A Taste of Greek (Out of Olympus #3) (18 page)

Kenton clamped his jaw together, glaring at him, his hands balled into fists. Stupid mortal! Hermes knew a guilty conscience when it slapped him in the face. And Kenton definitely had a guilty conscience. Kenton knew exactly what had happened to Hermes’ sandal. And it was only a matter of time until Hermes got the truth out of him.

“Where the fuck are my sandals?” Hermes deliberately used the plural, knowing that it might trip Kenton up. If he had stolen the sandal from Irene’s lab, then he had only gotten one, and sooner or later he would slip and insist that he hadn’t stolen both sandals, but only one.

“I don’t know! And I resent the implication that I have anything to do with the theft of your stupid sandals!” Kenton barked back. Then he glared at Penny again. “And if this friend of yours doesn’t get out of my office right now, I’m going to call security and have him removed from the premises. And don’t think you can outrun them! There are cameras all over the building. They’ll find you!”

Kenton reached for the telephone, lifting the receiver. “I’m warning you one more time.”

Hermes blinked, an idea suddenly forming in his head. “Fine, I’m leaving. But I’ll be back!” He turned on his heels and swept out of the room, Penny in tow.

At the end of the corridor he stopped and turned to her. “Where’s the security office in this building?”

“Are you crazy?” Penny asked. “You can’t go there. Didn’t you hear Kenton just now? He’s going to call security.”

“There’s nothing wrong with my hearing.”

Penny gave him a confused look. “But—”

“Where’s the office?”

“Why?”

“Because you’re going to call security and alert them to a disturbance.”

24

Hermes hunched over the water fountain in the corridor and pretended to drink the water that tasted of chlorine, while he watched the door to the security office from the corner of his eye.

“Come on, Penny,” he whispered to himself.

Finally, the door flew open and two guys dressed in uniforms bearing the emblem of the university rushed into the hallway, turning in the direction away from where Hermes was standing. As soon as their heads were turned, Hermes charged to the door, sliding across the linoleum floor and jamming his foot in between door and frame like a baseball player sliding into home base—not a second too soon. The edge of the heavy door hit his ankle.

“Yes!” Hermes pumped his fist.

Behind him, footsteps approached. Quickly, he jumped up, careful to keep his foot between door and frame to prevent the door from closing, and nonchalantly leaned against the door, hiding most of it so whoever was passing wouldn’t notice that it was open.

“You don’t look conspicuous at all,” Penny commented as she approached, a smirk forming around her lips.

Hermes rolled his eyes at her sarcastic remark. “Hey, I didn’t see you almost break an ankle, trying to stop the door from closing.” Though he could be injured, any physical injury would heal rapidly due to his godly powers. All physical injuries were merely temporary.

He opened the door wider and ushered Penny inside, closing the door quietly behind her.

“That’s because I was busy making an anonymous phone call, lying to the security guys. If anybody ever finds out that I made that call, I’ll be fired.”

“What did you tell them?”

“That the dean of the history department seems to have gone crazy and is doing a striptease in front of a class of students.”

Hermes chuckled at Penny’s inventiveness. “Your boss Michelle? No wonder they were running out of here so fast. They probably didn’t want to miss the show!”

Then he glanced around the windowless room. There was a large video console with several monitors and a couple of chairs in front of it, and a wall of cabinets behind it. “Let’s get to work. They won’t be gone forever.”

Penny pointed to the console. “Do you even know how this works?”

Hermes smiled confidently. “Don’t worry.” While Zeus’s “surveillance” equipment looked vastly different, it functioned similarly to its earthly equivalent. “I can figure it out.”

He sat down at the console and reached for the mouse, clicking on an icon on the computer screen in front of him. “They must keep the recordings in chronological order on the server somewhere, and I bet they’re arranged by location. We’ll just have to find the right location and then speed through the tapes until we find something.” He tossed Penny an encouraging look.

“I hope you’re right,” she said with a frown on her face. “Because if they catch us in here, I’m definitely going to get fired.”

He grinned and patted her hand. “I thought you were getting fired because you made that prank call.”

“Can you be serious, please?”

He chuckled, enjoying riling her up. “But I
am
serious.”

When Penny only rolled her eyes and shook her head, Hermes went to work on the console, sifting through the folders until he found the correct one for the building in which the history department was located.

“Okay, there seem to be several cameras, one at the front entrance, one in the main corridor, and another one at the side exit, but there’s none in the corridor the lab is on.”

“Damn!” Penny exclaimed. “What are we gonna do now?”

“Don’t worry, we might still find something from those three camera angles. Let’s see.” He sped through the first tape.

“That’s too fast, I can’t see anything,” Penny complained.

He put his hand on hers. “I’ve got it. I’ll slow it down when I see something suspicious.” He continued speeding through the digital tapes, his eyes easily adjusting to the speed of the recordings. To a mortal, they would be a blur, but his godly powers made it possible for him to see what he needed to see.

Given that the tapes he was perusing were from a Sunday afternoon and evening, there was little activity in the building, a fact that helped him get through the tapes faster than if he’d had to review a recording from a Monday when classes were in session.

Hermes sighed and glanced at the clock over the console. If he didn’t find something soon, they’d have to leave and come back later.

“Anything?” Penny’s voice sounded anxious.

He was about to shake his head when something on the monitor caught his eyes. He slowed the tape and rewound it a few seconds. Then he pointed to the monitor.

“Isn’t that your father?” he asked, turning to Penny.

Penny stared at the monitor in front of them, her mouth gaping wide open. On the screen, Penny’s father stood talking with Kenton.

“Does he know Kenton?” Hermes asked.

She looked away from the screen and stared straight at him. “Please, don’t let my father be involved in this,” she begged, but from her expression, Hermes recognized that she suspected that he was.

“One way to find out.”

Hermes closed the window on the monitor and rose from his chair, taking Penny by her upper arm and pulling her up. “We’ve gotta go. They’ll be back any moment.”

She nodded, seemingly shell-shocked, and allowed him to guide her out of the office and along the hallway just as the two security guards returned, annoyance showing clearly on their faces.

“If I catch that kid!” one of them grumbled.

The other added, “Way too good to be true.”

Hermes pulled Penny around a corner, then stopped. “I’ll go and confront Kenton. Why don’t you wait in your office for me?”

She shook her head, tears brimming in her eyes. “No. I want to be there. I want to know.”

“You don’t have to do this to yourself. I’ll tell you everything later.”

“No. I need to hear him say it.”

For a long moment, he held her gaze, then he nodded. “Fine.”

They marched back to Kenton’s office, and just like the first time, Hermes didn’t bother knocking. Instead, he simply swung the door open and charged inside.

Kenton stopped pacing immediately, shock registering on his face.

Hermes was on him like a bee on honey and slammed him against the bookcase before he could utter a single word.

“Let’s talk again, and this time I’d like the truth!”

Hermes reached for the Greek dagger which hung on the wall and held it up. Kenton’s eyes shifted to the weapon and widened in fear.

“You can’t do that,” he squealed.

“Oh, I can do a lot more than that.” Hermes narrowed his eyes. “What were you discussing with Penny’s father on Sunday evening?”

“I never—” Kenton tried to protest.

“It’s on tape!” Hermes hissed. “So there’s no use in denying it. I’d suggest you try the truth for once, or I might just have to use this.” He motioned to the dagger in his hand.

Kenton tossed a look toward Penny. “You can’t let him do that!”

Penny moved to stand next to Hermes. “Not only am I going to let him do it, I’m going to spur him on and make sure it hurts really bad.”

Realizing that he had no ally in the room, Kenton dropped his head.

“I really wasn’t going to steal them. I just wanted to have a closer look.”

Hermes rolled his eyes. Where had he heard that line before? “I’m afraid I’ve just cancelled your borrowing privileges. So give me back my sandals now.”

“I would,” Kenton said, raising his palms. “But I don’t exactly have them.”

Hermes shoved him harder up against the bookcase, one arm across Kenton’s chest, moving the dagger to underneath Kenton’s chin with the other. “Did I mention that I’m not a very patient man?”

Kenton’s eyes motioned to Penny. “Her father took them. Honest!”

Hermes heard Penny’s intake of breath and gave her a sideways glance. Disappointment spread in her face like wildfire, and his heart broke for her. He tore his gaze away and glared back at Kenton. “I want the whole story, and make it fast.”

“I’d heard that Bart had a history, you know, of stealing. I figured I could get him to steal them for me, just so that I could take a look, of course,” Kenton added hastily. “So I told him that I’d seen Penny bring the sandals to the lab downstairs. I’d already tried myself to figure out how to get into the lab, but I couldn’t. Besides, I couldn’t get caught. I would lose my job. But Bart, he figured it out.”

“How?” Penny asked.

Kenton’s eyes flitted toward her. “He figured that even the lab had to be cleaned sometimes. So he stole the key from the janitor’s closet.”

“If he jimmied open the lock to the janitor’s closet, why not go straight to the lab and break the lock there too? Why steal the key?” Hermes wondered.

“You need an access code for the lab in addition to the key, or the alarm will go off. The janitor has the access codes for all labs and special security areas written down,” Kenton explained.

“And then?” Hermes pressed.

“Well, I wasn’t here when he broke in. I had to have an alibi, so I was out for dinner with friends. Bart was supposed to meet me later that night, but he didn’t show. I called his cell, but he didn’t answer. He never gave me the sandals.”

“Double-crossed you, huh?” Hermes shook his head.

“How could he do that to me?” Penny asked with a flat voice.

Kenton huffed. “Well, he did it to me! He was supposed to give the sandals to me. I could have worked them into my research paper! And now, what am I gonna do now?” He tossed Penny an exasperated look. “I need tenure.”

Hermes shook his head. He’d been right: blind ambition was Kenton’s motive. He released his hold on Kenton. “Guess Bart figured he could make more money selling the sandals than whatever you paid him.”

He glanced at Penny who’d hung her head in defeat. But he wouldn’t let her cry, not in front of Kenton. Turning back to the pretty-boy professor, he narrowed his eyes once more, underscoring his threat with his gesture.

“One word of this to anybody, and you can kiss your career goodbye. Do we understand each other?”

“Without tenure, I’m going to lose my job anyway.”

Hermes looked at him, puzzled. Clearly Kenton was the overly dramatic kind. “One word about the sandals,” he repeated, “and I’ll—”

“You have my word,” Kenton interrupted and let himself fall into his chair.

25

Penny rubbed the uncomfortable feeling off her arms as she walked into her father’s room, Hermes on her heels. During the entire drive back from the university, she’d barely spoken and Hermes hadn’t pressed her. She was still trying to come to grips with the news that she’d been dealt. Like father, like daughter. Birds of a feather.

“I don’t know why I’m surprised. I knew he hadn’t changed. He’s still the same crook he always was.” Yet, how ironic it all was. Her father had stolen the sandal that she’d stolen first. What were they now? Competing thieves? “Why did I not see this?”

When Hermes put his hand on her arm, she looked up, startled.

“Don’t beat yourself up about it. You’re not responsible for your father’s deeds.”

“No, but I’m going to make sure they won’t go unpunished,” she answered and sighed, realizing what she sounded like. “Listen to me, I’m a hypocrite. There I’m ranting about my father, because he’s a thief! And what about myself? I’m not any better. I’m just like him after all.”

Hermes’ hands cupped her shoulders, shaking her for a short moment. “Don’t say that! You’re not like him. You’re not like him at all. Your motives were . . . different.”

“Hah!” she said. “Different? Who cares about motives in the end? A theft is a theft.”

“I do,” Hermes claimed and leaned closer, his head dipping toward her. His eyes seemed to want to penetrate her, and she quickly looked away.

“We’d better search his room before he comes back.” She hesitated. “If he comes back.” Now that he had the sandal and could sell it to the highest bidder, he didn’t need her and Grams any longer. He would disappear from their lives again just as quickly as he had appeared. She had little hope that the sandal was anywhere in the house. Most likely, her father was hocking it somewhere right at this moment.

Hermes dropped the hold on her shoulders and looked around the room. “Well, let’s see.”

Her father had only moved in a few days earlier and he’d already managed to make the room look like he’d been living there all his life. Knick-knacks lined the dresser. Photos of her and Grams stood on the nightstand. She picked up one she’d never seen before of herself as a child together with her father. It looked like they were at a county fair, and she was holding a large stuffed animal and wore a huge smile on her face. A moment of sadness hit her. Sadness for what could have been. And for what would never be.