Jack sat on the edge of the pool set up on the building’s roof. His
khaki shorts revealed muscled, tanned legs, hairs curled by the sun. He
was even leaner than before, all remnants of office-indluced flab
banished by months of physical exertion. Cords of well-toned muscle sat
just beneath the surface of his white T-shirt. His hair was short, his
face as brown as his legs. The water swished between his bare toes.
He looked at the sky and breathed deeply. The place had been packed a
mere three hours ago as office dwellers dragged tan-free, fleshy bodies
to the replenishing powers of the warm waters. Now Jack sat alone. No
bed beckoned him.
No ringingalarm would disturb his sleep the next morning.
The door to the pool opened with a slight squeak. Jack turned and saw
the beige summer suit, wrinkled and uncomfortable-looking. The man
carried a brown paper bag.
“Building super told me you were back.” Seth Frank smiled. “Mind some
company?”
“Not if you’ve got what I think you’ve got in that bag.”
Frank sat down in a web chair and tossed a beer to Jack.
They dinked cans and each man took a long pull.
Frank looked around. “So how was wherever you were?”
“Not bad. It was good to get away. But it’s also good to be back.”
“This looks like a nice place to meditate.”
“It gets crowded around seven for a couple of hours. Most of the other
time it’s pretty much like this.”
Frank looked wistfully at the pool and then started to take off his
shoes. “You mind?”
“Help yourself.”
Frank rolled up his pants, curled his socks into his shoes and sat down
next to Jack, letting his milky-white legs sink into the water up to his
knees.
“Damn that feels good. County detectives with three daughters and a
mortgage out the ying-yang rarely come into contact with swimming
pools.”
“So I’ve heard.”
Frank rubbed his calves and looked at his friend. “Hey, being a bum
agrees with you. You might want to think about sticking with it.”
“I am thinking about it. The idea gets more appealing every day.”
Frank eyed the envelope next to Jack.
“Important?” He pointed at the paper.
Jack picked it up, briefly reread the contents. “Ransomed Baldwin.
Remember him?”
Frank nodded. “What, has he decided to sue you for dumping his baby?”
Jack shook his head and smiled. He finished his beer and fished in the
bag and pulled out another cold one. He tossed a second one to Frank.
“You never know, I guess. The guy basically said I was too good for
Jennifer. At least for right now. That she had a lot of growing up to
do. He’s sending her out on some missionary duties for the Baldwin
Qbaritable Foundation for a year or so. He said if I ever needed
anything to let him know.
Hell, he even said that he admired and respected me.”
Frank sipped his beer. “Damn. Doesn’t get much better than that.”
“Yes, it does. Baldwin made Barry Alvis his chief inhouse counsel. Alvis
was the guy Jenn got fired at Patton, Shaw. Alvis promptly walked into
Dan Kirksen’s office and pulled the entire account. I think Dan was last
seen on the ledge of a very tall building.”
“I read where the firm closed its doors.”
“All the good lawyers got snapped up right away. The bad ones ought to
try something else for a living. Space is already rented out. The whole
firm gone, without a trace.”
“Well, same thing happened to the dinosaurs. It’s just taking a little
longer with you attorney types.” He punched Jack in the arm.
Jack laughed. “Thanks for coming and cheering me up.”
“Hell, I wouldn’t miss it.”
Jack looked at him, his face clouded. “So what happened?”
“Don’t tell me you still haven’t been reading the papers?”
“Not for months. After the gauntlet of reporters, talk show hosts, teams
of independent prosecutors, Hollywood producers and your run-of ,
the-mill curious person I’ve had to deal with I never want to know
anything about anything. I changed my phone number a dozen times and the
bastards kept finding it. That’s why the last two months have been so