Jonah shuddered. He must try to get rid of this. He didn’t want pain. He thought about the lost cache with all those wonderful sexual memories that were his to play with until that woman stole it. Ah. The familiar anger was back. He closed his eyes and prayed for sleep.
“IT’S BEEN QUITE SOMEtime since I’ve seen your number on my caller ID, Conor.”
The voice was raspier than he remembered, but Joe McGuy always greeted him as Conor when it wasn’t business between them. Through the years, Jed had approached his mentor both for and outside business reasons. It was a friendship built from a promise that one man kept and the other never forgot.
“I wouldn’t want you to think I’m checking up on you in your old age,” he said easily, the Irish lilt of his growing years threading through his words as easy as ivy climbing up a wall.
“Harsh on an old man. What’s the world coming to?”
Joe might be retired and he might be up there in age, but old wouldn’t describe him. He still ran and finished the Boston Marathon every other year. Someone told Jed that he skydived on his birthday this year.
“Can’t be too harsh with your granddaughter’s wedding coming up,” Jed said, leaning back in his chair, relaxing for the first time since he sat down to do paperwork.
“Ah, that’s the fruit of my labor and I’m enjoying every minute of my retirement. When’s Trouble getting married anyway? She’s around the right age, isn’t she? I haven’t seen her for a while now either.”
Jed smiled. Joe had a special spot for Grace, his daughter, even though he hadn’t seen her a lot as a grown woman. It all had to do with that long-ago promise.
“She’s still young and wild. I don’t think she’s going to be tied down by a husband for a long, long time, my old friend.”
“Don’t be too sure, my old friend. DC has a lot of young men.”
Jed frowned. Had Joe been keeping an eye on Grace after all? “She’s there for an internship. Please don’t tell me she’s in trouble already.”
Joe gave a raspy chuckle. “Your daughter has your genes, remember? And her mother’s. Which means, she’s in and out of trouble a lot, God help her.”
He supposed if it was anything to be really concerned about, Joe wouldn’t be teasing him. “I’m assuming she’s managing on her own, since she would be calling me if it gets out of control. She knows how to get hold of me.”
This time, Joe snorted. “Jed,” he chided, using his other namesake now, “that daughter of yours thinks trouble is fun. She’s also at the age when they all think they’re invincible. As for that internship, I think you should ask what her job entails exactly, if you care to call her more than once in a while.”
It was Joe who had taught him how to be a father. But his training had also taught him to distance himself from those he loved. Grace and he had a different father-daughter relationship. In many ways, she had turned out a lot like him. Except for that devil-may-care look in her eyes. That was all Kitty’s.
“Perhaps I’ll find out more about what’s happening at her end,” he said.
“Do it soon,” the older man advised. “Now, what is it you need from me?”
They slid from personal to business like well-oiled parts that had worked with familiar intimacy. Jed had always appreciated how Joe could drop the mantle of friendship and assume his old role of mentor without a change in appearance or inflection.
“Stratter’s,” he said.
“Stratter’s Pointe? All the way to the beginning?”
“Yes. Do you still have connections there?”
“Of course. A few of the old colleagues have gone there, just as you did.”
“Are you sure it still functions the same? It’s been two decades, Joe. Maybe it’s more now.”
“I wouldn’t doubt it,” Joe said, curiosity entering his voice now. “And what is that to you?”
“You know that COMCEN won the funds for the SSS project.” Catching the flicker of lights out of the corner of his eyes, Jed leaned forward to check the screen to his right. T had just punched the codes to his quarters.
“Oh, yes. Super Soldier Spy. That’s causing quite a stir among us old farts in the know. It’s too super secret for us, really, so we don’t like to talk about it much. What’s that got to do with Stratter’s?”
Jed punched the code to allow T to access his floor. “The CIA has their remote-viewing program. I’ve been given partial access to it. What I want to know is, since when has Stratter’s become a medical ward with bars in their windows?”
“Sometimes we have political prisoners who are injured, Jed.”
Jed used his remote to unlock the front door. T hadn’t even attempted to knock; she’d known he’d be expecting her. He waved her in.
