Chapter 19: Face Value

Callum tried to unlock the Waverly building while carrying his hard case, a laptop bag, and two cartons of cold noodles. The lock declined to participate. Sau-lin watched him rearrange the cartons under one arm. Callum's coat hung around her shoulders, and Jo's offered chopsticks remained solid in her hand. "You could put something down," she said. "The pavement is wet." "The building has survived worse than noodles." "The building isn't eating them." "Neither are you." She would have liked to. A radio had told her in 1969 that noodles brought the family together, and she had spent half a century waiting to be included. He gave the key another turn. The deadbolt caught, released, then caught again. "You once made houses quiet," Sau-lin said. "Now they refuse to admit you. Reputation travels." The door opened from inside. Nathan Gee stood in the vestibule wearing a restaurant sweatshirt and the…