“They’ll certainly give it their best shot,” Colleen said. “You really motivated them.”
“God, I hope so,” Terese said. “I can’t let Barker have a free field with his stupid ‘talking heads’ junk. That’s like taking advertising back to pre-Bernbach days. It would be an embarrassment for the agency if the client liked it, and we had to actually do it.”
“God forbid,” Colleen said.
“We’ll be out of a job if that happens,” Terese said.
“Let’s not get too pessimistic,” Colleen warned.
“Ah, what a day,” Terese complained. “On top of everything else I’ve got to worry about Jack.”
“How so?” Colleen asked.
“When I met with him and he gave me the ‘no wait’ idea he told me he was going back to the General.”
“Uh-oh,” Colleen said. “Isn’t that where those gang members warned him against going?”
“Exactly,” Terese said. “Talk about a Taurus, he’s the epitome. He’s so damn bullheaded and reckless. He doesn’t have to go over there. They have people at the medical examiner’s office whose job it is to go out to hospitals. It must be some male thing, like he has to be a hero. I don’t understand it.”
“Are you starting to get attached to him?” Colleen asked gingerly, aware it was a touchy subject with Terese. Colleen knew enough about her boss to know that she eschewed romantic entanglements, though she had no idea why.
Terese only sighed. “I’m attracted to him and put off by him at the same time,” she said. “He got me to open up a little, and apparently I coaxed him out a little too. I think both of us felt good talking to someone who seemed to care.”
“That sounds encouraging,” Colleen said.
Terese shrugged, then smiled. “We’re both carrying around a lot of emotional baggage,” she said. “But enough about me. How about you and Chet?”
“It’s going great,” Colleen said. “I could really fall for that guy.”
Jack felt as if he were sitting through the same movie for the third time.
Once again he was literally on Bingham’s carpet enduring a protracted tirade about how his chief had been called by every major civil servant in the city to complain bitterly about Jack Stapleton.
“So what do you have to say for yourself?” Bingham demanded, finally running out of steam with his ranting. He was literally out of breath.
“I don’t know what to say,” Jack admitted. “But in my defense, I haven’t gone over there with the intention of irritating people. I was just looking for information. There’s a lot about this series of outbreaks that I don’t understand.”
“You’re a goddamn paradox,” Bingham remarked as he visibly calmed down. “At the same time you’ve been such a pain in the butt you’ve made some commendable diagnoses. I was impressed when Calvin told me about the tularemia and the Rocky Mountain spotted fever. It’s like you’re two different people. What am I to do?”
“Fire the irritating one and keep the other?” Jack suggested.
Bingham grunted a reluctant chuckle, but any sign of amusement quickly faded. “The main problem from my perspective,” he grumbled, “is that you are so goddamned contumacious. You’ve specifically disobeyed my orders to stay away from the General, not once but twice.”
“I’m guilty,” Jack said, raising his hands as if to surrender.
“Is all this motivated by that personal vendetta you have against Ameri-Care?” Bingham demanded.
“No,” Jack said. “That was a minor factor to begin with, but my interest in the matter has gone way beyond that. I told you last time that I thought something strange was going on. I feel even more strongly now, and the people over there are continuing to act defensive.”
“Defensive? Bingham questioned querulously. “I was told that you accused the General’s lab director of spreading these illnesses.”
“That story has been blown way out of proportion,” Jack said. He then explained to Bingham that he’d merely implied as much by reminding the lab director that he, the director, was disgruntled about the budget AmeriCare was giving him.
“The man was acting like an ass,” Jack added. “I was trying to ask his opinion about the possible intentional spread of these illnesses, but he never gave me a chance, and I got mad at him. I suppose I shouldn’t have said what I did, but sometimes I can’t help myself.”