Page 23

Bea stood up and cleared her throat. Might as well get this over with. “I was just wondering, um, the room situation?”

“What of it?” He wasn’t looking at her, was locking the paperwork away again.

How to put this? “Is there any…” Then she had an idea. “I was just wondering if you had luxury suites, you know, for the better class of clientele that you’re hoping to attract?”

He looked up and snorted. “As if. This place is a dump. It’ll take a sight more money to provide that sort of thing. Everyone’s got the same as of now. Still, I’m thinking about marketing it more as a monastic retreat sort of thing. Simplicity and all that.”

“Ah,” Bea said. No chance of a better room for Alli then. She couldn’t be blamed for that though, not when a better room didn’t actually exist. “That explains why you’re taking all their electronics, I suppose.”

Luke eyed her, then shrugged. “Nah, that’s more because if we don’t, they’re just on them all the damn time and it drives Lex crazy.”

“Oh.” Bea swallowed, feeling her skin tingle. She didn’t like this. It wasn’t lying really, it just wasn’t being as honest as she liked to be. “You must have a bank vault to lock all that expensive stuff away.” She tried for a laugh and it came out more as a squeak.

“A secure trunk that’s padlocked inside of a room that’s locked. Only one key, and that’s on my person at all times. Or at least on my desk.” He narrowed his eyes. “So no chance of a heist, if that’s what you’ve got in mind.”

Bea gave another squeak of a laugh. “Oh no, no. No, of course not. No.” She backed out of the room as she spoke. “I’ll, uh, be going, gotta get ready, got a class…”

Then she turned and fled, smacking into Josh as she rounded the corner.

“Woah, slow down there, speedy,” he said.

Bea stopped and caught her breath. She was not cut out for alife of crime, not even the white collar stuff.

Josh put a meaty hand on her shoulder, then looked down the corridor. “Ah, I see. Coming from Luke’s office?”

She nodded.

Josh sighed. “If it helps, it’s the same for all of us. He advertised a decent salary. But then, when you look into it, he knocks off payments for accommodation, food, anything he can think of. At the end of the day, we’d probably all be better off working at McDonald’s.”

“So why don’t you?” Bea asked, breath now caught.

“Why don’t you?” he asked her. “I mean, this is a step on the ladder, right?”

“For everyone?” she asked in disbelief.

He chuckled. “Well, I’m an ex-con, that doesn’t make getting a job particularly easy. Lex is a new graduate, I’m sure you’ve noticed that she’s young and, well, let’s just say she hasn’t found her confidence yet. And let’s see… Celine just likes a job where no one bothers her, and Luke lets her do as she likes as long as there’s no rat poo in the corners and she doesn’t go over budget on the food.”

“And what about… Daria?” asked Bea, remembering the dark-haired meditation teacher.

Josh looked thoughtful. “Dunno. Haven’t figured her out yet. What about you?”

“I wasn’t meant to be here, remember?”

“And there’s a sentence I hear at least once an hour. No one’s meant to be here,” Josh said with a grin.

Bea puffed out her cheeks. “I need a job. This is a job. It might not be all that, but Luke obviously has plans to expand. I could use some job security in this market.”

“Couldn’t we all,” said Josh, patting her shoulder. “Come on, it’s breakfast time and you might as well take advantage of the food since you’re paying for it and all. It’s the one good thing about this place.”

Bea followed him down the corridor, wondering just what the hell she’d gotten herself into.

LIGHT STREAMED IN through the windows as the ‘programmers’, as Lex had informed her patients were to be called, stretched and bent. Well, most of the programmers. One was very obviously not stretching or bending. In fact, she was leaning up against the wall, looking exceptionally bored.

“And come back to child’s pose,” Bea said.

There was a collective sigh and Bea smiled. She loved this part, the part where people were so clearly relaxed, in such a better position than when they walked into the room. This is why she did the job, even when people, like Robbie, made fun of her. She wanted to help people.

She glanced at Alli, still propping up the wall.