“Anyway, I could have sworn this was the same car, the same lackey.”
“Was the car unusual?”
“No. A black RAV4.”
“And you said the man’s face was covered.”
“The baseball cap, though.”
“Okay.”
“Also his size. And his attitude. Exact same.”
“Okay.”
“You don’t sound like you believe me.”
“My job isn’t to believe or disbelieve,” Susan said. “I’m just here to listen.” If she hadn’t gone into psychiatry, Susan would have made a great politician.
I sighed. “Anyway, I called Desmond, and I asked him why Moon was having me tailed.”
“What did he say?”
“He said he would talk to Moon, but he didn’t know of any reason why he would do that. In fact, he said Moon wants little to do with me because he finds me confusing.”
“Interesting.”
“And then Desmond started asking me about my weekend with Richie. He asked if his son had popped the question yet, and when I said no, he told me to forget he ever said it.”
“Aha.”
“Aha?”
“I feel like I have a better idea as to why you’re so tense.”
“I told you why I’m tense.”
“Because you believe you were being followed by a man in a baseball cap.”
“Iwasbeing followed by him.”
“Are you sure that’s the only reason?”
“Isn’t that enough of a reason?”
“How did you feel when Desmond Burke mentioned that Richie planned to propose to you?”
I exhaled. “Tense,” I said. “Very, very tense.”
I expected her to say “Aha” again, but thankfully she didn’t.
As usual, Susan had successfully opened the floodgates. The words banged around in my heart until I had to say them out loud. “Richie wants me to retire.”
“He does?”
“Well, not retire per se,” I said. “But he wants me to stop taking dangerous jobs, which is pretty much the same thing.”
“How do you feel about that?”
