Undetectable (Great Minds Thriller) by M. C. Soutter

confused. All day he had been presented with people and things and situations he did not expect. He was at a strange job, he had strange co - workers, and he was in a strange apartment. But at least this bookcase contained familiar things.
     
    Not that they were all his books. Stepping closer, he could see titles that were certainly not part of his collection: books on languages, French and Spanish and Portuguese and even Russian; books on engineering and physics; books on game theory, on hunting , for God’s sake; he was not a hunter. He had never held a gun in his life.
     
    Countless others.
     
    Still, it was good to see some old favorites. And presumably he would find some of his other things in this apartment. But he would find the kitchen first, and then the bedrooms.
     
    “Good afternoon.”
     
    Kevin let out an involuntary shout: “Yow!”
     
    There was a man standing behind him at the entrance to the living room, his hands at his sides. He was in his thirties, medium sized and trim, and he looked almost like a cadet standing at attention. He was dressed neatly, in gray slacks and a tucked-in black polo shirt.
     
    Kevin regained his composure. “Who are you?”
     
    “Andrew Helms,” the man said, his voice gentle and ingratiating. “Andrew, if you like. We met yesterday?” There was the slightest hint of confusion in the man’s voice. Because he had been through all of this before, his tone said. They had been through it before. “Your personal assistant?”
     
    Kevin gave this information a moment to sink in. “Assistant,” he said, as though trying the word for the first time.
     
    “Yes.”
     
    Kevin sighed and put his head back for a moment “All right,” he said at last. “You do look efficient.”
     
    “Thank you.”
     
    “We met yesterday?”
     
    “It was my first day.”
     
    “No, wait a minute.” Kevin shook his head. “It doesn’t bother you that I don’t remember meeting you yesterday?”
     
    Andrew tilted his head to the side. “I’m not offended. We’ve only just been introduced. You surely have countless matters to attend to, matters that require your focus and attention. Hence occasional forgetfulness, and hence your need for an assistant.” He ended this little speech with a trace of a smile, inviting Kevin to share in the incontrovertible logic, the inarguable transitive henceness of what he had said.
But Kevin only sighed. “I don’t mean I forgot your name . I’m saying I don’t remember you at all. I swear to God, I’ve never even seen you before.” He stopped and stared at the prim man, trying to convey some of the deep strangeness, some of the utter lunacy that he was experiencing.
     
    But Andrew was unfazed. He shrugged, and the lunacy passed over and around him without a ripple, as though he were a vehicle that had been specially designed and streamlined to cut through such distractions. “Would you like a drink of water?”
     
    “No,” Kevin said quickly. “And by the way, I don’t need an assistant. You can go.”
     
    But again Andrew was unaffected. He didn’t move. He looked at Kevin as though his employer had suggested that the two of them jump out the window together. An amusing suggestion, yes, good fun, but not something that warranted any serious consideration. “You’ve paid for my services in advance, Sir. Two weeks’ worth. My effects, which are few, are in the servant’s quarters. Which is where I will return if you would like some time to yourself.”
     
    Kevin ran a hand through his hair, and he let out a groan of frustration.
     
    “You’ll find me quite useful, I believe,” Andrew went on. “And after a day or two, I suspect you’ll scarcely notice I’m even – ”
     
    “Fine,” Kevin said suddenly, waving at him as though Andrew were a salesman who was taking up too much time. “I give up. Let’s move on. I have servant’s quarters?”
     
    “Indeed.”
     
    “Couldn’t we just call it the guest room