'Oh yeah?' he said, still poised to go out. 'And just what are they doing about it? That bigoted jerkoff, I mean.'
'Ignoring it,' she replied blandly. 'And him.'
'What?' He stared.
'Think about it, David,' she said impatiently. 'This idiot is only looking for publicity. Anything any Indian says or does about this is just going to give him more of what he wants. A few of the media press went over to Wilma's office this morning for her comments. Fortunately, she had a good zinger waiting for them. She simply looked at them and said, 'I thought you guys were here for the real news,' and gave them press releases about the improvements to the Tribal Police system.'
'She's got to be doing more than that!' David cried.
Jennifer shrugged. 'Why?' she responded. 'This guy is nothing, David. The only people who believe him are people we'd never touch anyway-people who not only don't have a clue, they couldn't buy one if you gave them a roll of quarters. We've got a real problem to deal with. Let Wilma handle Bob Anger. If he keeps it up, she'll find a way to get him put down. Probably,' she added thoughtfully, 'by convincing the 'Morning Zoo' DJs to turn both barrels on him.
What they did to Oral Roberts is nothing compared to what they can do to him.'
David shook his head, but returned to his chair. Jennifer went back to her list, crossing off 'Call Sleighbow.'
'You know,' she said after a moment, 'this business with Bob Anger-'
David looked at her hopefully. 'We should do something about him?'
She shook her head violently. 'God, no! No, now that I think about it-it smells like a trap. As much of a trap as that medicine-pouch was. We were meant to lock horns with Anger-to give his accusations some legitimacy.'
He frowned at her. 'Yeah? What makes you say that?'
'The timing, mostly.' She ignored his growing scorn and took out the cassette tape to stare at it, as if by doing so she could make it give up its secrets. 'Someone is getting nervous. Someone knows that you and I are working together, now. That someone is the person who tipped Anger off.' She glanced at him sharply. 'And before you ask, no, it isn't 'just a hunch.' It's my own trained deduction combined with Medicine skills. I sense the hand of The Enemy here, and threat from the West, the country of war and death, Here-' She held up the cassette and shook it for emphasis. 'I see a false war-trail here; The Enemy has gone elsewhere. If we follow the bluff, we will lose him.'
David shrank back a little in his chair, acutely uncomfortable. 'Well ... if you say so…'
'I do,' she told him firmly.
He sighed, and although she could see that he was struggling against a sharp retort, he kept his mouth shut. 'All right,' he said after a moment. 'What's the plan?'
'Oh, your favorite.' She pulled out a list, and groaned. 'Legwork, legwork, legwork,' she said sweetly, and handed him his half of the list.
Jennifer leaned over the table at Ken's Pizza and batted her eyelashes flirtatiously at the plainclothes officer across from her. He batted his eyes right back at her, then wiped his mouth with a napkin.
'So, Jen, what is it you want out of me this time?' he asked. 'You never buy me lunch unless you want something.'
'Moi?' she exclaimed in mock-horror. 'Want something? Why, Wild Bill, I am crushedl How could you say something like that? Can't an honest citizen buy lunch for one of Tulsa's finest without wanting something?'
'Not when they're you, they can't.' But 'Wild Bill' Cody, a casual friend of Jennifer's who'd recently been promoted to the Detective Unit, didn't look or sound as if he was unhappy about the situation, so Jennifer decided to continue pursuing the intention that had led her to meet Cody at headquarters and invite him to lunch.
She pouted. 'You eat my pizza, you drink my soda, then you make terrible accusations that I'm bribing you.'
'Statements, not accusations,' he retorted. 'And the Three-Ninety-Five all-you-can-eat Lunch Buffet is below the five-dollar limit that constitutes a bribe, as you are well aware. So what do you want? I don't fix tickets and I don't give out confidential information.'
'I know that,' she said with annoyance. 'All I want is office gossip. You used to be in Fraud. What's the word on Rod Calligan?'
'Current or history? Never mind, both, I know.' He took a long pull on his cola, and the ice clicked against the plastic when he put it down. 'History is, Fraud has him on the list of people who might go over the line some day. You know, people who have enough complaints against them that we figure it's worth watching them in case their companies get in trouble and they start looking for creative ways to finance things? But you also know that list-'
'Is real long.' She nodded. 'That's the way it is around here. A lot of people skate on thin ice but never fall in. Any hint he's ever been involved in the illegal artifact business?'
Wild Bill shook his head vigorously. 'Nothing but the usual contractor-type stuff. But that's where the current gossip comes in. There are a lot of people looking really closely at this explosion of his. Could be what he says it is. Profile from the FBI says it also fits with someone who's trying an insurance scam. So we're stalling. Other thing is, normally when there's real terrorists involved in a bombing, someone slips up. Leaves fingerprints, or something that can be traced back to them, or-more often than not- somebody has to boast about what he did. Whoever set this one is either real lucky or real slick, and terrorists don't fit that profile.'
She nodded, wryly. 'Uh-huh. They're too busy being passionate and idealistic to be slick. Gotcha. So?'
'So we're being real careful. And Calligan is being a real pain, because we haven't arrested anybody.' Cody played with his glass. 'He doesn't bug the department about it- but every time somebody comes around to ask him a couple more questions, he always brings it up, real resentful.' The officer gave her a look from under his bushy eyebrows. 'That's off the record. Anything else is confidential.'
'No problem.' She picked up the check, and fished a ten out of her purse to cover it, handed both bills to a passing waitress, and waved away change. Cody rose, and so did Jennifer.
'That's all you wanted?' He seemed mildly surprised.
'That's all,' she said cheerfully. 'Painless, wasn't it?'
'Wish my dentist was that painless.' He grinned broadly. 'Make sure you call me next time you need office gossip. I can always use a free lunch.'
'And I can always use a friendly face. Don't get into any trouble, Cody,' she said, as they parted at the door. 'And don't forget what my grandfather always says.'
'What's that?' he asked, pausing for just a moment.
'Don't believe everything you hear.' She arched her eyebrows significantly. 'At least when it comes from the mouths of guys you have on lists.' He 'fired' a finger at her. 'Gotcha, Jen. Be seein' you!' She laughed. 'Next time you need a free lunch!'
_CHAPTER TWELVE
So, another day like the past six. Same song, different verse. David glared at the neat little scrap of paper- torn off as precisely as if it had been cut-and shoved it into his pocket. Legwork. Right. Jennie was awfully fond of sending him off chasing things, and half the time he thought it was just to get him out of her hair.
He wasn't used to being ordered around by a woman, much less by one who used to be his girlfriend. It was kind of hard to take.
But Jennie just wasn't the same girl he knew back in college-she was so serious all the time. Businesslike, impersonal. Hardly ever smiled, for one thing, much less laughed. Except when she was trying to get his goat, being sarcastic, or trying to give him a hard time. She always had some kind of smart answer, too.
And she didn't fit his idea of a real woman anymore, not with that cool, emotionless attitude of hers. Like she'd been taking lessons from Mr. Spock or something. Not a hint that they had ever been close.
She dressed so damned aggressively, in jeans, leather jackets, boots-or really severely tailored suits-no makeup, no jewelry, nothing feminine. She was obviously used to doing everything herself; even when he offered to drive her somewhere, she declined. Too damned independent, that was what it was. She wouldn't give up control for anyone or anything.
