Will. Not would, but will. As far as Elias was concerned, this was a done deal.
Emilio arrived with our entrees. The baby pigeon was, indeed, superb.
The rest of the meal was passed in pleasant conversation about this and that. Nothing further was said about the job offer. Or the unfortunate murder of Terry Pendleton. Elias had made his point.
It was all very civilized.
After lunch, I went home and took a shower.
A long one.
Chapter 37
I had a few errands to run on Saturday morning, and as I went about them, I did some more thinking about Elias’ offer. There were two ways I could go here, of course. Take the job and maybe get a chance to snoop around the firm, see what I could uncover. Or turn him down and see what they’d do next. And I was certain that they would take some kind of action, because I now knew something that didn’t surprise me at all. Somewhere at the bottom of this mess, there was money, and a lot of it, because if these bozos were willing to ante up seventy-five thousand just to get me off the trail, then the end of that trail had to have a whole lot of dollar signs. I had no idea yet what Chaney and Cox’s involvement was in Terry Pendleton’s murder, but I was convinced that there was some kind of connection between his death and his job. I’d told Elias I needed the weekend to make my decision, partly to keep him nervous and partly to buy myself more time until I could get the disc to Irv. I already knew that I’d be calling Elias on Monday and saying thanks, but no thanks. Meanwhile, after taking care of my chores, I drove home and gave Angie a call. The phone rang several times, and I was just about to hang up when she came on, her voice sounding a little out of breath.
“Hello,” she said.
“Ang, it’s me.”
“Hey, Jeremy. We just got in from soccer practice. I heard the phone as I was unlocking the door. What’s up?”
“Just wanted to see if you’d heard anything from Tommy.”
The doctors had told Angie and Simon that there would be no communication with Tommy for the first two weeks of his rehabilitation, which had begun exactly two weeks ago today.
“He called last night, JB.”
“How’d he sound?” I asked.
“Different,” she said, “but not different bad, if you know what I mean. His voice was quieter than usual, but he seemed to be more focused than he’s been in a while.”
“How’s he feel about the program?”
“He said some days are harder than others, but he’s trying. He likes his counselor, and he said his group sessions can be brutal, but he knows they’re good for him. Oh, and he complained a little about the food, which the doctor had told us would be a good thing when it happened.”
“He gonna stick it out?”
“He says he is. He said he owes it to himself and us and the kids. He threw you in there, too, Jeremy. Said to be sure to say hello.”
“Next time you talk to him, Ang, tell him I’m rooting for him, okay?”
“Sure. Hey, meanwhile, big night tonight, huh?”
“What?” I asked. “Oh, yeah, you must mean my visit to the Frick with Laura Fleming.”
“Your visit to the Frick with Laura Fleming? Jeremy Barnes, you are so full of it. You make it sound like the two of you are visiting a sick aunt. You know you’re excited about tonight.”
“Okay,” I said, “so maybe I’m looking forward to the evening. Nothing wrong with that, is there? By the way, did Laura, uh, say anything about the date?”
“Are you asking me to break the sacred confidentially of womanhood?”
“C’mon, Ang,” I pleaded, “this is me, remember? Hey, who used to give you his chocolate milk at lunch in fourth grade?”
“Oh, that’s not fair,” she laughed. “Oh, all right, I’ll tell you this much. You’re not the only one with butterflies in your stomach today.” After a pause, she added, “Hope you guys have a good time tonight, Jeremy. I’ve got to run. I have two hungry kids to feed.”
“Thanks, Ang. Give Matt and Abby my love.”
After hanging up, I sat on the sofa for a minute and thought about Tommy. Then I made some lunch and ate it out on my deck. One of my neighbors, Mrs. Pendergrass, was walking down the alley, and she stopped to chat for a bit. Mrs. Pendergrass is eighty-five years old and has more energy than any other five people I know. Just listening to her describe what she had planned for the rest of the weekend wore me out. After promising her that I’d go over to her place soon for some homemade apple pie, I said good-bye and went inside to get ready for the evening. After shaving and showering and splashing on some Halston cologne, I put on a pair of lightweight tan wool slacks with pleats, a white shirt with button-down collar, a tie with blue and tan stripes on the diagonal, cream-colored loafers, and my navy silk blazer. I put on my expensive gold watch, the one Uncle Leo had given me the day I’d become a full partner with him in the agency. Then I added a white silk handkerchief in the pocket of my blazer. One must accessorize. Stepping back from the free-standing mirror in my bedroom, I took a look. Pretty as a picture. Then I grabbed my wallet and keys and went down to the garage to get in the 4Runner, which I’d cleaned, inside and out,
