Kate had almost forgotten the pretext that had earned her this pleasant
reprieve from business as usual. She had a deficiency that she had
long ago decided was a product of her upbringing. She blamed it on the
lack of any female role model during her formative years. She could
face down a heavily armed madman without flinching or look a suspect in
the eye and lie through her teeth to get a confession. Growing up
among a bunch of Hoover-era G-men had left her with a repertoire of
dirty jokes that would make a sailor blush, the ability to make cursory
repairs on most automotive systems and an intimate knowledge of the
finer points of bluffing through a lousy hand at poker. But she
couldn't carry out a simple flirtatious deception without making a fool
of herself. It was a tactic, in fact, that she had long ago given up
using, until, for some reason, today.
She was still busy berating herself for that 'date' comment and trying
to decide if she had meant it the way it sounded or not, when Josh
turned the tables on her and brought the conversation back to the
'questions' she supposedly wanted to ask him. She had no reason to
think that he might know anything about Agent Smith. The Bureau wasn't
the sort of small organization where everyone knows everyone else's
business as well if not better than they know their own. Quite the
opposite. But, on the other hand, she hadn't come up with anything
else and she might just hit the jackpot and discover that he did have
some useful information.
Looking at Josh, Kate realized she had waited a beat or two too long in
responding to his inquiry. The mischievous gleam in his eyes and the
beginning of a smirk on his face suggested to her that he knew exactly
what she was up to, and he wasn't going to let her get away with it.
"Well," she began, "earlier, when I went to see Director Roy..."
"Of course!" Ernie's voice boomed across the less than crowded room,
startling everyone to silence and causing all eyes to turn toward him.
He had been standing behind the bar wiping down glasses and arranging
them in a neat row in preparation for the after work crowd. Now, he
rushed away from the bar like it was on fire and crossed to the other
side of the room where he stood for a moment staring at one of the
framed photographs on the wall. With a decisive nod, he pulled the
photo off the wall.
"I wonder what that's all about," Josh said.
Kate shrugged. "I don't know, but I think we're about to find out."
Ernie appeared at the table as she finished speaking. He held up the
photograph, displaying it like a trophy for Josh and Kate and pointed
to a man in the center of the picture, a tall, broad-shouldered man
with silver streaked brown hair and smiling blue eyes. "I can't
believe I didn't make the connection sooner," he announced to Kate.
"You're Jimmy Calloway's little girl!"
Kate didn't bother to correct the generational error. Her grandfather
had always spoken of her as his daughter. It was easier and less
painful for him than being forced into a position where he had to
explain the circumstances. "Guilty as charged, Ernie," Kate said.
"You knew him?"
"Oh, he was a legend," Ernie said. He was prepared to continue but was
interrupted by Kate's laughter.
"In his own mind, maybe! I hope you didn't believe a word he ever told
you. The man was a saint, but he kissed the ol' blarney stone a few
too many times, if you know what I mean."
"Oh, come on now, Kassie!" Kate cringed at the use of the nickname she
had firmly banned from use on her twelfth birthday. Ernie turned his
attention to Josh. "Did you know that her old man single handedly
brought down an entire gang of armed bank robbers by cornering them in
the restroom of a gas station and..."
"It was one bank robber and he was carrying a toy pistol from a Lone
Ranger play set," Kate said. "I know. I have copy of the original
file on that case and..." She realized her error when Josh cast a harsh
look in her direction. Those files were never supposed to leave the
file room. "It wasn't my doing. I found it in his attic after he
died."
"I'll let it pass. This time," Josh said.
Ernie turned back to Kate with a playful grin. "And I suppose he
exaggerated the story about that fishing trip you took with him and his
partner up to the Allegheny Mountains."
Kate was on her feet before he could utter another word. "Ernie, I'd
really love to chat with you sometime, trade stories and compare notes
about Dad." She put a hand on his shoulder and started guiding him
back toward the bar. "But, we really do have some important business
we need to discuss, and we really don't have the time just now. You
understand, don't you?" Ernie opened his mouth to speak, but didn't
have a chance. "Thank you," Kate continued, "I knew you would. It's
been a pleasure to meet you, Ernie."
Kate returned to the table and sat down. "Where were we?"
"I don't think I've ever seen anyone out talk Ernie," Josh said.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, Kate thought. She smiled
calmly and said, "Well, you're running short on time, I know, and that
particular story might take a while."
Josh consulted his watch again and nodded. "I do need to get back
pretty soon, although I would like to hear about that fishing trip
sometime."
"I think that could be arranged."
"You were saying something about Director Roy," Josh prompted after a
palpable silence.
"Yes. He wasn't in his office when I went to see him, but there was
this man there. Agent Smith." Josh's eye's widened at the mention of
the name. "So you know who I'm talking about?"
"Oh, yes."
"He said that he had a proposition for me."
"What was it?"
"He never had the chance to tell me. The Director walked in and
ordered him out of the office. When I asked him about it, he warned me
to watch out for him, but didn't seem inclined to elaborate on that.
The whole incident left me with an uneasy feeling. To be perfectly
honest, I thought I was just being paranoid, but seeing your reaction,
maybe there is something to it."
Josh nodded. "He's trouble, all right."
That was more or less the same response she had gotten from Director
Roy, and every half-answer was making her more and more curious. "So,
who is he? And what kind of trouble?"
"Answering that would take more time than I have right now."
"All right. Are you free tonight?"
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