Page 213 of The Texas Sterling Collection
From the corner of his eye, Rod noticed Ailbe tense when the topic of criminals arose.
“Are you okay, Ailbe?” Rod asked.
“I’m fine, Rod. Why do you ask?”
“You look a bit pale.”
“The kippers I had for breakfast aren’t agreeing with me,” Ailbe lied.
The class period ended, but the students remained. For an additional two hours, students asked questions. All remained fascinated with Wyl’s topic.
“Lads, I hate to cut this short, but I need to feed my husband lunch,” Wyl said. “If you have additional questions, funnel them through Dr. MacGowan, who will see that I get them.”
Ailbe stood and walked toward Wyl, applauding along with the students.
“Excellent session, Wyl,” Ailbe said.
“You never cease to amaze me,” Rod said. “You had those students in the palm of your hand. They hung on every word you uttered.”
“You definitely gave the lads something to think about,” Ailbe said. “Now they’ll be bugging me to bring criminals into the class.” Ailbe chuckled.
“Ailbe, I can’t imagine criminals anywhere near an academic environment,” Wyl said.
“Academia has its fair share of the criminal element,” Ailbe said. “We slap an advanced degree on it, which becomes a learning experience.”
“Time to feed your husband, Mr. Keynote Speaker,” Rod said.
“Ailbe, join us for lunch?” Wyl asked.
“You two go ahead. I have work to catch up on. I’ll grab something in the campus cafeteria.”
“Okay,” Rod said. “Maybe we’ll get together this weekend.”
“I’ll check with Declan,” Ailbe said. “I’m sure he’ll want to go out. We’ll give you a call.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Saturday morning, Wyl and Rod dressed to go to James and Glenn’s for brunch.
“It’s good to have contacts in our flat complex.” Rod buttoned his shirt. “And the fact that they are a gay couple makes socializing believable to outside observers.”
“It’s all part of the plan, babe. We must appear as a honeymoon couple spending time in Ireland. All the rest is, as far as outsiders are concerned, a coincidence.”
Rod nodded. “I’m impressed with the thought that went into this mission. The plan has considerable depth. Much more than we realized when General Steinburg unwrapped the mission for us at the Pentagon.”
“Rod, you heard General Steinburg say he’s never seen two people more suited to a mission. Much planning went into this, and our backgrounds make it work.”
“Oh, we’ll make it work. I’m amazed at how easily this is falling into place.”
“Wait a minute. Less than twelve hours ago, you were royally pissed at me forplaying the game. And now suddenly everything is falling into place?”
Rod chuckled. “Maybe I wanted you to think I was pissed off.”
Wyl crept toward Rod, fingers wiggling in the air.
Rod laughed and darted into the living room, Wyl in hot pursuit.
Wyl tackled him to the couch and dug his fingers into Rod’s ribs.
