Chapter 6
After Harry left, the big shepherd headed back to the conference room. His tail swished importantly. His work here was done. He nudged his master’s leg and woofed softly. “Good boy. We’re almost done. Then we’ll go for a long walk.”
“We’re heading back to the paper, Jack. When do you need us here again?” Ted asked.
“You make your own hours, guys, unless I call a meeting. I realize you have jobs. I’m sure we’re going to overlap on our research, but that’s just fine. More is better than less. E-mail, text, or call, but stay in touch. I’m going to call Bert and bring him up to date and have him call Sparrow to report in. Anything else, guys?”
Abner Tookus got up and flexed his fingers. He grinned at the others as he offered up an air wave. He needed to get to a computer, his lifeline to everything other than Isabelle that mattered in the world.
And then it was just Jack and Cyrus in the conference room. Jack felt his shoulders slump. Cyrus, seeing the slump, bellied over to the door and nudged it shut. He bellied back to where Jack was sitting and propped his big head in his master’s lap as much as to say, I’m here for you. Jack swallowed hard. He rubbed the big dog’s head as he mumbled and muttered under his breath. “I don’t know what to do, Cyrus. I’m trying to be understanding, but enough is enough already. I’ve become an afterthought. I’m asleep when Nik gets home, she’s gone before I get up in the morning. If I stay up and wait for her, she gets pissed. I can’t win. No offense, pal, but I’d rather sleep with Nik than you. I hate that she’s sleeping in the guest room, and, yeah, she did say she didn’t want to wake me with her crazy hours. But that’s bullshit, and she knows it!”
Cyrus threw his head back and howled. “Yeah, that’s how I feel. You know what else, Cyrus, class-action lawsuits go on for years. That’s just one. Nik’s firm has three class-action suits going on. Nik’s firm has become the go-to guys for that kind of stuff. Spouses are just . . . in the way. At least that’s how I’m seeing it. I feel like a lovesick teenager right now.” Cyrus joined his master in whining.
Jack continued to fondle the big dog’s ears. Then he squared his shoulders, sat up straighter, and all but bellowed, “Okay, enough of this pity party. Come on, Cyrus, let’s go for a walk and get some lunch.” The words, walk and lunch were Cyrus’s two favorite words.
Cyrus raced off and returned with his leash, swinging his tail back and forth at the speed of light. He danced around as he waited for Jack to pack up his briefcase and turn off the light. He was the first through the door and waited in the kitchen, while Jack put on his jacket.
There was a bite to Maggie Spritzer’s voice when she said, “How nice that you decided to come to work.” She pointed to the wall clock. The time was 11:50.
“Oh, lunchtime. Thanks for pointing that out, Maggie,” Ted said airily as he swung around and headed for the door, and the elevator that would take him to the lobby of the Post building, Espinosa and Dennis West hot on his heels.
“Hold it right there! You just got here! Four hours late. And now you’re going to lunch! I. Don’t. Think. So.”
Ted punched the elevator button before he swung around, knowing that Maggie had followed the threesome into the hall. “We’re entitled to a lunch hour. Is this where you threaten to fire me or all three of us? Go for it,” Ted snapped. “I’m sick and tired of your holding that power over my head. So is Espinosa. Dennis doesn’t care, he’s so rich he doesn’t have to worry about paying the rent. What? Cat got your tongue? Well?” Ted snarled.
Maggie backed up a step. “All I said was you were four hours late and, no, you weren’t going to lunch. What I meant was I wanted to know what you were doing and where you were that made you four hours late before you went to lunch. Are you planning on filing a grievance with the union? I am the EIC. That means I’m in charge. I have the right to ask you anything I want.” But it was all said defensively, and Ted picked up on the tone immediately.
“If you keep bugging me, then the answer is yes.” He knew in his gut that it was Maggie who somehow, someway, was responsible for the banana tree that had been delivered to the BOLO Building. His gut told him she’d been following him, and she was good enough that he didn’t pick up on her doing so. But he knew, and that made him feel guilty. And the guys knew it, too.
The elevator arrived. Espinosa stepped in and put it on hold. Dennis stepped around him, leaving Ted and Maggie hissing at one another.
Maggie, former reporter and current editor in chief, and Ted, her former fiancé and current star reporter, eyeballed one another. Ted was livid and trying not to show it. Maggie looked like she regretted her outburst but wasn’t about to back down.
Stalemate.
“Don’t ever follow me again, or I’ll quit, and don’t bother to deny it. You broke the rule, Maggie, and none of us is going to forget it. What that means is you can no longer be trusted. You want to know something, ask me. If it’s something I think you need to know, I’ll tell you. If it’s my personal business, then I won’t tell you. I’m speaking for Espinosa and Dennis, too. I’m working on a story, an exposé. That’s all you need to know right now. If you have something you need us to do, tell me now.
“You don’t, do you? That means I am free to continue what I’m doing. Ditto for Espinosa and Dennis. I would be remiss if I didn’t tell you that you are now on the guys’ shit list. Not a good place to be, Maggie. The banana tree was over the top. I’ll take that a step further and bet a week’s pay that the girls know nothing about that stupid banana tree and the BOLO Building. Back off.”
Maggie flushed, turned on her heel, and marched into her office, her eyes burning with humiliation. She had never backed off a story in her life, and she wasn’t about to start. She swiped at her burning eyes.
Ted was right, though. She knew in her gut when she sent the stupid tree that she was making a mistake, but she’d done it anyway. She hadn’t told the girls, so that was one good thing, but if Ted and the others thought she had, well boo hoo.
Maggie chewed at a nail that was already chewed to the quick. They were supposed to be a team. Team members didn’t sneak around keeping secrets from other team members. That was dirty pool. She totally ignored the fact that she would have done exactly what Ted had done if she thought she could get away with it. Trusting her gut instinct, she’d tailed Ted for weeks and couldn’t believe what she’d come up with. She’d let enough time go by to see if Ted would confide in her. When it was obvious that wasn’t going to happen, she’d taken matters into her own hands.
Now she was on the outside looking in. Today, she’d heard something in Ted’s voice she’d never heard before—he absolutely meant business. He’d walk away in a skinny minute if she closed in on him, and the Post would lose its Pulitzer Prize–winning star reporter. And it would all be her fault. Now what did she need to do?
Maggie plopped down in the special chair John Cassidy had left behind. He’d broken it in, and it was comfortable enough to sleep in. Her insides were in a turmoil. It wasn’t just the confrontation with Ted; that was business. What bothered her was he had moved on in the emotion department. She could sense it, feel it. What that meant was he wouldn’t be cutting her any special favors anytime soon. Locked out emotionally. Not a nice place to be.
Maggie looked up to see her secretary, Emily Davis, rapping softly on the door. Emily was everything Maggie wished she was, drop-dead gorgeous without even trying. She was tall, as tall as Ted. She had an athletic body that still remained incredibly feminine. She dressed well, had a glorious head of rich, natural blond hair and Bambi brown eyes. In other words, a stunner. Plus, she was the most efficient secretary Maggie had ever come across. Somehow, she could anticipate Maggie’s every need. If there was such a thing as perfection, then perfection’s name was Emily Davis. Except for one little thing. Emily Davis had the hots for Ted Robinson.
“What?” Maggie barked. “Don’t you have anything better to do than stand in my doorway?” God, how hateful that sounded. Well, she was feeling hateful.
Emily didn’t take offense. “Actually, that’s why I’m standing here. Is there anything else you want me to do? If not, I’m going to lunch. If I hurry, I can catch up to the guys. It’s my turn to buy anyway.”
That threw Maggie for a loop. Her turn to buy. That had to mean Emily had been going to lunch with the guys on a regular basis. Well, crap!
“Go!” she barked again. Emily didn’t need to be told twice. Maggie could see her texting as she waited for the elevator. Well, crap again.
Maggie’s head started to ache. She’d just dug herself into a hole, and, right now, right this minute, she didn’t know how to get out of it. Think!
“I’m thinking! I’m thinking!” she muttered over and over to herself.
She’d broken her own cardinal rule, and it was eating at her. She’d spied on her best friends. Friends as in plural but Ted in particular. Once they’d been lovers, engaged to be married, but that time was long gone. She’d married someone else and was now a widow. Her whole life had been turned upside down, especially during the last year, after her husband had left her to go back to war and been killed.
God, why was she thinking like this? Because she’d broken the cardinal rule and had to live with it. It wouldn’t be so bad, she thought, but Ted knew what she’d done. Espinosa and Dennis knew, too. Probably the rest of those in her immediate circle knew, too. Ted’s circle as well. She’d be a pariah. The guys would hate her, and the girls . . . God, what would the girls think? Especially Myra and Annie. Tears burned her eyes at the thought she’d be alone in the world, friendless, and all because she had to spy on her best friends.
If only she hadn’t sent that stupid banana tree. If only. And what did she even hope to gain or to learn? That a building in Georgetown called the BOLO Building was a meeting place for the guys. So what? For all she knew, the guys were gambling away their free hours in the privacy of the building. She’d staked out the Bagel Emporium and eaten at least a thousand bagels as she watched the building. A total bust. Because . . . no one, as in ever, entered the building by the front door. The back entrance was used for some reason, and there was no way she could stake out the back without being spotted. The owner of the bagel shop, Ding something or other, said he didn’t know anything about the building, just that it had new tenants.
Well, she knew a thing or two about pricey real estate, and the BOLO Building was as pricey as it gets. Why did the boys need such a building to gamble if indeed that’s what they were doing? And there was no record that she could find for the ownership of that particular building. She’d need someone like Abner Tookus to find that out, but that was definitely out of the question.
She’d called around to the girls and tried to ask sneaky questions, but she’d come up dry. Then the brilliant idea of sending the banana tree came to her. She’d sat at a small table at the bagel place and watched as it was being delivered. Then she’d almost exploded off her seat when she saw Ding deliver a bag of bagels. To the front door!
Something was going on. Something no one wanted her or the girls to know about.
“What?” she thundered to her empty office.