Mina Cortez: From Bouquets to Bullets (3 page)

Like now, she reminded herself. Still, she
had to at least bring up her usual objections. “The presentation is
in a month and a half. I was hoping to stay on with dance until
then.”

“Mina, we’ve discussed this, honey. We really
need you here. We have the pre-Spring inventory coming up, and then
there’s all of the park work I’m going to be doing. I know that
this is important to you, but if we’re getting the notice already,
it means you at least have a career review coming up,” he
replied.

“It's just until the—”

“You have an understudy. We just got a lot of
new orders in. The park projects got some new donors, so we’re
going to have our work cut out for us. So much they may have just
moved you up in priority. So take a look: is it a review, or
what?”

Mina sat down heavily, pulling up the mail
with a lot less anticipation one way or another than she’d had.
With no real chance of anything but assignment to the flower shop,
it hardly mattered much when her date was.

“Week and a half,” she finally said. “And
it's just a review, but they may shift my chipping date based on
it,” she explained, reading off the mail.

Her parents exchanged pleased glances, before
her mother chimed in. “Oh, honey, the Szachs invited us to a
celebration dinner this weekend. Scott will be going in first thing
next week. I know that’s important to you, so we arranged to shut
down the shop for a couple hours... that is, provided we’re all
caught up on deliveries and inventory is done. You’ll have to work
late next two nights if we’re going to get caught up.”

Mina was almost expecting it at this point.
“All right, I’ll let Mrs. Bateman know that I won’t be able to be
there. Wouldn’t want to miss the party.” That much, at least, was
true. The families hadn’t gotten together outside of business for
some time, and she’d want to wish Scott well. Maybe she could find
out sooner if he was going to be staying local.

Trading her delivery jacket for an
emerald-colored apron, Mina went into the back to start helping
with shop inventory and orders.

* * * *

Dropping out of dance classes officially had
been hard, and the load to catch up with work had been brutal.
Despite everything, when the party approached, Mina was in decent
spirits. She could be genuinely happy for Scott without any
trouble.

The party was a huge affair. The Szachs were
rich and had connections all over the city. Mina knew it was at the
cost of never being home, between 60-hour work weeks, meetings of
the various boards they sat on, and political events, but major
Szach family events always filled a restaurant. In this case, it
was Scott's favorite pizza place, because his preferred sandwich
shop didn't have anything like the room needed. As it was, Mina
couldn't help but be amused at some of the city's rich and powerful
packed into a pizza parlor that usually marketed to the teen and
twenty-something crowd. She was sure Benjamin and Stacy Szach would
have chosen somewhere higher profile, but Scott got to pick. He'd
gone for something his friends’ families could easily afford, and
that didn't have a dress code.

The Cortezes talked with Dr. Kimura about the
newest proposals for the park project. Mina and Miko eventually
went off to have dinner and conversation that didn't involve
flowers and landscaping. Scott joined them as soon as he was able
to get away from well-wishers, leaving his parents to handle
collecting official congratulations.

As soon as he sat down, Miko pounced on the
opportunity. “So?” she asked.

“You know chipping assignments are classified
until all is said and done. And then, of course, even if I'd gotten
something with security clearance issues, I couldn't talk about
it,” Scott answered.

Miko responded with a raised eyebrow, adding,
“Whatever you say, Mr. Bond.” Mina just grinned.

Scott glanced around, as if worried someone
might be eavesdropping. Assured they had what little space could be
gotten in the packed establishment, he continued. “But, you know,
clearance or not, and this is strictly off the record, I could
never keep a secret from you guys. I think I got it.”

Chapter
Three

“Officially, I'm going to be one of the lead
programmers of the University's systems, working on site there.
There's something more to it all, though. They're just waiting til
the process is underway—and I've officially signed all their
agreements, and everything is verified—to tell me all the details.
Of course, if any of this comes back to me, I'd just say you guys
were overexcited about a rumor, and I have no idea what anyone is
talking about.”

“The University?” Mina asked. “Why would you
be working there? All of the chips are made out in Redmond, I
thought?”

“Manufactured, sure,” Scott agreed. “And I
thought that too. I'm guessing with all the compatibility testing,
aptitude profiling, and checking student profiles, it helps to have
biology labs and student records right there. Besides, so much goes
in and out of the University, what with all the computers and
systems, who'd notice? I'll probably have to go out to Redmond now
and then, but apparently, I'll mostly be working in some
sub-sub-basement somewhere most of the time.”

Miko joined Mina in grinning. “So now you get
to be a professional basement troll instead of just an amateur.
Excellent. They going to let you bring your video games down there?
You'll never have to leave.”

“Nuh-uh. And don't think I didn't ask. No
outside connections. Everything, and everyone, is kept offline and
totally secure.”

“Okay, that is seriously impressive,” Miko
said, then nudged Scott with an elbow. “So, how quickly are you
going to be able to hack the records and sneak Mina the ballet
company assignment she got, before some clerical error mixed it
up?”

“Miko!” Mina's grin faded, head snapping over
to look Miko's way.

“Kidding, scout's honor,” Miko said, holding
up that three fingered sign she did every time she referenced the
scouts, whoever they had been. “Mostly,” she added, keeping a
totally straight face.

Scott rolled his eyes. “Pretty sure
everything for this cycle is done anyway. I might have to slip
something extra into Miko's chip though,” he assured Mina. “A love
of skirts and floppy sun hats, maybe.”

“Don't you dare.” Miko was smirking, but one
hand nevertheless clutched the brim of her fedora protectively.

“I'm sorry to interrupt,” came a woman's
voice from behind Mina, before a hand came to rest on her shoulder.
Mina quickly processed hints of lavender shampoo and rose-scented
hand soap, taking that in before she'd even turned.

The woman behind her was about average
height, making her a couple inches taller than Mina, with a
slightly olive complexion and gray-streaked chestnut hair that
could have spoken to dozens of mixed heritages. Even with the lack
of a dress code here, she wore a severe charcoal suit jacket and
business skirt.

“Oh, sorry, Ma'am,” Mina quickly said as she
stepped aside so the woman could talk to Scott. He was the guest of
honor here, after all, and doubtless would have plenty of
conversations with important people in suits soon.

“Thank you, Miss Cortez, but actually I was
hoping to speak with you, if you have a few moments? I'm sure your
friends will understand,” the woman responded, giving the other two
a flash of a smile with what appeared to Mina like the
well-practiced version of sincerity. “I'll be speaking more with
Mr. Szach soon, but not just now.”

“Mina, this is Deborah Lasko, the Deputy
Mayor,” Scott added in quickly. “My parents have worked with Miss
Lasko on a few city projects.”

Mina glanced at Scott, then back to the
Deputy Mayor, confused. “To me?”

“Yes, Miss Cortez. This will only take a few
moments.”

“Um, sure,” Mina agreed, standing from the
table to follow the woman to a quieter spot near one corner of the
room.

“I understand that you've got a chipping date
coming up, Miss Cortez.”

“Mina is fine, Ma'am, and ... it's just a
consultation. I don't think they'll be doing shops or delivery work
or anything for weeks yet.”

“Mina, then,” the Deputy Mayor continued.
“Well, you could certainly be right. Of course, it's not too late
for the Bolshoi Ballet, either. If you do end up staying here,
though, I know the shop has gotten a lot busier. I've just recently
added the Parks and Recreation projects to my portfolio of work for
the city, so I've been getting familiar with the work done by
Emerald City Flowers.”

“And Design,” Mina added automatically. She
chastised herself internally; this was awkward enough.

“Pardon me?”

“It's Emerald City Flowers and Design. Dad's
side of things. The landscaping and all. Just mentioning—it really
doesn't matter.”

The Deputy Mayor blinked. “Oh. Right. It was
just Emerald City Flowers when ... when I was much younger. At any
rate, your parents have done a great job. Very impressive. I'm sure
I'll be working with them—and maybe you, though I wish you
luck—very closely in the near future. So I thought I'd come
introduce myself.”

Mina was about to respond, when she caught
wind of another couple of scents. The first was expensive
cologne—not out of place here at all—but against it. She thought
she caught hints of metal oil and some kind of anti-corrosive.
There weren't a lot of things that smell could be. Her nose
twitched, and while sparing a moment to itch at it, she glanced
about. She couldn't help but catch sight of a bald giant of a man,
at least a couple of inches taller than the awkwardly tall Scott,
but built like a brick wall to Scott's scarecrow physique. He'd
edged out of the main crowd and was watching the pair of them right
up until he caught Mina's glance and looked quickly away. When Mina
looked back, the Deputy Mayor was frowning, though it quickly faded
back to what seemed her more typical carefully neutral expression.
Regardless, she said nothing about the man, and Mina decided to let
that rest, though she had to wonder what else was part of the
woman's civil service portfolio if she needed a bodyguard.

Mina scrambled to pick the conversation back
up. “Thank you, Ma'am, I'm glad you did. We're always happy to work
with the city on their projects, of course.” A thought occurred,
and Mina suddenly added, “So if you've just been added on, what
part interests you more, the restoration of venues to
pre-Decimation looks, or the new beautification initiatives?”

This quite obviously caught the woman
off-guard, and Mina had to wonder just how much work the woman had
done with her parents, or how much time she'd put in studying this
new area of her portfolio. She wasn't even sure why she'd asked the
question, aside from just feeling that something was off, while
unable to put her finger on what.

Regardless, the hint of confusion didn't last
long. “Your parents' restoration work is impressive. I understand
that the work done, so far, is only the beginning, though?”

“That's right, the work with the city is
budgeted for at least the next five years. Dad is working with Dr.
Kimura a lot on sketching out the next steps, while my mom keeps
the rest of the shop business running.”

“The city certainly appreciates having such a
prominent archaeologist on the job. And what part of the business
are you expecting to keep you busier if you work there?” the Deputy
Mayor asked, shifting focus back to Mina.

“Deliveries, orders, and inventory, mostly,”
Mina said with a shrug, trying to keep her face and body language
neutral. She appreciated the courtesy of the 'if,' at least. Unlike
her father, somebody remembered not to assume.

“Ahhh, yes. I suppose those would need to be
handled to keep the shop running. Good experience early on.”

“Yes, ma'am. Got to get to know all parts of
the business, and hopefully we'll still be working with the city
when that time comes,” she responded without any real
enthusiasm.

“We can hope so. It's been a pleasure talking
to you, Mina, but I should let you get back to your friends. This
is a party, after all,” the woman said, sounding genuine. Mina was
left as confused as when the conversation started as to why the
Deputy Mayor had wanted to talk to her in the first place.

After shaking hands with the Deputy Mayor,
Mina went back to Scott and Miko, who were discussing video games
as she sat back down. The conversation quickly shifted. “So what
was that all about?” Miko asked.

“No clue,” Mina answered, reaching for more
pizza. “She asked me about the shop and my chipping date. She
didn't seem to know much about any of the stuff we're doing.”

“Yeah, Mom and Dad were saying it was odd,”
Scott said. “She suddenly added the Parks and Rec stuff to her
workload, but just has some secretary attend the meetings for her
and take notes.”

“So, just something that got assigned to her,
maybe?” Mina asked. “She certainly knew about me. She knew I was
going in for a chipping consultation next week. She knew about the
Bolshoi. Just felt a little weird.”

“Could have been,” Scott agreed. “That is
kind of weird.”

“So who was the huge guy staring at you two?”
Miko asked.

“That's her bodyguard,” Scott contributed.
“Thanks to Miss Lasko's real passion. You know all those 'tough on
crime' initiatives, and the big push on organized crime and getting
rid of the smuggling and black-market chips into the city? Those
are her babies. Those meetings she's never missed. The policeman's
ball, either.” Catching the glances from the others, he shrugged.
“That's where I first met her, back when Mom was still on a couple
of those fundraising committees and doing that neighborhood watch
thing,” he said between mouthfuls. “Everyone involved in city
politics knows her. She's been at the job forever.”