“Well, yes. That’s our only Robert.”
“This is Sam,” Anna said.
“Nickname,” Sam said. “We just need one of the small conference rooms for twenty minutes. That’s it.”
“Okay, let’s see. Two-B. And it’s open for the next two hours.”
“Great. Anna and I will be in the guest office for a couple of minutes if you could get that call going for me.”
May nodded.
“We’ll be right back.” Sam led Anna toward a small office off the lobby. Anna knew how to allow her publicist and agent to handle her and her activities when she so desired. Sometimes it was easier to think about her work and not sweat the details. But right here, right now she wasn’t going to be handled. She stopped and turned to May.
“May, did Carl Fielding actually speak with you when he left a message for me?” Anna said.
“Yes. like I said, he suggested you see Dr. Weissman.”
“I see.” She turned to Sam. “Somehow this was your doing.”
“Only partly,” he said. “We can clear this up in this office if you’ll just come and listen.” This time she allowed herself to be ushered inside. Sam closed the door. “Dr. Weissman is the guy.”
“And why are you the one to determine that?”
“Good point. How would you like to decide this?”
“I thought I was doing okay.”
Sam stuck his head out the door. “May, is Dr. Fielding on the line yet?”
“Just coming, I’ll patch him through.”
Sam put a phone in Anna’s hand.
“You spoke with my ex-husband, Joshua Nash?” she asked Dr. Fielding, by way of introduction.
“I did indeed. I assume we’re talking about Jason Wade’s work?”
“Yes. I understood you would meet me.”
“Yes. I’m so sorry if I disappointed you by not being there. Dr. Weissman and I have been friends since graduate school. He would be most familiar with Jason’s work. We don’t really have a handle on all that Jason is doing, but I could do you no better than John. I would have been there today but I’m teaching this quarter and I’m a little strapped at the moment.”
“Well, thank you very much, Dr. Fielding. You’ve been very helpful.”
“If you need anything else…”
“We’ll let you know.”
“So who do you choose?” Sam asked Anna after she had replaced the receiver. “Will John fit the bill? He’s Carl’s man.”
“Carl’s or yours?”
“You talked to Carl.”
“Why didn’t you just tell me all this?”
Sam shrugged. “I knew you’d overlook any unintended slight.”
“Let’s go talk with Dr. Weissman,” she said.
“If that’s your choice I can live with it.”
John Weissman was a tall balding man with a confident smile and a fringe of once-blond hair. Sam immediately pulled the curtain over the interior glass wall of the conference room, giving them privacy from reception.
“Sam tells me that you would know more about Jason’s work than Carl Fielding.”
“He’s probably right, as far as I can tell,” John said. “Based on what little we know of Jason’s work, that is. If this is about the modeling Jason’s doing with the neurology people-trying to model consciousness-I don’t think anybody understands it.”
“Well, whatever my brother is working on,” Anna said, “he insisted I take this disk. I have no idea what’s on it.”
“Well, we can take a look and see what’s there, at least generally. Now why is it he gave this to you?”
“I’m not sure, but I’m sure it’s highly confidential.”
“I will say nothing. This will be a personal matter, just between us.”
Anna removed the CD from her purse, now in a Bob Dylan jewel box, and handed it to Dr. Weissman.
At that moment Shohei came in unannounced.
When Jill and Spring went to town to shop, Grady was too savvy to use the phone in the beach house. They had taken her cell phone.
As she considered how she might call Guy, she spied two young men walking onto the back patio of the neighboring beach house, obviously contemplating the barbecue and carrying a large piece of red meat.
She would ask for a quick ride to the nearest store, use the phone booth.
“Hi, guys,” she said easily with a good solid smile.
“Hi. I’m Clint. This is Seth.”
“I wondered if I could impose on you to give me a ride to that store down the road. I want to get some orange juice.”
“Yeah.”
“Sure,” Seth followed up.
“Who is the guy who brought you here?” Clint asked on the way to the store.
“You were watching?”
“We just got here ourselves and saw the Porsche.”
“You should see his other car.” In some detail she described the Vette.
“Who is this guy?”
“I don’t know. He was hired by Anna Wade, my aunt.”
“You don’t mean the Anna Wade? Not the movie star Anna Wade?”
“That would be who I mean.”
“You’re kidding!”
“Relax, fellas. I don’t even speak to her.”
When they got to the store she managed to send Clint and Seth to find a patio hummingbird feeder, a marvelous excuse that came to her as they were driving. She went to the phone booth with her enthusiasm mysteriously drained.
“I’m still in the program. I’m doing great. Still can’t talk long.”
“Where the hell are you?” asked Guy.
“I told you, California coast somewhere.” It amazed her that she was lying and she wasn’t certain why.
“I want to see you.”
“Keep your shirt on and you will. Right now you have to give me a little space to do the program, that’s all.”
“There’s nothing wrong with you that a little snort won’t fix.” His voice was strong with an edge and quite different.
“I’m not sure that’s true.”
“Yeah, well, you’re probably right. Hey, I miss you. I love you. I’d just feel so much better if I knew where you were.”
“I know. I’ll call soon.”
“They are now two floors below. Temporarily confused, I’m sure. And not too subtle in their searching,” Shohei said.
“Go,” Sam said.
“What’s happening?” Anna said.
“This is the part where you were to have kept on the hat and the sunglasses and let me do the talking so May wouldn’t have a clue that the Anna Wade was here.”
