'See why I was feeling Prufrockian?' I said.
'Go on,' Susan said.
Hawk asked to see the wine steward. I told Susan about Perry Lehman and Warren and Mr. Milo. The wine steward conferred with Hawk, and went away.
'Schramsberg,' Hawk said. 'They didn't have Iron Horse. I was going to have one of each and do a blind tasting.'
'After four or five beers,' I said, 'to prepare the palate.'
Hawk grinned.
'And you knew Hawk would show up when they came to kill you?'
'Un huh.'
'Even though you didn't see him and hadn't seen him all day?'
'Un huh.'
'Isn't that remarkable,' Susan said. 'Have you each ever considered how rare that kind of trust is?'
'Yes,' I said, 'I have.'
Hawk simply smiled at Susan.
'He doesn't consider stuff like that,' I said. She looked at Hawk.
'It have to do with us both knowing it matters,' Hawk said. 'Our line of work, you got to do what you say you going to do.'
'See,' Susan said, 'he does think about such things.'
'But not too much, Susan,' Hawk said. 'Doing it, more important than thinking about it.'
The waiter brought the champagne. He opened it and poured. Susan ordered grilled salmon fillet. So did I. Hawk had scallops. We sipped the champagne. Susan's hand rested on mine on the tabletop. The room was full of the sound of people talking and dishes being served and steaks being cut and glasses being raised and fish being grilled and wine being poured. I looked at Susan, she smiled and said, 'Umph,' at me. We both knew what we were feeling. Since Hawk seemed to know whatever he felt like knowing, he probably knew it too.
'Nice to be dining with you both,' Hawk said. He gestured slightly with the champagne glass and drank some. Susan and I drank some too.
'We've been together on worse occasions,' I said.
'But few better,' she said.
The food came. We had a platter of assorted grilled vegetables to go with our entree. The waiter served some onto each plate. Susan smiled up at him when he finished. He poured more champagne and looked at Hawk. Hawk nodded and the waiter went for another bottle.
I said to Susan, 'You keep smiling at the waiter that way and he's going to get vertigo and drop his tray and get fired.'
'I forgot,' Susan said, 'I must control this special power.'
'Smile at me,' I said. 'I'm so tough I can take the full force, ear to ear.'
The waiter came back with a second bottle and leaned over Hawk. 'Lady up there wants to buy you this next bottle, sir,' the waiter said. He handed Hawk a business card on which something was written.
Hawk read the card and the message and looked up across the room at a tall blond woman in a tight-fitting red knit dress. He smiled once, and tucked the card into his shirt pocket.
'Your smile seems to be working pretty good too,' I said.
'Thermonuclear,' Hawk said.
'You know her?' Susan said.
'Not yet,' Hawk said, and smiled again.
I put my hands lightly over Susan's eyes. 'I know you love me,' I said, 'but there's no sense taking chances.'
33
At nine-fifteen the next morning I got a call from Warren Whitfield's personal, senior, confidential assistant.
'Mr. Whitfield would like to have you stop by this morning at ten o'clock,' she said.
'Be pleased to,' I said.
'Thank you,' she said.
DePaul Federal was about a half-hour walk from my office. With Hawk drifting along behind me on the other side of the street I set out at nine-thirty. I liked to walk and had been falling behind on my jogging lately, so the walk was especially welcome. The weather was about as good as summer gets as I headed down Boylston Street. Temperature eighty-one, sunny, small breeze.
The DePaul Building was forty-five stories with a high art deco lobby facing out on Franklin Street and Post Office Square. The cashiers and floor people occupied most of the floor, and a bank of elevators off a slightly raised walkway led to the executive offices up on top.
