Page 79 of Very Special Forces

"Ithought it was you," said Faye Wendell. "You remember my husband,Steve?"

How I could forget?But I politelyreplied, "Of course. It's so nice to see you bothagain."

"I neversaid thank you," said Steve. "You really made us get our heads onstraight. Without you, I don't know if we'd both be here together."He wrapped his arm around his wife's shoulders and they beamed ateach other.

"Thewaiter just signaled that our table is ready," saidSteve.

"I'll beright with you, honey," said Faye as Steve walked away. "Lexi, itwas great to see you again."

"Youtoo, Faye," I said.

Fayerubbed her tiny bump. "He's right. We really owe you a debt ofthanks."

"I wasglad to help," I told her. "How's the pregnancy?"

"It'sgoing great. Steve is thrilled. I just wish I could eat all thefood here. My doctor said no shellfish."

"It'sonly a few months of sacrifice," said Lily. She pointed to Poppyfast asleep under a thick blanket the color of pink cotton candy."Then you get one of these."

"Well,isn't that one perfect?" cooed Faye. "I meant to say thank you whenI saw you at the bar. Have you changed jobs?"

"Thebar?" I frowned.

"Lily's.We went to a party for Steve's friend, Big B. Or Bryce as everyoneelse calls him. We only stopped in for a few minutes to wish themwell but I saw you were busy."

"I'm notworking there," I told her. "I was just helping out. Lily owns thebar. Your husband and Bryce Maynard are friends?"

"Yes,he's the one that got my husband all jumpy about marriages andgold-diggers. If you ask me, he's kind of a jerk but I can't pickmy husband's friends. If I did, Bryce would be last on the list."She gave a little shudder.

"Youreally don't like him, huh?" said Lily.

"Oh,don't get me wrong. Bryce can be great fun to be around but there'ssomething about him... His fiancée is great. Perhaps she'll curbsome of his less pleasant behavior. She's a little meek so maybenot but she seems sweet. I really don't know her all that well so Icould be wrong. I'm glad he found someone although I don't like theway he treated Jessica or the way he talks about her. No matterwhat he says, it just isn't Jessica. I've known her too long." Fayestopped for a breath. "Sorry, I'm rambling."

"Jessica, his ex?" I asked. "She's a friend ofyours?"

"She is.That is, she was. We weren't close but we were social. I haven'tseen her in a few months and things were kind of awkward when theybroke up; then it just got too long to call and say hi."

"I'vebeen trying to get in touch with her. Do you happen to know whereshe lives?" I asked.

"Sure,of course, but what do you want to get in touch with herfor?"

"It'srelated to a case and her name came up. I know you wouldn'tnormally give out someone's personal details but it could beimportant..." I trailed off.

"Is itone of her legal cases? I know she takes on some tough defenses. Idon't want to get her into any trouble."

"Oh, no,it's nothing like that," I assured her. "I think she might havewitnessed something that I need to clarify. You're welcome to callahead and tell her I'd like to have a word with her."

Fayetilted her head, contemplating me for a moment. "I know you and Iget a good feeling about you and you helped me," she said, "I'llgive you Jessica's address and I'll tell her you're going to comeby. She'll talk to you." She reached for a pen in her purse andwrote the address on a napkin. I recognized the address as a niceapartment building in Chilton, not far from where Solomon and Iformerly lived.

"Thankyou," I said.

"No, thankyou.You've given me an excuse to call her and I was really lookingfor one. You'll have to excuse me. My husband is waving franticallyand I think that means he just shared our good news with morepeople." She patted my shoulder, gave one last adoring look atPoppy, and hurried to rejoin her husband.

"Let'snever lose touch," said Lily.

"It'llnever happen."

"Or fallout."

---