Page 27 of Mann Hunt
“Me? No way.” Luke laughed. “I don’t think I could put a boyfriend through that. Unless he was a cop, maybe. Civilians and cops don’t mix.”
“Yeah. It didn’t work out well with my folks.”
They both sat in silence before Luke broke the deadlock. “Well…I guess I’d better head out and let you get some work done. I just wanted to come and apologise.”
Declan rose and shook Luke’s hand. “Thanks. I appreciate it. You know, if you ever want to talk about things, I’ve got a willing ear. No charge.”
“I just might take you up on that.”
“Good. Here’s my number.” Declan miraculously pulled a card out of thin air and tossed it to him. “Call me. Any time.”
“Thanks,” Luke said, then handed Declan his own card. “Don’t let that go to waste.”
As they went to leave the office, Luke turned to Declan. “We’ve met before, although you might not remember it.”
“Sure. At the wrecking yard.”
“Nope. It was out in front of The Greek last Saturday night. We had a dance in the street.”
Declan remembered the ghost of a dream…dancing with a good-looking guy… “That was you?”
Luke said, “Jeez, I thought I made a stronger first impression.”
* * * *
Charlie sat at his desk, his hand still on the telephone receiver, which he had replaced on the cradle.
Declan and Luke exited the inner office. Declan was smiling.
“You wouldn’t happen to be free for lunch tomorrow?” Luke asked.
“Sounds good,” Declan replied, then turned to Charlie. “Book me out of the office for tomorrow afternoon.”
Charlie nodded.
“See you later, Charlie. It was nice meeting you,” Luke said.
Charlie grunted. “Yeah.”
“And nice to finally meet you, Declan.”
Luke left the office, and Declan stared after him.
“Well, back to work.” Declan spun on his heels and headed back to his office with a noticeable bounce in his step.
“Wait,” Charlie yelled out a bit too loudly.
Declan turned. “Yes?”
“There was a phone call.”
“I heard.”
“It was from Mrs Beckerman’s daughter.”
“Oh?”
“She and Mrs Beckerman were out for a walk yesterday.” Charlie’s voice began to quaver. “She collapsed.”
