Page 144 of No Headlines Please

"Oh, come on. Do I really need to explain?" I sighed. "If you want the truth, I don't even know if I should apologize for flipping out or make you apologize to me."

His eyebrows lifted. "Make me?"

"Fine. Ask you to apologize." I hesitated. "For a whole bunch of things."

Finally, something flickered in his eyes. "Such as…?"

"Like…for starters, why were you using a fake name?"

This made him frown. "What?"

With just a hint of sarcasm, I asked, "Is your name really Cal Smith?"

"No."

"So, why on Earth were you claiming it was?"

"I wasn't." But then, he gave the card a careful look, and his eyebrows furrowed. When he looked up, he said, "But I guess I can see where you'd think that."

"You guess?" I almost laughed. "Hey, I wasn't the only one who thought it. Walt did, too."

"Walt."

Was that a question? I couldn’t even tell. I answered, anyway. "Yes. You gave him the card and told him to call you."

Something shifted in his expression. "The janitor."

"No. The building manager. You know…the guy you handed the card to? You said if he spotted me, he should call you."

"No…" Maddox said in a tone of overblown patience. "I said he should call the number on the card."

"Except it was your card."

"Except it wasn't."

Again, I pointed. "Except…there it is. That same card. Exhibit A, right? Does it say Maddox McGuiness?"

This time, he didn't even look. "I'm not gonna hand out my own card."

I didn't get it. "What?"

"It was Cal's card, not mine."

"Wait…who's Cal?"

"My security guy."

"Oh." That actually made sense. I tried to imagine the whole scenario as Walt had described it. "So you never claimed you were Cal?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

Maddox gave me a look. "I don't lie about my name."

Well, that was rich. I made a sound of annoyance. "Yeah, well, you don't share your full one, either, do you?"

His jaw flexed. "You learned it soon enough."