Silencing Eve

insults.”
    “Did she get an answer?”
    “Not really. But since you ran the risk, I’ll give one to you.” He shrugged. “We’re doing something I totally detest.” He turned back to the window. “Waiting. We’re waiting, Stang.”
    Wrigley Field
    “THERE’S A BALL GAME GOING ON. The Cubs are playing,” Trevor said as he saw the people streaming into the stadium. “That may mean problems, Margaret.”
    “No, it’s better. Crowds are always better. Buy tickets. Enjoy the game.” She turned to Jane. “Look, you and Trevor meet me at the car in the parking lot in two hours.” She grinned. “Or if you hear a ruckus, you come running and keep them from throwing me into jail. Okay?”
    “What?” Jane was frowning. “No, it’s not okay. I’m going with you.” She looked at the huge clock on the scoreboard. “Though how the hell are we supposed to get inside?”
    “I’m going to look for the maintenance man and have him take me. Did you think I was going to climb it and break in?”
    “Maybe,” Trevor said. “I wouldn’t put it past you.”
    “Forget it,” Margaret said. “It’s easier to rely on persuasion than force.” She turned to Jane. “And it will also be easier for me if you aren’t with me. You’re beautiful. You attract attention. I need to lull, not stir.”
    “How will you get maintenance to let you up there?” Trevor asked.
    “Most people can be handled. I’ll make up a story. I’m good at that.”
    “I’m sure you are,” he murmured.
    “So take her away.” Margaret waved a hand at the ticket booths. “And buy her a hot dog. She didn’t eat much breakfast.” She started to turn away. “I’ll see you in two hours.”
    “Margaret, dammit,” Jane said in frustration. “Let me go.”
    “No, this is my job,” Margaret said quietly. “It’s what I do. You’d be in the way.” She moved quickly away and slipped into the crowd. She didn’t look back. She knew what she would see. Jane worried and frustrated and Trevor, a rock, guarding her from every danger. What would it be like to have someone care that much about you, she wondered. She would probably never know. It was the Janes of the world who attracted love and romance and all that other stuff. They were like lightning rods.
    Margaret chuckled. But she attracted a few lightning bolts of her own every now and then. But her strikes were confined to dogs and wolves and sundry other creatures. And now she had to explore the minds of the wild rats running around this stadium.
    She sighed as she moved toward the tall security guard standing near the refreshment stand to ask where she could find the maintenance chief. She was not looking forward to dealing with rats. She would have preferred a dog or a cat, but you had to take what was available in the animal world. There might be a feral cat, but a rat was far more likely.
    Worry about that later. Now her main concern was getting into that scoreboard clock. Take the first step and go from there. And the first step was this security guard, who was smiling politely at her. Change that politeness to sympathy or empathy.
    “Hi.” She beamed at the security guard, carefully noting his name on his badge. “I wonder if you could help me, Officer Warren? I’m Margaret Simpson, and my daddy is head of maintenance at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Well, actually, he was head of it, but he was laid off a few weeks ago. I thought I’d talk to the maintenance head here and get an application for him to fill out. Daddy’s always been so impressed with what a great team you all have up here in Chicago.” She gazed up at him pleadingly. “Do you suppose that would be possible, sir?”
    *   *   *
    “YOU CAN’T STAY HERE very long,” Tom Foster, the maintenance engineer, said testily as he frowned at Margaret. “I don’t know why I let you talk me into bringing you up here. I’m a busy man, and I don’t have time for this.”
    “You brought me here because you’re a kind man, and you know that we all have to help each other,” she said quietly. “I can’t tell you how grateful my daddy will be that you took your valuable time and gave me that application. Even if you all can’t find it in your heart to give him a job, I’ll tell him how nice you were to me. He’s always wanted to see the workings behind this scoreboard. Wrigley is a part of history.” She held up her iPhone. “I’ll just take a few pictures and make a few notes to take home to