“She told you anything about her job status with us?”
“Not a thing. And she’s been pretty close-mouthed about how she’s doing physically, too.”
There was a moment’s hesitation. “Well, first of all, the Bureau is planning on medically retiring her. She was just informed of that yesterday. Secondly, the doctors are talking about maybe having to do another operation, this time a more extensive one. So far, they’ve been reluctant to do it. Lot more serious than the last one, they say.”
I sat, the energy draining from me. “Oh, hell. No wonder she didn’t want to talk very much. I asked her if she was looking forward to going back to work instead of laying around. Not a very good thing to bring up right now.”
“I did close to the same,” he said. “Called her before I’d gotten word about her being retired.”
“Yeah, well, I’d better call and try to cheer her up.”
Mike chuckled. “Have fun with that. By the way, she really treasures your calls. If I didn’t know better, I’d think she was your girlfriend.”
I felt my eyebrows rising. Girlfriend? Hell, I hadn’t even touched her, except when she’d hugged me for saving her life.
“Anyway, like you say, y’should give her another call. She probably needs to be cheered up.”
Once finished with the call, I headed outside. Have to clear my head and do some thinking about this. My girlfriend? Did she really like me that much? And more importantly, what could I say that would cheer her up.
An hour passed before I got back to the office. The walk had felt good, both physically and mentally. Shook out some of the cobwebs. I entered our building and heard the excited chatter from downstairs. Must’ve read my email. Good news travels fast. I plastered a smile on and trotted down the stairs.
* * *
By next morning I’d gotten up the nerve to call. She picked up on the second ring.
“Hey, Lenora. Hope you don’t mind my calling you again so soon, but I got hold of an FBI rumor that I had some questions about.”
“Sure, no problem,” she said. “Always good to start the day with bad news.”
“Who says it’s bad news? No, actually I wanted some clarification about what I’d heard, and thought you’d be the best source to go to. It’s about Alfred Browder.”
“Of course. What d’you need to know?” Her voice definitely sounded a little more chipper than yesterday.
“The first time I saw him, he looked like an old man in an ill-fitting outfit. Recently, he showed up in a killer business suit, and seemed more like a boss-man than the lowest on the totem pole he told us he was.”
She chuckled. “Yes, he’s good at that. Seems to exude one type of personality one minute, another the next. Made him a good choice to work on undercover projects. Actually, he put in thirty years with King County there in Washington, then retired and went to work for the FBI. I had him as my handler down in the San Francisco area for a couple years. When he hit sixty he went to the Seattle office.”
“Is that when you went to Charlotte?”
“Yes. Been working for Mike the past year. I got in with the Franks crowd about four months ago, as their middle-aged bookkeeper. About the time that fell apart, I was saved by my Prince Charming.”
Now it was my turn to laugh. “Prince Charming? Jeez, what a moniker to live down.”
She yawned. “Mm. Time for my nap.”
I smiled in spite of myself. “Damn, didn’t realize how boring I was. Okay, you take it easy, now.”
“You too, Francis. Hope to see you soon.”
I hung up, thinking back on our conversation. Yeah, that’d been the right chord to strike with her. She’d sounded a lot more relaxed than the last time we’d talked.
“Was that your girlfriend on the phone?” Alice’s voice made me jump.
I turned around. Alice was in front of my desk, a smile on her face. I shrugged. “Well, yeah. I guess you could say so.”
“Good. ‘Bout time you sparked on another girl. Been awhile.” She slapped a note on my desk. “In the meantime, Mister Popular, get back on the phone and call a guy named John. John Morrelli.”
“Thanks, Alice.” I reached for my phone. Good, he’d gotten my earlier message. I punched buttons. Within seconds he was on the line.
“Hey, Francis. Things going okay since our adventure at Wildacres?”
“We’ve had an adventure or two since then. I’ll have to fill you in one of these days. Right now, I had something come up that might interest you,” I said. “I know you’re a writer, and do some editing, from what you said when you were our instructor at Wildacres. I’m forming a publishing company and need some advice. Even a hand at editing, if you’re available.”
“I’d love to. Just finished my last project, and have some time on my hands. What you got in mind?”
I pulled out a couple of files from my desk drawer. “I’ve got a first draft novel that’ll be ready for editing in a couple weeks. What would you charge?”
“Usually by the page. What genre is it?”
By the time we wound down, we’d struck a deal on the novel. “By the way, you wouldn’t know anyone who might be interested in running a publishing house, would you? Such as yourself?”
The sound of choking coughs echoed down the line. “Damn, man, you sure know how to get a person’s attention.” He harrumphed, clearing his throat. “Um–what you got in mind?”
“I’d like to send you a brief that explains my business philosophy and plan for the company I want to start. Haven’t even come up with a good name, yet.”
“Well-you know, don’t you, it takes more than a couple good books to finance something like this.”
“Would seven million be enough?”
Several seconds of silence followed my question. “Um-Dang it, you’ve got me interested. Send that business summary, if you would. If I like what I see, we’d need to meet
