applicant’s Name: Susan M. Grey. Above the block containing the middle initial, Claudia had written in blue ink “Maddie.” Pay dirt.
    Heart beating a little fast for fear he’d get busted, Zach ran a copy, front and back, of the application and then of the sheet clipped to it. He put the application back on Claudia’s desk and started folding the copies on his way to the door.
    He braked hard as it swung inward, just missing his nose.
    “Zach!” Claudia said in surprise.
    “Hey, Claudia.”
    She frowned. “What are you doing in my office?”
    “Just needed to copy something.” He held up the folded sheets for her to see.
    “There’s a copier in the main office you could use.”
    “I know, but I didn’t remember I needed a copy ‘til I had a beer in front of me. I didn’t figure you’d mind.”
    “I don’t like people in my office when I’m not here, Zach.” Claudia stepped behind her desk. “I know you feel at home here because your sister is the concierge, but please ask next time.”
    Zach did his best to look abashed. “Sorry. Next time I will,” he promised as he skated out the door.
    He finished folding the sheets into eighths. They were bulky but they fit into his shirt pocket. After he finished his beer, Zach went up to his room, eager to examine them.
    Right off, he saw the street address Maddie had given him had a zero in it; the one on the application had a tail that made it look like a six.
    Only a six block difference.
    It could just be an accident, but Zach didn’t think so. He was pretty sure the one she’d given him would turn out to be real. Claudia would likely never know she’d been given a phony address, but Zach would since he was showing up for supper.
    Her work history listed two bars in Oregon. Zach furrowed his brow. A couple of roughnecks he’d worked with were from Wyoming. The plates on their cars had the same silhouette that was on Maddie’s. He looked over her application again, searching for any mention of the state, but there wasn’t one. So where’d the plates come from?
    Just to confuse things further, the reference she gave was neither Wyoming nor Oregon.
    Under education she listed a high school in Oregon. He’d never realized how little actual information job apps required. Starting from the top, Zach went over it again, trying to glean something useful. Aha! Her social security number. There was information imbedded in the number. The first three identified the state where the number was issued; the second two, he thought, at one time had been the year it was issued, but he wasn’t sure if that still held true. He could either go downstairs and get Rachel to let him use a computer or he could find a library. He winced at the thought. They’d made him learn computers in school and, for the most part, he’d done okay with spreadsheets and such, but he hadn’t got along well with the Internet. As he was debating his choices, someone knocked on the door.
    “C’min.”
    His brother Jake walked in. “Hey, bro!”
    Zach put Maddie’s application down. “What are you doing here? No, let me guess.” He eyed the backpack Jake carried. “Rach wants you to check my arm.”
    “Got it in one.”
    “It’s no big deal, just a flesh wound.”
    “That’s what I told Rach when she