Page 42 of S.O.S. Mizzay

“Three of these are viable sounding calls that came in during the last half hour while youze guys had your thumbs up your asses,” she stated succinctly.

“Three?” Del looked dumbfounded. “That’s usually the total of what my wife gets off the machine at the end of the day.”

“That’s because folks would rather tell their troubles to a human being than a machine,” she sent back with a snippet of attitude. “And asweet, caringvoice makes them all want to spill their guts,” she added while eyeing the baritone across the room.

Del coughed to focus everyone’s attention on him.

“Right. And in that regard, I have a solution to our…situation,” he said to the room in general.

He turned toward Mister Seingold first. “Why did you apply for the receptionist job when you’re clearly qualified for fieldwork?” he asked.

The man looked sheepish for a moment.

“I heard about the open position from my mother who works for another firm in the building,” he told them. “But you weren’t advertising for operatives. You were looking for a front desk person.” He shrugged. “I thought if I applied and made myself useful on the phones, you might give me a chance in the field once you got to know me.”

Del looked satisfied. “Your hired,” he nodded swiftly.

“Wait. What?” Missy came to her feet and postured. All five feet of her. “Just like that he gets the job?” Her eyes narrowed indignantly.

“No. I mean yes. Wait.” Del held a hand up, stopping her impending tirade. “You’re hired, too.” He clarified. “You’re both hired.”

“Huh?” The single syllable popped from Prez’s mouth, beating everyone else in the room to it.

“Look at these.” Del told his team as he waved the messages around. “More jobs. We’ve spread ourselves ridiculously thin lately. So much so, that I’ve dreaded the thought we’d have to turn down assignments.”

Everyone waited.

“Another associate,” he thrust his chin in George’s direction, “will take the heat off.” He turned all his attention to the big man. “Are you interested in accepting a job as an operative, instead of as office help?” he questioned.

“Hell, yes.” George’s reply came rapidly off his tongue, without hesitation.

“Yes!” Missy went on tip-toe and high-fived Prez, who was standing closest to her. “That means I’m your front-woman,” she concluded with satisfaction. She thrust her celebratory hand out toward Mister Seingold. “No hard feelings, then?” she asked.

The big man stuck his massive paw out and enveloped hers in a gentle pump. “No hard feelings.” His face lit up with his change in his luck. “If it weren’t for you, I might have gotten stuck behind a desk.”

Missy gave him a grin. “Uh, huh. I understand. But big guy, believe me, there are much worse places to be.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Present day: Boston…

“Mizzay!” Del yelled from his office.

Damn.Mizzay had known the summons was coming. And for what she was asking, she deserved the boss’s censure. Not just for the request, but because her head hadn’t been in the game at SOS for the last few days; being derailed by the nervous anticipation chewing at her brain over where, exactly, she’d be at this time next week.

But Mizzay owed Del a full explanation. Hell, she’d owed him one since the day he’d hired her, but she’d put it off, hoping to fully cement her place in the hearts of Del and his operatives before she spilled everything about herself…

Uh. No. Actually she was chicken-shit.That’swhy she’d prevaricated for the four and a half years since she’d been hired.

Maybe…?

No.It was time.

And she’d leave it up to Del to tell the rest of the guys her story. She’d let him do that because she believed in the integrity of everyone she currently worked with. Implicitly. And that was saying something. There were certainly factions with whom she’d been affiliated in the past, who didn’t, and would never deserve that kind of trust.

“Coming, boss,” she clipped out, quickly rerouting any incoming calls to the answering service. She didn’t want any potential clients hanging up, and she didn’t know how long this was going to take.

Her soft heels made no noise on the floor as she strode her way down the hall to the first door on the right. She knocked,but it was only perfunctory because the portal was ajar and Delhadsummoned her. So, after her expected warning signal, she walked in and closed the door behind her.

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