There was the briefest silence, and then an explosion took place on the other end of the line.
“Oh my God, Oh, my GOD, OH MY GOD!” Callie shrieked.
“I’m back.”
“Oh, Donovan. Thank God!”
We went through all the questions as if checking them off a list, and set a date to have dinner.
“I’m looking forward to meeting Eva,” I said.
She laughed. “There may be some gay girl stuff going on. Think you can handle it?”
“Let me think a minute. Yes.”
“Good. I can’t wait for you to meet her. Did you hear? She’s the lead now.”
“I never doubted for a minute that she would be. But here’s the real question: have you told her what you do?”
“Of course. I’m a decorator, all A-list clients.”
“A job that requires extended travel.”
“Exactly.”
We were silent awhile.
“How are you with explosives?”
“Pretty current. Why, you’ve got a job for me already?”
“I do.”
I went through the details of what I needed from her, and she had a number of questions about that. When at last all her questions were answered, some more silence passed between us.
“You ever think about quitting?” I said.
“Every day. But then I come to my senses. You?”
“Same.”
Callie and I are alike in more ways than not. We both believe that the killing we do for the government is necessary, and we both love the danger rush. At the same time, we both long to be normal someday, with normal lives, surrounded by people who care about us.
Oh, and we both love beautiful women.
“Good to have you back, Donovan. I thought I’d lost you. I can’t wait to see you.”
I closed the phone as Lou came into my office with a folder.
“We’ve played this scene before,” I said.
“With different results,” Lou said.
“So, the new boyfriend is clean?”
“Like an eagle scout. Sorry, Conner.”
I stared straight ahead at nothing in particular. “It’s for the best,” I said. “And Lou?”
He looked at me.
