Shrugging, I replied, "I'm here."
"She said you were something of a loner."
"Mostly I am. Especially when I'm working."
Mark asked, "Why's that?"
Meeting his gaze, I said, "It's the way I like things."
"Sometimes it's good to have help."
Touching Sue's hand, I asked, "Better help than Sue? Very unlikely, Mark." Glancing at Sue, I grinningly added, "But I won't say 'impossible' because I don't want to feed her ego."
Sue's comment was a weary sigh and a wry look.
Deanna said, "I saw the mountain footage from yesterday. How did you make that happen, Ed?"
"I'd have to ask Linda before I discussed it, ma'am."
That made her eyebrow go up as she gave me a tense look. She evidently felt she was entitled to the details.
Speaking softly, but intently, she said, "I could call her for you. I'm sure she'd still be in her office."
I shrugged again and said, "Maybe she won't mind that we're sitting in a restaurant instead of your office." Looking around the table, I said, "And maybe my social skills are rusty. Maybe I should just clam up, have a nice, quiet dinner, and hit the road when it's over."
Putting her drink down, Deanna sighed and said, "Oh, hell, I didn't mean to turn that into a challenge. You're right. We're not in my office."
Our salads arrived. I doused mine with Thousand Island dressing and dug in. There was some superficial chat about the city, where else we'd all been, and what we'd done before joining 3rd World Products.
When I didn't say much about myself, Deanna said, "I looked you up yesterday, Ed. Were you really a mercenary, or did you just work for them?"
"I was a sergeant. A field medic."
Glancing at Deanna instead of me, Mark asked, "Where?"
"Africa," she said. "Before that, he was with your old company in Europe."
Turning to me, Mark asked, "You were CIA?"
"Just a local hire. Courier work. Like that."
Deanna snorted a small laugh and grinned as the waitress brought our food. I said, "Deanna can fill you in sometime," as the waitress sorted the platters among us.
By the time we'd all finished eating, I was ready to get back to the flitter and go find a nightclub. I faked a small yawn and said something about it having been a long day.
Turning immediately solicitous, Deanna said, "I'm sorry! I never thought to ask... With all the flitters tied up with building searches, you can't fly home tonight. Where are you going to stay, Ed? Do you have a room yet? Do you want us to..?"
Raising a hand, I said, "I'm all set. No sweat."
Mark asked, "You aren't just saying that, I hope?"
Shaking my head, I answered, "Nope. I'm all set if Linda decides I'm staying over."
Giving me an 'are you nuts?' look, Roberta asked, "If she decides you'll stay over? I'd think she would, since there are only three flitters to cover a hell of a lot of buildings."
Looking at Sue, I asked, "How's progress?"
She instantly replied, "There are four hundred and seventy-one buildings still to inspect. If you want to sleep in your own bed tonight, we could leave in about an hour, providing Linda has no other reasons for you to be here."
Various sounds of astonishment and disbelief emanated around the table as I answered, "Sounds good. Has anyone suggested leaving the probes in place for future searches?"
"No, but I'd planned to do it anyway." She faced Deanna and added, "Your offices will govern their local use."
Nodding, Deanna replied, "Uh... My God, Sue, that would be excellent! You're saying we could run a search like today's anytime we wanted?"
"Yes. I've also added certain people to search parameters for publicly-owned properties. No search warrant required."
Roberta still seemed stunned by the time required to search nearly five hundred buildings. Deanna muttered, "My God," again and looked at Mark with an expression of subdued astonishment. He met her gaze with one just like it.
Standing up, I gestured a flourish at Sue as I said, "Like I said, it would be damned hard to find better help." In a stage-whisper to Sue, I added, "I think you've impressed them, milady. Do you want to stay and schmooze a while? I'm going back to the flitter and..."
As I reached for my coffee mug, Roberta said, "Wait a minute, Ed. Do you really have to go?"
Trying to look apologetic, I said, "Roberta, I run a couple of small businesses when I'm not running Linda's errands. I've found it's best to at least check in on them once a day."
Sue said, "I think I'd like to stay a while."
"Good 'nuff," I said, and grinned as I added, "Everybody promise you won't talk about me when I'm gone, okay?"
We shared a laugh, and after a round of handshakes and goodbyes, I headed for the front restrooms with the intent of taking a leak before I left.
As I walked past the bar, a blonde woman who looked to be somewhere close to forty looked at her watch, made a face, and bitterly muttered, "Well, fuck you, Frank," as she opened her purse and set forth toward me at a march step.
I stopped to let her go by, but her course toward me varied slightly and she walked right into me, dropping her purse with a little "Oh!" of startlement.
"Sorry," she said, "I was looking for my keys."
On what I felt was -- largely due to her course change -- only an off-chance that she wasn't a spook detailed to make a connection with me, I knelt to help her gather her stuff as she apologized for her clumsiness.
The funky lighting near the bar made it hard to tell the colors of her mid-thigh skirt, blouse, and suit-jacket. Four inch heels make it difficult to kneel or hunker without putting on a bit of a show; I noted that she had pretty nice legs.
When all was back in her purse, I stood up and took her arm to steady her as she also stood up. It was time for her to either thank me and split or try to turn the encounter into an event.
I tossed a mental quarter and it came up heads as I met her gaze. She had gorgeous ice-gray eyes, the kind that hit me particularly hard. My shields went up on general principles.
She was really quite attractive and tall enough to meet my eyes with only the slightest upward tilt of her head as I let go of her arm. Her eyes, her steadiness, and her breath told me that if she'd been drinking at all, she hadn't had much.
"All set?" I asked. "No damage? Did we get everything?"
Nodding, she smiled somewhat abashedly as she extended her hand and replied, "Yes, I think so. Thank you."
Her grip on my hand maintained our contact as she drew the moment out a little, then sighed and said, "I'm sorry I ran into you, but I was so damned... never mind. It's not your problem. Thanks again."
Bait? Or a real reluctance to share her personal troubles with a stranger? I'd know in a minute.
"Glad to help, milady," I said as she released my hand. "I take it someone didn't show up?"
She hesitated, then said, "He was supposed to be here at six. It's almost six-thirty." Holding up her cell phone, she said angrily, "He has one of these, too, so unless he's dead or unconscious in a hospital, no excuse will be good enough."
Looking out the windows at the gathering darkness, her gaze narrowed and she said, "Oh, great. It's getting dark."
Biting back the comment that darkness happened at the end of pretty much every day and shouldn't really be a surprise to anyone, I asked, "Want me to walk you to your car?"
Giving me an appraising look for a moment, she asked, "You wouldn't mind? I'm only about a block away."
"No problem. I was leaving, too, by way of the bathroom. Give me a minute to wash up and I'll be right back."
Nodding, she smiled as she said, "Okay. Thanks again."
I flipped that mental quarter again a few times as I took a leak and washed my hands, then rinsed my face and checked my hair. Not enough data about her yet. The results were still inconclusive.
"Man, you must be Irish or something," said a man who came in and stood at one of the urinals, "That
blonde's been turning down free drinks for an hour."
Running a comb through my hair, I said, "She said she's been waiting for someone who didn't show."
The guy laughed, "Then he's a damned fool. She's hot, even if she is a little long in the tooth."
"Ever seen her here before?"
"No, but I don't come here often, either. We're just here tonight because a guy in the office moved up a notch today."
Using my paper towel to grab the door handle, I said, "Good for him. You guys have fun," and tossed the wadded towel at the trash on my way out.
The blonde was still near the front of the bar when I came out of the bathroom. I walked up to her and asked, "Ready?"
She nodded and walked with me to the door. I stayed to her left and somewhat behind her, reaching past her to open the door, then followed her out.
Once we were on the sidewalk, she turned to me and said, "I guess I ought to at least know your name before I wander off into the night with you."
"Yup. And for all I know, milady, you could be just another beautiful mugger, so we probably ought to trade info."
With a snort of a chuckle, she asked, "A beautiful mugger?"
Shrugging, I said, "Sorry, but one can never be too careful in the big city. I thought phrasing it that way might take some of the sting out of my trepidation."
"The sting, huh? Yours or mine?"
"Either. Both."
I introduced myself. She said her name was Georgia Miles, added "named after my grandmother, not the state", and asked if I lived in the area.
"Nope. I'm up here from Florida. Where's your car?"
She pointed further along the street away from 3rd World's building, said, "that way," and we started walking.
"Just touring?" she asked, "Or here on a job?"
Thumbing back the way we'd come, I said, "A friend works for 3rd World Products, but she's in Carrington, North Dakota at the moment, so there was no point in sticking around."
"I saw you with some people in the restaurant. Do they work for 3rd World Products?"
"Yup. One of 'em offered to buy me dinner." Grinning, I added, "I guess she felt sorry for me." With a fakey sigh, I said, "But not sorry enough. She brought her hubby along."
Georgia laughed and asked, "Did you know she was married when you took her up on her dinner offer?"
Shaking my head, I said, "No. I found out about one whole minute later, though. Didn't care. I skipped lunch today and I was ready for some food."
Glancing at her, I asked, "What about you? Local or tourist?"
"Local. I work a few blocks from here."
"Convenient. I used to live in Arlington. I could walk to work at Ft. Meyer when the weather was good."
She stopped walking and peered at me in the gathering darkness for a moment, then said, "This may sound forward, but... Do you have any plans for this evening?"
"Nope. I was just going to kick back and..."
"Do you want to go hit a couple of nightclubs?"
Shrugging, I said, "Sounds good to me, ma'am. What kind of music?"
Looking thoughtful, she replied, "Music? Oh, well, mixed, I guess. No karaoke, I hope."
"No country or rap, either?"
With a visible shudder of horror, she grinningly answered, "No. Never. Maybe some pop or dance."
"Sounds good to me. Lead on, milady."
Nodding, she said, "Okay. I'll wait in my car while you get yours. You can follow me and..."
Holding up a hand, I said, "My car's in Florida."
Giving me that peering look again, she asked, "You don't have a rental?"
Shaking my head, I said, "Didn't think I'd need one."
Crunch time. If Georgia had been assigned to make contact with me, she'd probably make a show of deciding to take a chance on me.
If she was just looking for some company for a few hours of drinks and dancing, being unable to conveniently say goodnight anywhere at any time would likely put her off.
'...Unless she's actually a heartless bitch, of course, in which case she might just leave me somewhere and haul ass...'
After a moment, Georgia came up with a third option.
Meeting my eyes firmly, she said, "The Wilson Boulevard buses run until a little after one in the morning, so if we don't get along, you won't be totally stranded. You okay with that?"
With a shrug, I said, "No problem."
"You mean that? You won't give me a hard time if I don't want to bring you all the way back downtown?"
Laughing, I said, "Things a lot worse than being left on a bus route have happened to me, milady. If we don't get along, I may say goodnight before you do."
Another couple of moments passed before Georgia nodded and turned to continue walking. She pointed ahead at a pay parking lot and led the way to a silver Ford Sable sedan, pressing a button on a remote control she aimed at it.
The door locks popped up and the alarm beeped. I opened the driver's door for her, then went around the back of the car as she started it. A few minutes later we were crossing the Roosevelt bridge into Arlington.
We hadn't spoken since the parking lot. As I looked at the river, she asked, "How long's it been since you were here?"
"Since I last drove through?" I asked, looking ahead, "1993. Since I lived here? 1983. I was on my way back to Texas from Africa. Stopped to see my ex-wife and wound up helping her move to a new apartment."
"Africa? Your ex? Does she still live around here?"
"Probably. She liked the place and had a lot of friends here."
"You don't know?"
"We don't keep in touch."
After a moment, she asked, "How many times have you been married?"
"Once was enough. How about you?"
She laughed. "Twice was enough. I'm a hard learner."
We were on Wilson Boulevard, waiting for a red light at the crest of a hill, when the car's engine died. When the car wouldn't restart, Georgia let us drift forward, carefully changing lanes until she was able to guide the car into a bank's parking lot. She tried to start the car again. The engine ground for several seconds. She tried again.
"Got gas?" I asked, leaning to see the gas gauge.
"Half a tank. These cutouts have been happening a lot, lately. I haven't had time to take it to the shop."
She turned the key again with no luck.
Keying my implant, I whispered, "Flitter, come see if you can fix this car, please."
Georgia looked askance at me and asked, "What did you just say?"
Waiting for my implant to tingle from the flitter's proximity, I held up an index finger and said, "Wait one."
Her look became one of worry. "Wait for what? Why were you whispering?"
My implant tingled. I said, "Flitter, go to visible mode and land behind us, please."
Glancing back too soon, Georgia saw nothing behind us and turned to me again. I opened the door and got out of the car as the flitter settled to the parking lot behind us.
Using my implant, I asked, "Can you fix it?"
The flitter replied, "The fuel filter is obstructed. I'm clearing the obstruction now. I have cleared the obstruction."
As the driver's side door opened, I said, "Thanks."
Georgia hissed, "Oh-my-God..!" as she saw the flitter.
"It ought to start now," I said. "Give it a try."
Turning her stare to me, Georgia said, "That's a flitter!"
"Yup, and it just fixed your car. Flitter, please ascend to two hundred feet and turn off visible mode."
The flitter rose into the night sky and vanished. Georgia let out a short, whispery little shriek and turned to me again. I got back into the car and closed the door as a hint. She stared upward for another few moments, then also got in.
For long seconds Georgia just stared at me, then she seemed to get angry and hissed, "You must think this is funny as hell."
"Funny how? The car died. Now it's fixed. Let's just get on with the evening."
Still seething
, she asked, "You have one of those things, but you fished me for a ride?"
Sighing, I said, "Good thing, too, or you'd have been out here alone in a dead car. I didn't want to wonder if you were with me just because I had a flitter."
As she opened her mouth to say something else, her cell phone rang. Swearing softly, she snapped it open and answered with a terse, "Hello?"
I heard a woman identify herself as a nurse and ask who she was speaking with. Georgia gave her name. The woman asked if Georgia knew a Frank Robards.
With a visible measure of trepidation, Georgia answered, "Yes. Yes, I do. What's happened?"
"Ms. Miles, are you a relative?"
"No, but I know how to reach them. He lives next door in my apartment building. What happened?!"
"He's in stable but guarded condition, ma'am. He was in a car accident on M Street this afternoon. Are any of his relatives in the area?"
"No, they're in Ohio, but like I said, I can reach them."
"Can you come to the hospital, ma'am?"
Georgia said she could and was given instructions about who to see on what floor. After apologizing for being the bearer of bad news, the nurse hung up.
With shaking hands, Georgia disconnected and put her phone on the seat, then reached for the gearshift. She put the car in drive, realized she'd have to back out and put it in reverse. Her shaking foot goosed the gas pedal and she hastily hit the brakes before the car hit an 'entrance' sign.
I reached for the keys and turned off the engine.
"What the hell...?" She gave me an irritated stare as she tried to turn it back on and couldn't, then she shoved it into 'park' and reached for the key again.
"No," I said, placing my hand on hers. "Wait a minute. Get out and walk around the car a few times. Stop the shaking before you try to drive."
"But..."
Pulling her hand away, I grabbed the keys out of the ignition, and said firmly, "Georgia, he's not going anywhere tonight. Neither is the nurse. Take a few minutes to get your head straight and calm down so you don't wind up in the hospital with him."
She looked at me rather starkly and said nothing as I dropped the keys on the seat.
Opening my door, I said, "Come on. Walk with me for a few minutes. Get yourself organized. Think about what they'll need to know at the hospital."
3rd World Products, Inc., Book 5 Page 17