Edgar laughed from the moment he stepped into the restaurant to pay Benedict's bill, he laughed the entire ride to the Chase Company's main office building, and he laughed the long elevator ride up to the security office. Benedict fumed. Calling his brother for help since his wallet mysteriously disappeared was humiliating enough, but knowing a girl managed to pick his pocket without him noticing was what really burned his pride.
Edgar at least waited until the door to his office closed behind them and he occupied the chair behind his desk to start asking questions. "Who is she?"
"How do you know it's a she?"
His older brother cocked an eyebrow at him. Benedict made an aggravated noise and threw his hands in the air. "Fine. Her name is Eloise."
"Eloise." Edgar smiled a little as he checked his computer, attention only partly on his brother. "And how did you meet young Eloise?"
Benedict gritted his teeth. "At the jail, when I was bailing Atticus —"
Edgar's chair squeaked as he swiveled to face Benedict, and he folded his arms on the desk with a blank expression. "Bailing Atticus out? Little brother was in jail?"
"Yes." Benedict went to the window and stared out at the city. Somewhere down there, Eloise had his wallet and his credit cards, doing God only knew what with his money. He hoped she bought something nice with it, something she wanted. He shoved his hands in his pockets. "It's fine. I bailed him out, we pled down with the judge and he's on the hook for some community service."
"The charges?"
"Fighting and public nudity." Benedict snorted, turning to face his brother. "Sounds like a hell of a Thursday night, right?"
Edgar's expression didn't change. The silence stretched. After a long, uncomfortable staring contest, Edgar made a note on a pad of paper and gestured with his hand. "And what was your girl charged with?"
A sudden urge to protect her washed over Benedict and he dissembled, shrugging as he wandered around the pristine security office to consider the bay of monitors. "Illegal gambling, I think it said. She placed some bets and got caught. Nothing too serious."
"And your natural response was to take her to lunch? To Bistro Nord?"
He watched the small, smudged figures moves through the monitors, all of them going about their business with purpose and vigor. It was his day off, he should have gone home and taken a nap, watched some of his recorded shows. Instead he wanted to search the city for Eloise. "She was hungry. I fed her."
Edgar took a deep breath, exhaling in a gust. "Okay. Where would she go?"
"No idea." Benedict shook his head, arms folded across his chest. "It's fine, Ed. If it's meant to be, our paths will cross again."
His brother leveled a look at him that put Benedict back a step. Edgar picked up his phone and dialed, still watching Benedict as the phone rang. At length, the security chief said, "I need to track down a few things. Benedict's wallet, to start. Credit cards. Yes. Top priority."
Benedict frowned. "You don't have to —"
Edgar leaned back in his chair, tossing a stress ball from hand to hand. His dark eyebrows arched as he spun the chair back and forth. "Someday you'll thank me."
"See, every other time you've said that to me, I haven't."
"This time is different."
"Why do you think that?" Benedict looked back at the monitors.
"Because I know you." Edgar laughed. "And you haven't made a joke since I picked you up, despite this being the funniest thing that ever happened to you."
"I don't find anything at all funny about this," Benedict said, trying to preserve some of his dignity. He drew his shoulders back, prepared to face his judgmental older brother when something thumped into the back of his head. The stress ball dropped to the floor and rolled across the industrial carpet. He scowled as Edgar grinned and spun in his chair. "You're enjoying this too much."
"Are you kidding me?" The phone rang and Edgar picked it up, still smiling. "This is the most fun I've had since Logan got all respectable. But don't think we won't talk about Atticus." Then he was embroiled in an intense conversation, and Benedict retrieved the stress ball to chuck back at him.
They threw things at each other until Edgar ran out of loose items on his desk and Benedict retreated to a firing position behind the ratty couch, though Edgar continued his reasonable phone call and Benedict's aim suffered from thoughts of Eloise. At least she'd eaten a good meal before she ran.
As the sun set and the temperature dropped, he hoped she was some place warm and comfortable. His apartment — and his bed — would have been the best option, but she hadn't given him the chance to offer. He dodged a tape dispenser as it sailed over the couch and crashed against the coffee table, and popped his head up to frown at Edgar and shake his finger. "You're going to —" but he hit the deck as a keyboard followed.
"Don't make me tell Logan." Edgar hung up, then cursed and flopped under his desk as Benedict heaved an armful of crap back at him and shrapnel fell across the glass contraption. The security chief straightened, running a hand through his hair. "Do you want to know where she is, or not?"
"What the hell am I going to do, go pick her up? Demand my wallet back?"
Edgar glanced at his watch, arching his eyebrows. "Well, it's just about dinner time —" and laughed as Benedict heaved a chair at him.
But Benedict bit back a smile as Edgar handed over a piece of paper with an address, a hotel where she'd used his credit card. The chase. His heart sped up, the blood pumping in his veins as the lion awoke and sensed a new hunt. Delicious prey. The chance for a reward at the end of the run. He straightened his tie, checked his hair in the reflection of one of the security monitors, and turned toward the door. "Great. I'll call you tomorrow if —"
"Hold up."
Benedict turned, not about to put up with more teasing when Eloise waited for him in a shitty neighborhood. "Enough with the —" but he cut off when he saw Edgar holding up a black canvas wallet. Benedict swallowed his pride and strode to take the jump wallet, laden with cash and a company credit card.
Before he released it, though, Edgar said quietly, not a hint of jest in his eyes, "Be careful, Ben. The kind of girl you bail out on a first date might not be the kind of girl you want her to be. Stalk the gazelle before you commit and find a fucking rhinoceros, okay?"
Benedict met his gaze, unafraid. "She's different. Special. There's something about her eyes..." He shook his head, unable to explain the silver lightning that struck right in his heart.
"Okay." Edgar released the wallet and turned his full attention to the computer, shaking his head. "Just call the house and make sure Natalia doesn't make a plate for you."
Benedict waved over his shoulder as he headed for the elevators. Fair warning from his older brother, certainly, but the hunt was on.