During lunch, they tried to take a break from the case. Ross asked Jack more questions about his history at the FBI. Jack had been around long enough and in enough different field offices to have more than a few stories to tell. They watched the scenery walk by and Ross joked with Jack that his kids were going to grow up to look like the tattooed and pierced bodies that walked by the window.
The waitress took Ross’ credit card to pay for lunch. Waiting for her to return with the receipt, Ross asked, “Jack, have you ever dated somebody from a case?”
“Don’t even think it, Junior.”
“Not during the case, Jack, but how about after? I meet her at a bar, she asks me to dance? There’s nothing wrong with that, is there?” Ross stuck out his hand to take the bill from the waitress as she returned. “I mean, she was coming on pretty strong, Jack. And she was gorgeous.”
“Sir?”
Jack and Ross both looked up at the waitress. She wasn’t handing the bill over to Ross.
“Do you have another credit card, sir? There seems to be an issue with this one.”
“What do you mean, an issue? Must be something wrong with the system.”
“We tried it a couple of times.”
Ross dug another card out of his wallet. “Can you try this one?”
“Sure, I’ll be right back. Won’t take a minute.”
Ross held the card and looked at it. “Wonder what’s happened?” he asked. “I just got this card.” Ross looked back at Jack. “So, theoretically speaking, could I ask her out?”
“Theoretically speaking, if the case was all wrapped up and she approached you…I’d call her a groupie, but I think you could go out with her.”
“Sir?” The waitress was back at the table.
“That one worked, didn’t it?” Ross hoped.
“This one has exceeded its limit.”
“That’s impossible.” Ross took the card from the waitress. He turned the card over and looked at both sides. “Exceeded its limit?”
Jack took some cash out and handed it to the waitress. “Keep the change. Sorry for the problem. Thanks for the birthday lunch, Junior.”
“I don’t understand what’s going on, I haven’t used this card,” Ross said.
“Let’s go. I have to go pick up my kids and you can call your bank.”
Chapter 13
“Hey, where are you? I’m right here.”
The Governor snapped from his daydream to the hand waving in front of his face. He grabbed the hand and held it gently in his, stroking it with his thumb. “I’m sorry, babe.” He smiled. “There’s no excuse. How could I be thinking about something else with a beautiful woman sitting across from me?” He looked at Sandy Hoffman, his gaze moving from the designer sunglasses covering her eyes, down a long, tan arm, to the hand with the manicured nails, held in his hand.
“I don’t know, but you were a long way from here. What were you thinking about?”
“It’s nothing. Just the morning. But that’s taken care of and behind me now.” The Governor reached out to hold her other hand, his fingers playing with the silver ring on her finger. “I’m all yours now. Please forgive me.” He looked at her eyes, hiding behind the dark sunglasses and smiled. “What were you saying?”
She waited for a bus to rumble by. They sat on the sidewalk outside of the New French Bakery on busy Lyndale Avenue. “I was saying all sorts of things.” She pulled her hands back from his grasp and crossed her arms. “I was saying it was hot. I was saying that after lunch I’d like to go for a drive out to Lake Minnetonka and take your boat out, maybe go for a swim. I was saying last night was great.”
“OK, now I’m listening. Go on.” The Governor took another drink of his iced coffee and leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table.
Sandy leaned forward to meet him and quietly said, “I was going to ask why you killed her.”
The Governor looked over her shoulder and then glanced over his own. Then he put a finger to her lips to keep her from saying anything else. “We’ll talk about that later when we’re alone. What else do you want to talk about?”
She grabbed her iced tea and settled back into her chair. “I thought we could go away for a weekend. Relax. Spend some time alone. Talk.”
“That sounds great. I’d love to spend an uninterrupted weekend with you. Have any ideas?”
Sandy crossed her legs, one bronze leg swinging as she talked. “I was thinking the North Shore, north of Duluth. A resort on the lake. Some hiking, walks along the shore, camp fires at night.”
The Governor nodded, his eyes hiding behind his sunglasses. “I’d like to hike the falls down to the lake. See the lighthouse.”
“That would be fun,” Sandy said. Another bus went by and she continued. “There are some great antique shops up there too…”
His thoughts started to drift with her words. He couldn’t shake the vision of the kid floating away towards the chute. The nagging feeling he had that the kid had survived the fall. He went feet first. Could he have survived a fall? From what Dave had told him about the Chute, he wouldn’t survive the fall, would he?
The muffled words of his beautiful companion continued. “I had a visitor today.” She paused. “Special Agent Fruen stopped by to see me.”
“What?” The vision of the kid floating away popped.
“Have you been listening?”
“We were talking about the North Shore and then you said something about Agent Fruen?”
“Special Agent Fruen stopped by as I was leaving my apartment to meet you for lunch. Can you believe they wear those ties and suits all of the time? In this weather?”
“What did he want?” She had his full attention now.
“Just some follow-up questions about what happened at the bank.”
The Governor stood up. “Come on, let’s take that drive out to Lake Minnetonka and you can tell me all about it. We’ll take the boat out for a spin and jump in the lake to cool down.”
Chapter 14
Jack pulled the car over next to the curb in front of the third house from the corner, the brick rambler with white trim, birches planted in the front corner of the lot, and colorful flowers accenting the picture window flower box. He put the car in park, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and prepared to see his kids. They never failed to show him what was important and what wasn’t. He needed the distraction and the big dose of reality.
Squeezing himself out of the car, he walked up the sidewalk to the door with the mixed feelings of dread and excitement. At the door, he hit the awkward moment; ring the bell or walk in? He felt strange just walking in; he was here at his in-laws where he’d walked in many times before, but now it was different. He didn’t belong. As he stood there trying to decide what to do, he was saved as the door flew open to shrieks of “Daddy!”
He bent over as the two pairs of arms encircled his neck. He stood up with a grunt as the kids hung on so they wouldn’t drop to the floor. “Hi guys, how are you, I missed you!”
“We missed you too, Daddy.”
“I missed you more than he did.”
“No, she didn’t.”
As the argument ensued over who had missed him more, Jack looked at Julie who stood in the hallway, watching.
