'Say we get them together, what have we got then?'
Susan shook her head. 'No way to know,' she said. 'Certainly no less than you've got right now.'
'Very true,' I said.
'And perhaps we'll have some insight into the relationship that we don't have now.'
'We?'
'Yes,' Susan said. 'It's somewhat my line of work. Perhaps I might be able to add a useful observation.'
'Perhaps you might,' I said.
29
IN the morning Susan called Chantel for me. I didn't want Dwayne to answer and recognize my voice and hang up.
'Chantel?' Susan said. Pause.
'Mr. Spenser calling, just a moment.'
We were still in bed and Susan handed the phone across her body to me.
'Chantel,' I said.
Her voice was sleepy. 'What you want?'
'Can you talk?'
'Not much,' she said.
'Okay, listen then.'
'Un huh.'
'I want Dwayne to see Bobby Deegan and Madelaine Roth at an address in Newton I'm going to give you.'
'I don't understand that, Ma'am.' The 'Ma'am' must have been diversionary.
'I'll be there, and Hawk, and my friend Dr. Silverman, the woman who just spoke to you.'
'Un huh.'
'So you've got to get him there under whatever pretext. What's a good time today?'
'Today?' Chantel sounded confused.
'Yes. This morning would be good. In an hour, say.'
'We ain't even up yet,' Chantel said.
'We need to do this quickly, Chantel. Can you get him there?'
'Yes,' she said. 'Two hours.'
'Okay.' I gave her the address and hung up. 'Kid's okay,' I said to Susan. 'No argument, no maybe. Just yes.'
'And Hawk will meet us there?' Susan said.
'He's there now,' I said. 'I called him before you were awake.'
'You awoke from an evening of rapture thinking business?'
'First I thought about the rapture,' I said. Susan nodded.
'Hawk will make sure that Madelaine and her boyfriend don't leave,' Susan said.
'Yes.'
'Wise,' Susan said, 'though it came rather hard upon the heels of rapture.'
'I'll make breakfast,' I said, 'and you can start getting ready.'
'If I start getting ready now, I won't be able to hurry.'
'I know,' I said.
'I like to be in a hurry,' Susan said.
'Puzzling, but true,' I said. I got up and put on my Darth Vader robe. Susan slipped out of bed and walked naked toward the bathroom. 'Except when I take a bath,' Susan said. 'I like long slow baths.'
'Among other things,' I said.
Susan looked at me the way she does, sort of sideways. She took her robe from a hanger in her closet and slipped it on. Susan was never naked except when there was occasion for it. She always looked a little relieved when she got into her robe.
I headed for the kitchen.
Susan and I had sweet potato pancakes and two cups of coffee each. Decaffeinated. No problem. I didn't miss real coffee at all. We cleaned up the dishes afterward and then Susan said, 'My God, look at the time,' and began to speed around her condo. I went into the bathroom and took a shower and came out and found a neutral corner in
