Page 231 of The Texas Sterling Collection
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At eleven o’clock Saturday morning, the doorbell rang, and James answered.
“You must be Paddy Healy.” James offered his hand.
“And you’re James Pearson,” Paddy grasped the offered hand. “This is my partner, Todd Fielding. We enjoy hearing you perform at Wilde’s.”
“Now that you mention it, I’ve noticed you both in the audience. It is a pleasure to have you in our home. Please, won’t you come in?” James stepped aside and motioned them inside.
Paddy and Todd came in.
“Hi, Paddy,” Glenn said. “It’s good to see you again. We don’t usually meet under such relaxed circumstances.”
“Hello, Glenn. You’re right. We’re usually in a hurry, and almost always in a rather secluded place. Glenn, this is my partner, Todd Fielding. Todd, this is Glenn Cross. I mentioned him before.”
“Ah, yes,theGlenn Cross. It’s good to meet you, Glenn.” Todd shook hands.
“Good to meet you, too, Todd. Won’t you both have a seat?”
“What’s your pleasure, gents? How about a Bloody Mary? We’re having brunch, after all,” James offered.
“A Bloody Mary sounds good,” Paddy responded. “You want one, Todd?”
“You bet,” Todd answered. “Make mine spicy.”
“Oh, me too,” Paddy chimed in.
“Bloody Marys coming up.” James walked into the kitchen to prepare their drinks.
“So…I understand from your phone call that this visit isn’t entirely social.” Glenn sat across from Paddy and Todd.
“No,” Paddy said. “O’Brien is being extra cautious since the second student was found dead. He suggested that I set up this meeting and bring Todd along so it would appear we were two gay couples getting together.”
“So, what does he have in mind?” James asked from the kitchen. He ran a lime slice along the rim of each glass before inverting it in salt.
“He wants to bring Garrett Burke in as a mole,” Paddy said. “Wyl Sterling is working on the case from the MacGowan perspective, but O’Brien wants someone in the trenches with the students…someone who can feed him information.”
“And bringing Garret Burke into the fold belongs to us.” James brought the tray of Bloody Marys into the den and served everyone.
Paddy nodded. “That is correct.”
“I had a good rapport with Garrett when I met him before,” Glenn said. “I found out he and Fergus were lovers, working on a long-term relationship. He was quite shaken up over the death but determined to do whatever he could to help catch the person who took Fergus from him.”
“Did he give you his contact information?” James asked.
“Yes. I told Garrett I would keep him informed as new details arose.”
“Good,” James said. “You can give him a call and have a talk with him about working with us.”
“I think that is exactly what O’Brien wanted.” Paddy sipped his Bloody Mary.
“Tell O’Brien we’ll get it all set up, and we’ll report to him regularly through the usual channel, which is assumed to be you,” James nodded to Paddy.
Paddy sighed. “Yes, that would be me.”
“Are we ready to have brunch?” Glenn stood to prepare the food. “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m getting hungry.”
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