"
Reaching to touch his arm, Mandi said quietly, "You gave me the opening I
needed in there. Thanks."
Regarding her silently for a moment, Cade said, "You didn't need me at all,
Mandi. After I saw the playback, I asked John why you didn't handle the whole
mess yourself."
Letting her hand fall to her side, Mandi said, "That wasn't the plan, Ed.
That's all I can say."
A woman called Mandi from the doorway.
Mandi nodded to let the woman know she'd heard and turned back to Cade to
ask, "What's your issue-cell number?"
"Forty-two-eighteen. Yours?"
"Zero-two-two-one."
Although he knew that the cells were recharged and reissued in no particular
order, Cade grinningly said, "Wow, that's a low number. You must be somebody
special, ma'am."
Laughing, Mandi said, "No, not me. They just handed me one from a box."
An awkward moment of parting was developing. Cade curtailed it by extending
a hand and saying, "I'm off in search of dinner. See you later, milady."
Catching her lower lip between her teeth for a moment as she shook hands,
Mandi said, "Yeah. See you later, Ed."
As Cade left her to head for the door, a guy asked, "Have you been
debriefed?"
Thumbing at the console that was being packed into metal suitcases, Cade
said, "It's all on tape.
Pages:
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82