Page 28 of Separate Lives

“By whom?”

“LeeHanne.” Rummaging through the many paper sheets spread over his desk, Johnny found the note he was looking for.

“What has your wife got to do with this?”

“Tomorrow, you’ll meet a Leonard Cole of Miami, Florida.”

“And who is he?”

“An architect. He owns the firm that renovated and refurbished the legal office in which Lee works.”

“And why does he want us to investigate someone?”

“You’ll have to ask him. Lee told me he contacted her, because he remembered she mentioned I was a cop, and I think he needs someone to check the credentials of the people in charge of a contract he’s about to undertake here.”

Reece racked both hands over his face, sighing. He didn’t mind working alternated weekends, but knowing LeeHanne, he feared this assignment would be a bitch. Just what he needed with Jess doing her best to avoid him.

“Listen, buddy, I don’t think you should worry about Leonard Cole. He must be some guy if he successfully kept up with LeeHanne.”

Knowing her, Reece could all but agree.

Johnny went on explaining why Cole had warned his wife’s attention. “He and his team worked shoulder to shoulder with Lee, whose boss put her in charge of supervising the project. Of course LeeHanne being the opinionated woman she is, it took them months to define and agree on the new offices’ layout and design. Naturally, Cole had opinions of his own, but he was used to working with difficult clients so he handled LeeHanne and her boss like a pro, earning their gratitude, and respect.“

“And you know all this because…?”

“Because during all those months, I had to listen to Lee rave non-stop about how Cole was mule headed, opinionated, etc, etc, until the day his firm finished the job, and he became the most brilliant architect in America practically overnight.”

Reece laughed, imagining LeeHanne ranting and raving.

“But back to us,” Johnny cut in. “Let’s check these reports because while you’ll be meeting with Mr. Leonard Cole, I’ll be spending the next two days in the company of the sexiest lady in the whole universe.” He and LeeHanne had planned a romantic getaway weekend in Lake Tahoe, and both looked forward to it.

“Don’t I know it already? You’ve been going on about it since Monday,” Reece tiredly retorted, then buried his nose back in his papers.

“Made any special plans with Tracy?” Johnny asked off-handedly.

Reece tensed. He schooled his features to not give away any of the turmoil the question brought to the surface, but was not sure he had Johnny fooled. His partner was as good as Reece was at playing these kind of games, and although under normal circumstances Reece would’ve tried to dismiss his question with feigned impatience or a joke, he couldn’t, because his mind immediately conjured up the image of the envelope Jess had left taped to her front door. His name had stuck out from the white paper in bold, black, capital letters, foreshadowing the upsetting news.

“You seem lost in another world. Something is the matter with her?”

“No, nothing to worry about,” Reece said at last.

“You didn’t answer me.”

Reece looked at Johnny, lifting a brow.

“How will you be spending your weekend?”

“I plan to sit back, and take it easy in front of a crackling fire.”I’d betrying to figure out a way to see Jess, he mentally amended. He’d discovered that to avoid him, she’d moved in with her parents. Had things been different, had he not been clogged with work that prevented him from leaving Johnny to deal with it alone, Reece would’ve already presented himself at her parents’ front door, demanding why Jess had welcomed him in her arms one day, only to literally shut the door in his face the next.

“Ah, two romantic days at home with your woman,” Johnny dreamily commented. “I tell you buddy, there’s nothing better in the world than making sweet love with your lady all day long, without worrying about food, people, or telephones.”

“Yep. But didn’t I hear you say, you were anxious to go home to LeeHanne?” Reece reminded his friend, switching his attention back to the reports in front of them, and away from his private life.

During the next fifty minutes they worked in companionable silence then Johnny dropped his pen.

“Great. That’s all folks,” he sighed, leaning against his armchair to stretch the sore muscles of his back, while Reece rose and walked to the wall cabinets to file the reports.

“Well, enjoy your weekend.” Reece winked at Johnny, walked to the hanger, grabbed his jacket, and checked the pockets to make sure his car key was inside.

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