Floors: Read Online Free PDF Page B

head.
    “Take this,” Leo said, handing Remi one of two small radios he’d picked up weeks ago from a street vendor. “I’ve got one, too, and both are set to frequency number four. If you hear a little beep, it’s me.”
    Remi’s eyes grew big and he smiled at Leo.
    “Partners?” he dared to ask.
    “Partners,” said Leo.

CHAPTER 4

     

I NTO THE P INBALL M ACHINE
     
    I t was a beautiful summer night on the grounds, where Mr. Phipps had surrounded the carved hedges and giant bushes around the pond with tiny lights that shone like stars. The ducks had been brought down and swam lazily in the water, quacking softly at the setting sun, although Betty was not among them.
    “Dinner is served,” said Ms. Sparks, playing hostess to the guests who’d chosen to attend the party. This included a smattering of short-stays, including Jane Yancey, the ornery little daughter of the zillionaire, and her mother, Nancy Yancey. The father, presumably, had business to attend to on Wall Street. Ms. Pompadore was there with Hiney, who sat by the pond barking at the ducks.Meanwhile, Captain Rickenbacker was deep in conversation with Mr. Phipps about the shapes of the bushes.
    “I want a duck,” said little Jane Yancey, who wouldn’t leave the edge of the pond to come to the table.
    “Ask your father,” replied her mother.
    “Do you want to cook the duck or put it on a leash?” asked Ms. Pompadore, who had no patience whatsoever for spoiled children.
    Jane ran to the table and sat by her mother, complaining about the rude woman and her barking dog, and dinner was served.
    There was no main kitchen in the hotel, but it didn’t matter. Dinner, along with every other meal at the Whippet, was catered by one of the finest restaurants in New York, one block off the property. The restaurant was owned by the Whippet estate, and it only served the hotel. If you had a yellow or green key card, you could dine there any time of the day or night and never pay a dime. (Tips were also discouraged.) Or guests could ring the restaurant by inserting a key card into a dining slot in their rooms, and food would be delivered to their doors under silver domes on piping hot plates. The staff was not invited to dine with guests, unless you were Ms. Sparks.
    And so it was that Leo had eaten dinner in the basement — a bowl of ramen noodles and a banana —while he’d stared into the purple box. His father was off in the expanse of the maintenance tunnels, working on something or other, when Leo made the call.
    “Remi, are you there?”
    A split second later Remi answered, like he’d been holding the two-way radio next to his face, waiting for it to go off.
    “I’m here! Where are you?”
    “That’s not important now. Who’s in the lobby?”
    “Me and my mom. Your dad came through on his way up a while ago, but otherwise, it’s been quiet.”
    “Do you know where Captain Rickenbacker is?”
    “I do. He’s at the dinner party by the pond on the grounds.”
    “Good! He went as I’d hoped.”
    There was a leather string tied to his belt notch, and Leo pulled it out, staring at a tiny watch that was attached to the end. Betty was busy gobbling up half of Leo’s dinner while he talked, a stray noodle hanging from her bill.
    “I’ve got Betty with me, and I’ll need to return her and the rest of the ducks to the roof in just under an hour. In the meantime, I’ve got an errand to run. Call me if Captain Rickenbacker comes back, will you?”
    “Sure I will!”

     
    Remi had let himself grow too enthusiastic, and his mother looked up from behind the desk, where she was filing her nails.
    “You must be hungry, no?” she asked.
    She smiled and called Remi to the desk, where she gave him a cold tamale wrapped in wax paper.
    “You make me proud, my little doorman. Keep working hard and you’ll make your way in the world.”
    Remi went back to the door with one hand in his pocket, secretly holding the two-way radio in case Leo needed