“Whyn’t you add another heaping spoonful of coffee,” I said.
“Won’t it be too strong?” she said.
“No, and a pinch of salt.”
“Okay,” she said and did what I said, although I could tell by the set of her shoulders that she knew the coffee would be salty and much too strong to drink. She turned on the coffeemaker and stood looking down at it while it began to brew.
“I’m missing you,” she said while she watched.
“Yeah, I’m missing you, too.”
“I feel like we haven’t seen enough of each other,” Susan said.
“Working couples,” I said.
“Do you think we can get away soon, just the two of us, somewhere?”
“Yes,” I said. “A mystery ride?”
“I’d love that,” Susan said.
“I’ll put something together for us.”
“I don’t want to tour the new ballpark in Cleveland,” Susan said.
“And you don’t want to go to Cooperstown,” I said, “and visit the Hall of Fame.”
“That still leaves a lot of options for us,” Susan said.
“I guess so,” I said. “I wonder if KC Roth would like to see the Hall of Fame.”
“She’s probably in it,” Susan said. “They probably retired her diaphragm.”
“Her diaphragm?”
“I’m an old-fashioned girl,” Susan said.
“And not a jealous bone in your body.”
“Not one,” Susan said.
The coffee had brewed enough to fill two cups. Susan poured it and put the pot back, added milk and Equal, and brought the two cups to my desk.
“Why are you going to listen to a speech by a racist homophobe?” she said.
“His name popped up in the Robinson Nevins case.”
“Really.”
I was on my second cookie. Susan had a small bite out of hers. The coffee was just right. I knew she thought it was just right too, but wasn’t saying so because she was stubborn.
“Last weekend a plane came to Logan and picked up Amir Abdullah and took him up to Bangor. The plane belonged to Last Stand Systems, Inc., of Beecham, Maine, and this speaker is the CEO of Last Stand Systems, Inc., which appears to be at the far right end of the family values movement.”
“Is that being put kindly?” Susan said.
“Very,” I said. “We asked Amir about this. He denied that it happened.”
“So what will you learn by going to the speech?”
“Don’t know,” I said. “See what this guy looks like. Hear what he sounds like. Maybe I’ll get to ask him about Amir. Mostly I don’t know exactly what else to do, so I’m going to do that. You know, keep looking until I see something.”
“I know very well. We do somewhat the same thing in therapy.”
We finished our cookies and drank our coffee.
“Coffee’s just right,” I said.
“I thought it was a little strong,” Susan said, “and a tad salty.”
I grinned at her. I got up and walked around my desk and stood in front of her.
“I love predictable,” I said. “Will you give me a big lingering open-mouthed kiss?”
Susan patted her lips with a little paper napkin that had been in the bag with the cookies. She stood.
“Yes,” she said. “I will.”
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
I got a call at my office the next morning from KC Roth inviting me to lunch. I figured I was safe in a public place, so I accepted. We met at the Legal Sea Foods restaurant in Chestnut Hill, and because we were early we didn’t have to wait long.
“I’ve moved back into civilization,” KC said, when she was seated across from me with a glass of white wine.
“Chestnut Hill?” I said.
She shook her head.
