Mercy

'He could get a copy of his records, but I would keep the original,' Michelle answered.

'I doubt it was a patient. Patient charts are confidential. Everyone knows that. Whatever is in the charts stays private. And

why would a patient go to such extremes tearing the place up? If he wanted his records so badly, all he had to do was break in and lift it out from those boxes. No, I don't think it was a patient, but what does Robinson say? Did he have any pain-in-the… difficult patients?'

'He hasn't returned my call yet,' Michelle told him. 'I'll try again in the morning. He recently moved to Phoenix, and he's

probably busy getting settled.'

'Why don't you give Noah his phone number and let him talk to him,' Theo suggested. 'People tend to sit up and take notice

when the FBI calls. And on my worst day I couldn't be as abrasive as he can be. He's better at coercion.'

'Yeah, right.' Noah scoffed at the notion. Turning to Michelle, he said, 'I've seen Theo make grown men cry. It was kind of

funny actually… watching a cold-hearted killer, who happens to be the head of a crime organization, blubber like a baby.'

'He's exaggerating,' Theo said.

'No, I'm not,' Noah argued. 'However, it is true that the average person doesn't know what the attorneys over in Justice do. Come to think about it, I'm not so sure I know. Besides making criminals cry, what exactly do you do, Theo?'

'Not much,' he answered dryly. 'We drink a lot…'

'That's a given.'

'And try to think of things for you guys to do.'

'I'll bet you do.' Turning to Michelle, Noah added, 'Those lazy Justice attorneys make the dedicated FBI agents do all the hard work.'

Theo smiled. 'It's called delegating. We do it so the little people won't feel left out.'

The insults began to fly, and some of the outrageous things they said were hilarious. Vastly amused, she sat back and relaxed. When the subject eventually returned to her clinic, she said, 'I'm not going to worry about this any longer. I've been blowing

this out of proportion.'

'How's that?' Noah asked.

'I was so spooked after I saw the mess, I thought I was being followed. You know that feeling you get? It's hard to explain.'

'I'd pay attention to that feeling if I were you,' Noah said.

'But no one was following me,' she insisted. 'I would have spotted him… wouldn't I?'

'Not if he's good,' Noah said.

'This is a very small community. Strangers would stick out.'

'Yeah? What about a man driving a van with maybe a cable company logo on the side? Would he stick out? And what

about all the men and women who come here to fish? If they were dressed in fishing gear and carrying a pole, would you

think they didn't belong?'

Michelle stood. 'I see your point, and I appreciate your taking the time to look at the clinic, but I really believe this was just an isolated incident.'

'And that belief is based on what?' Theo asked. 'Wishful thinking?'

She ignored his sarcasm. 'This is Bowen,' she said. 'If anyone had a problem with me, he'd tell me so. Now that I've had time

to think about it, I didn't start jumping at shadows until after I saw the clinic. I overreacted. I will remind you,' she hastened to

add when he looked as though he was going to interrupt, 'that nothing else has happened. You want to find a conspiracy, and

there just isn't one.' Turning to Noah, she said, 'I do thank you for coming to Bowen.'

'You don't need to thank me,' Noah said. 'To be honest, I only did the favor to get a favor. Theo's agreed to drive back to

Biloxi with me. He's going to give a lecture for me, and I would have driven cross country to get out of that. I still have to go

finish the training session, but at least I don't have to write a speech.'

'When do you have to be back?'

'Monday.'

'Oh.' She turned away before either of them could see her disappointment.

Noah watched her walk away. 'Damn, Theo, she's something else. If we were going to stay around for a while, I'd give you a

run for your money. I've always been a sucker for redheads.'

'You're a sucker for anything that wears a skirt.'

'That's not true. Remember the Donovan case? Patty Donovan always wore skirts, and that didn't do anything for me.'

Theo rolled his eyes. 'Patty was a transvestite. He didn't turn anyone on.'

'He had good legs. I'll give him that,' Noah drawled. 'So tell me something. What's happening with you and Michelle?'

'Nothing's happening.'

'That's a shame.'

'You never told me the topic of the lecture I'm giving,' Theo said in hopes of getting Noah to change the subject. 'What is it?'

Noah grinned. 'Anger management.'

Theo laughed. 'Was this your boss's idea of a joke?'

'Sure it was,' he said. 'You know Morganstern. He's got a twisted sense of humor. He's making me run the training program

to punish me.'

'What'dyoudo?'

'You don't want to know.' Noah paused and then said, 'Morganstern could use a man like you.'

'Ah, the hidden agenda comes out at last. Did Pete ask you to talk to me?'

Noah shrugged. 'He might have mentioned…'

'Tell him I'm not interested.'

'He likes the way your mind works.'

'I'm not interested,' Theo reiterated.

'You're happy where you are?'

Theo shook his head. 'I'm done. All used up,' he said. 'I'm going back to the office, tie up loose ends, and hand in my resignation.'

Noah was stunned. 'You aren't kidding, are you?'

'No, I'm not kidding. It's time… past time,' he corrected.

'Then what are you going to do?'

'I've got a couple of ideas.'

'Does one of those ideas have red hair?'

Theo didn't answer. Before Noah could press, a man came over to the table and asked Theo if he could talk to him about a legal matter.

'Sure,' Theo said. 'Let's sit at the bar.'

He got up, rolled his shoulders to work the kinks out, and then went behind the bar to pour himself a beer. 'What can I do for you?' he asked the young man.