Laverna weighed his words in silence for a few moments.
“So why did you come over, then?” she said finally.
Beeker gave a rueful smile.
“Strange as it may seem, considering the constant demands on our time, I was feeling lonely and thought perhaps you felt the same. In our positions as aides-de-camp to rather strongwilled people, it occurred to me that we probably have more in common with each other than we do with our respective employers.”
A sudden smile split Laverna’s face, uncharacteristic to anyone who knew her.
“Sit down, Mr. Beeker,” she said, pulling out the chair next to her. “We may have things to talk about, after all. Nonspecific things, of course.”
“Of course,” the butler said, accepting the offered seat. “And it’s ‘Beeker’ … not `Mr. Beeker.'”
My first conversation with Laverna was pleasant, though tinged with irony.
I, of course, said nothing to indicate that my employer was aware of her employer’s planned computerized assault on the casino, nor gave any hint that Albert and his Bug Squad were working frantically to counter it even as we spoke.
She, in turn, never let it slip that there was a disruptive incident in progress … again, even as we spoke.
It was expected that Maxine would order a certain number of diversionary incidents during this period. If nothing else, they served, or so she thought, to draw my employer’s attention away from her real attack as well as convince him he had the situation well in hand. In turn, to convince her that her strategy was working, my employer and his force were required to play along with each scenario as it unfolded.