Jennifer Rardin - [Jaz Parks 1] - Once Bitten, Twice Shy

'Good. And?'

'And what?'

'You want to say something else, I can tell.' I nodded. 'Sometimes, this job sucks.'

Chapter Nine

When this whole mission ended, I suspected that if I survived, Pete would demote my ride to a used moped. Not great motivation to push the self-preservation button. But at the moment, I didn't care. My local Mercedes dealer had brought me a dark blue C230 Sport Sedan that made even New Year's traffic bearable. The car hummed like a Broadway star. I joined right in, and the two of us sang a duet Steven Sondheim would've tapped his foot to while we motored down the sparkling streets of Miami.

'I would ask you how you feel,' said Vayl, 'but it is so obvious.'

'It's amazing,' I told him. 'I just want to hug everyone I know. I want to buy the guy who engineered this car a bottle of champagne. I want to fly. Hey!' I turned to Vayl, 'after this meeting let's go hang gliding!'

'In the dark?'

'It's a full moon.' I stopped at the light, hang gliding forgotten as a burgundy mini-van pulled up beside me. 'I have never seen that shade of red before. Can you see all those flecks of gold and black in it?'

'Yes,' Vayl answered, his smile more full and natural than I'd ever seen it. 'I take it you are enjoying this part of the change.'

'Oh is that what it is?' The mini-van activated his blinker and began to inch into my lane. 'Looks like he's a little lost,' I commented as I waved for him to slip in ahead of us.

'You know, yesterday you would have cursed that man for ten solid minutes for delaying us,' Vayl observed.

'Yeah, yesterday… I feel different than I did then.'

Slight raise of the eyebrow, signaling imminent sarcasm. 'No. Really?'

'Will this last?'

'I have no idea.'

I followed the mini-van for several blocks, then took a right onto the street that led to Umberto's.

Vayl took my hand and laced his fingers through mine. 'So tell me what you did today,' said Vayl, 'not work activities. Your things. How did you spend your free time?' I had to think a minute, dig out my mental binoculars to see past the blackout and the moments before it. Why was it so hard to recognize the woman who'd spent most of her daylight hours clicking through encrypted files, looking for dirt on politicians like some commie-hunting throwback?

Stardust in your eyes, sister. Only now it's time to blink.

So I began talking, starting with the family phone calls. But they required a back story, and that took awhile, especially since I kept pausing to point out a fab new color I'd discovered. Eventually I worked my way back around to the research I'd done, specifically the background stuff I'd gathered on our oversight committee.

'Any conclusions?' he asked after I finally finished talking. I shrugged.

'All the senators are suspect because they all seem way too innocent. Doris Fellen gives away tons of scholarship money every year. Dirk Tredd is a true blue war hero. And Tom Bozcowski was an extremely popular quarterback in the NFL before he shattered his knee.'

'And then there is Martha,' said Vayl.

I shook my head. 'Man, I hope it's not her.'

Vayl put his hand on my arm. 'You must accept that someone in your inner circle could betray you.'

'Oh, I accept it. I just know, of all our suspects, if Martha's the rotten link there's no doubt we'll be coming out of this bruised and bloody.'

'You mean you prefer the senators?'

'Absolutely. They can't be nearly as mean, conniving, vicious and underhanded as Martha.'

'She is an excellent secretary, isn't she?'

'The best.'

Umberto's is an Italian restaurant located in a miniature pink castle. Only it wasn't exactly pink. It shimmered with shades of silver and rose too.

'I'm beginning to like that color,' I murmured as I pulled into the lot, picking a spot where we could exit quickly. I swallowed hard on a spurt of nerve-induced nausea. This whole meet could go south in a heartbeat if Vayl and Cole got to feeling competitive. And it would be my fault for not controlling my hormones better. Damn chemicals. Why couldn't our bodies run on something simpler—like coal?

An image rose in my mind of Vayl and me walking around belching black smoke rings. I laughed inwardly. Wouldn't that change the world though? Everybody would have automatic dental coverage just to keep their teeth from looking like the inside of a chimney. And we'd be recycling our solid waste because sludge makes such nifty ashtrays.

'Would you care to share?' asked Vayl as we headed for the restaurant entrance, his cane hitting the asphalt every other step with a reassuring clink.

'Huh?'

'You are smiling.'