I reddened a little, but held my ground. “I was just thinking about why you made me so angry.”
“Well, besides the fact that I insulted you, you probably think I don’t trust you.”
That floored me. I don’t know exactly why. He has this knack for getting to the heart of things that has unnerved me more than once. It’s a little disquieting to be with someone who can read you like a large-type book. I didn’t say anything.
He sighed. “I’m sorry I lost my temper. And I do trust you.”
“Do you? I could have sworn otherwise from the conversation we just had on the phone.”
He leaned back against the wall and went back to studying his shoe.
“Look,” I said, “I accept your apology. I owe you one, too. As for the trust issue, I guess we need to talk. What time will you be getting home tonight?”
“Late,” he said quietly.
He was unhappy and I knew it, but I fought the urge to say something just to make him feel better. This was too important. I repeated that to myself a couple of times.
“If you aren’t too tired when you come home,” I said, “let’s talk. I’ll try to stay up. Or wake me when you get in.”
“Okay, I’ll see you at home then.” He turned and walked off without saying another word.
Well, I had stood up for myself all right. Why did I feel so shitty?
9
I TRIED TO CRAWL UP out of my foul mood before Steven Kincaid arrived. He showed up a little early; I was still working on some notes, but I asked Geoff to send him up. I glanced up as he entered the newsroom, and noticed that every female within shouting distance was looking him over.
Then I noticed the men. Hostile doesn’t quite describe it. I expected to hear the cry of Tarzan any minute. It was apparently stuck in some newsman’s throat.
“Hello, Steven,” I said with a smile that was as much amusement at the general consternation he had caused as it was a welcome.
“Hi, Irene. I’m a little early.”
“O’Connor once quoted someone as saying that ‘the trouble with being punctual is that nobody’s there to appreciate it.’”
He shrugged and gave me a fleeting, disarming grin. “Evelyn Waugh said punctuality is the virtue of the bored.”
“I think I like that one better. But you don’t strike me as being bored.”
“No. Restless, I suppose. Who’s O’Connor?”
“I’ll tell you about him on the way to lunch. Do you mind a walk of about six blocks?”
He didn’t. I used the time to talk on and on about my old friend and mentor. It made me smile, but when I looked over at my companion, his brows were knitted in concern.
“You say O’Connor was killed?”
“Yes. He was murdered.”
“So you know what it’s like.”
I stopped walking. “Do you mean, I know what
He looked like he might break down right out there on the sidewalk, so I took hold of his hand and pulled him forward. “Come on, keep moving. It’s good for you.”
“I’m sorry,” he said, following me. “I can’t seem to control my emotions these days. It’s humiliating. I’m not used to it at all.”
Well, the Banshee of the Press Room had no trouble understanding what that was like. I let go of his hand but kept walking at a brisk pace. He was forced to keep up with me. “You need to get some sleep, Steven. Your batteries are too run down to cope with everything that’s happened.”
Just then I noticed one of my shoelaces was untied. I stopped and bent to tie it, and became aware of someone watching us. From a car. A familiar car.
“Excuse me a moment, Steven. I need to embarrass someone.” I left him standing dumbfounded on the sidewalk and ran over to the car, just as the red-faced driver tried to start it up. I pounded on the window and he rolled it down.
“Pete Baird. What a surprise.”
“How’re you doing, Irene?”
“Pissed off, as a matter of fact. Since you’re willing to do your partner’s dirty work, I don’t suppose you’d mind being an errand boy. So here’s a message: you can tell your pal Frank that if he’s going to send his partner downtown to follow me around, he can—”
“Whoa! Wait a minute! Frank didn’t send me down here to watch you. It was my own idea. I swear it. He doesn’t know I’m here. And you damned well better hope I don’t tell him I saw you holding hands with young Studley Do-Right over there.”
“In the first place, you know I wasn’t ‘holding hands,’ not in the way you imply I was. In the second place, buzz
