Page 25 of Travis

When I find out why, I’m absolutely shocked.

Travis

If Lisa doesn’t know who this Greg guy is, then I don’t know who will. The only person other than Lisa who stands a chance at helping me out, is my sister-in-law, Sara. I try calling her, but she doesn’t answer, so I wait. After a few hours, I decide to do the next best thing, and I show up at her house. Ron’s car isn’t there, no shocker, and I know that Macey will still be in school. “Hey, Travis.” Sara greets, with the usual warm smile on her face.

“I tried calling you, but I left a message.”

“I must have missed it. I had a flurry of calls come in just a while ago. The answering service is down today, so my cell phone’s been going haywire. Come on in. What’s going on?”

I look inside and see that all the Christmas stuff is still everywhere. “You decided to leave it all up, huh.”

“Oh, yeah.” she snuffles a laugh. “Macey won’t ever get sick of it. She’d have me leave it up all year round if she had her way about it.”

She gives me a hug and we sit down on the couch. “You’re not tied up or anything?”

“Not for a half an hour or so, unless my phone starts up.” she shrugs. “What’s going on? How are you doing?”

I cut right to the chase. “Did you hear about Becky’s new assistant? Some Greg guy?”

“She didn’t go into specifics, but she did mention that she’d hired someone. Why? It’s a guy?” she looks amused but shocked.

“Yeah. His name is Greg Tubman. Lisa’s never heard of him, so I thought maybe you might have some info on him.”

“Well, darlin’, I wish I did. Like I said, Becky didn’t tell me anything about him. Why?”

“The guy’s bad news. I got the willies the second that I saw him.”

She tilts her head. “Is it possible that it’s just because he was with Becky?”

“No, it’s not that, Sara. You know that I'm not like that.”

“I know.” she says fairly. “But this is the first time you’re seeing her with a strange guy, Travis.”

“Still. It’s not like that, Sara. I’m serious.”

“Fair enough. What would you like me to do?”

“Can you look him up? I know your social media is crazy. Maybe someone you know, knows him?”

“I can try, but I’ll have to go incognito to do it.”

“Do you mind?” I ask carefully.

“No, not at all. If this spells trouble for Becky, then I’m here to help.”

“That’s what I figured.”

She places a hand on my knee. “But you do know that if Becky had any instinct that he’s trouble, she wouldn’t have hired him.”

“I know that, but she’s in a pinch, and Laura said that his resume is all over the place. The guy looks like he’s from that goddamn Matrix movie. He doesn’t belong. The way the guy acts and dresses, being an assistant to anyone, other than the President of the bloody United States, would be a huge step down for him.”

“He’s Rico Suave, is he?” she giggles.

“He’s more than that. I don’t like him. Not one bit.”

“Can’t say I blame you, Travis. I mean, even I don’t like him, and I haven’t met him yet. I don’t want Becky with anyone else except you, no more than you do.”

“I know that. Thanks.” I kiss her cheek. “Man, I’m telling you, I’ll never have a better sister-in-law.”

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