Page 54 of Merrick

“Go to hell.”

He sighed and back down. “Look, I’m not here to give you grief…”

“Then why are you here?”

“We have another body and rumors from up top indicates that our time is up. If we do not close this out by the next couple of days, we are off the case.”

She felt the burden crashing down on her. She was not on her game. This morning when he kissed her, she knew he was telling her goodbye and had not done a damn thing about it.

She couldn’t and was telling herself that it was for the best. But she had stared at her phone several times during the morning and ached to hear his deep voice. She picked up the phone at one point with the intention of calling, but she had nothing to say, at least nothing he would want to hear.

“We’re close,” she murmured.

“How was dinner?”

“Enlightening. I met the entire family who does not approve of me with the exception of Michael who is a sweetheart. The wife – Janey is a royal bitch who has the hots for Merrick and did nothing to hide it. It was damn embarrassing.”

He gave her a level glance that had her shifting in her seat.

“What?”

“A family like that is bound to be suspicious of a woman who just came into Pendergast’s life. What did you tell them about yourself?”

“Next to nothing.”

“My point exactly. No doubt they are going to have you investigated.”

She had thought of that and the thought of him finding out about her was making her edgy. She need to finish this quickly. “There are some other key players.”

“In the company?”

She nodded. “In the R&D department. Jason was jittery, so I suspect he was using or jonesing for a fix. He left right after dinner and when I asked casually where he had gone off to, they could not or would not say.” Kicking back in her chair, she stared at her board. “He’s the key to all of this; I just know it.”

“You and Pendergast. What’s going to happen?”

“Nothing!” She snapped it out. “I am doing my job and intend to see it through.”

“Margo…”

“Please.” She held up a hand to stop him. “I cannot talk about it, not now.”

*****

He had lived in New York so many years ago and knew the ins and outs. He had enjoyed the frenetic pace, the constant ebb and flow of people, the madness of the traffic and the brilliance of the lights pouring from the many high-rise buildings. That had been when he was young and just getting to know himself and who he was.

He had brought Laura here to wine and dine her. They had gone to several shows, walked in Central park and taken buggy rides in the dead of winter. One night – in the middle of the night, they had ordered pizza and sat on the floor of the apartment and just filled themselves with the pie and a bottle of vintage wine.

Now he was a lot older and would like to believe much wiser, but here he was, sitting in an exclusive restaurant and wishing Margo was here with him. He had not called her, and she hadn’t called him either. He had not expected her to.

He was about to pick up his wine glass when he heard his name.

Looking up, he felt a shimmer of surprise as someone from the very distant past came rushing over, followed by the maître D’.

“I cannot believe my eyes.”

“Grace?” He rose slowly and nodded to the man who bowed and retreated. Pushing back his chair, he moved towards her and extended his hands. Green eyes sparkled in pleasure as she leaned in for a kiss.

“Of all the eateries in the state of New York.” She pulled him in for a resounding kiss and he let her. “You are here – in New York. You should have called me.”

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