Chapter 22. Not-So-Stern Lecture

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As soon as I walked through the door of Rocca Investigations, Belinda pounced.

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“I know you don’t have time to talk about how the trip went right now, but you’re gonna tell me soon!  Maybe we can go grab a drink tomorrow night?” Belinda suggested.

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“I’m all for getting a drink sometime, but there really isn’t much to tell.” I hedged.  I could have gone for a drink right at that moment.

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“Don’t be coy, Miss Prescott.  I know something must have happened.  And I’m not talking about the case—Sean is extra cheerful and humming and stuff.  I know something happened, and you’re gonna tell me about it!” she grinned.

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I blushed and started stammering about how nothing had happened, and she finally relented.

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“They’re waiting in the office.” Belinda said, and gave a theatrical sigh.  I thanked her and hurried to the door.  I took a deep breath before pushing it open.

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“There you are, Ed.  Please have a seat.” Nick said.

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“Hi, Nick.  Sean.” I said quietly, and sat down.  This was the first time I’d seen Sean since we’d flown back from France a day ago.  In the time we’d spent together on the flight back he hadn’t mentioned the kiss, and I hadn’t either.  I’d started thinking I’d imagined the whole thing.

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And then I’d found the book.  He’d smuggled it into my luggage sometime after we’d cleared customs.  It was the antique book of Mother Goose rhymes that I’d lusted after.  It was a wonderfully thoughtful gift, but it was also extremely expensive.  It was in my car, and I was going to try to give it back.  It was time to go back to being professional.

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“Well, Sean has filled me in on all the details about what went down in France.” Nick said.

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I wondered if he’d really filled him in on all the details, and to my horror I felt my face flush.  Again. I remained quiet and waited for him to continue.

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“Ed…first just let me say thanks.  From what Sean tells me, you definitely went above and beyond.” Nick said.

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“That being said…this is the second time that you didn’t follow the advice of the investigator supervising you.  And that is….troubling.” Nick said.

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“I…uh…I’m not sure what to say.  I did what I thought was the best thing to do at the time, but I didn’t really have much time to uh…think it through.” I replied.  “Nick….please don’t take me off field work.”

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“Oh, no–no one is proposing to take you off field work.  Sean and I believe that there were things that could have been done differently on both sides.  We should have considered your idea of using the maid to gain entry more carefully.  We also should have worked out a more definite back-up plan for when things went wrong.” Nick said.

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“In all fairness—part of the problem is that I’m not used to working with a partner.” Sean said.  “I’m sorry that my inexperience put you in that situation.”

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“Your inexperience?” I said incredulously, turning to look from his face to Nick’s.  “So, my disobeying a direct order from Sean is….Sean’s fault?”

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“No—you need to stop disobeying orders….in most cases.  But we’re admitting fault too. We need to take more time to prepare plans so that you will know exactly what to do if something goes wrong, and it won’t involve you doing something drastic–like smuggling yourself in as a French maid and recruiting a servant to do our dirty work.”  Nick said, smiling.

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“Well, we’d better get going, Eddie.  Gotta finish up with Wolff.” Sean said, coming to his feet.  We were meeting Thornton Wolff to give him our final report.

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As we were about to leave, I couldn’t help but notice something unsettling.

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Nick walked toward us from around his desk, and I still felt a little flutter of awareness when he drew near—but it was much reduced.  The impact was minimal.  But standing near Sean made my heart race.  My whole body responded to Sean’s nearness.

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Great….I thought miserably.  One crush rendered manageable at the expense of creating another, even worse crush.

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“Oh, one more thing, Ed.” Nick said.  “This meeting with Vasquez….have you given it any thought?”

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I had.

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“Yes.  I’ve decided to do it.” I said.

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“Then I’ll tell Erica to make the arrangements.  We won’t go through with the meeting unless certain safeguards are in place.” Nick said.

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The meeting with Nick and Sean had been set for five-thirty, and it was dark when Sean and I walked outside.  The topic of Vasquez had distracted me so much that I almost forgot to talk to Sean about the book.  We were about to leave in separate cars to go to Thornton Wolff’s house when I remembered.

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“Sean…I found the book, and I brought it.  Thank you, but I can’t accept it.” I said.

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“You have to keep it. It’s a gift.” Sean said.

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“It’s far too extravagant a gift for….for me.” I stammered.

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“You wanted it, and I wanted you to have it.” Sean said.

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“Sean….” I said, shaking my head.

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“Keep it.  Consider it a thank-you for saving the mission.” Sean said.

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“You already thanked me for that,” I blurted out, then reddened as he gave me a knowing grin.  I wondered if I would spend most of my time red-faced from now on.

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“About that….” Sean began.

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“I know….we’d just gone through a really stressful event, and with all the adrenaline….you were just happy to be safe, and that manifested itself in, a, uh…kiss.” I said quickly.

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“Huh….is that what happened?” Sean asked skeptically.

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“Yeah.  That’s what I think must have happened.” I said.  I forced myself to meet his eyes.

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“Only one problem with that theory, Eddie.” Sean said softly. “If that were true, then I wouldn’t want to do it again.”

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“Sean, we…we can’t–” I started to say, nearly hyperventilating.

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“I know you aren’t ready.  But I won’t have you writing it off as some freak accidental thing—I’d wanted to kiss you for a while, and I want to kiss you again.  So start getting used to it.” Sean said.

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Suddenly, he turned on his heel and said over his shoulder, “Let’s go—Wolff is waiting.”

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• May 16, 2010
• An Edith Prescott Mystery: Story 2
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