Big Bob and I went back to his car to find anything else left behind, but Harriet and Marilyn had grabbed it all earlier. We shook hands and Marilyn kissed her parents good-bye, and then we went winging off to Westminster. Charlie was the best kind of traveler; he was sound asleep before we ever got to cruising altitude.
When we got back to the town house, Marilyn and I were thoroughly exhausted. Despite the private jet, we had still been on three flights through three airports and it had taken the day. Charlie woke up as we landed and was pretty good, but he was hungry, so he squawked until Marilyn fed him and I had to handle the luggage myself. It was late in the day, and after we got into the town house, I was immediately sent back out with a grocery list. Add to that a very funky smell from the refrigerator, where we found a bottle of formula from a week ago. Ahhhh - Home Sweet Home!
Wednesday morning I called John Steiner and asked him how the paperwork was going with the property purchase. He indicated that everything was fine, and that we should be able to close next Friday. Then he invited me to lunch, and I told him I'd meet him at noon in Timonium. He wanted to see me about something, but didn't want to get into it on the telephone.
I got to the steak house at twelve, just in time to find that I was following John into the parking lot. He got a spot near the door, but I had to go around to a different row, so we didn't actually meet until I got to the front door. He smiled when he saw me. "Nice tan! Been down in the islands, have we?"
"How'd you know? Did we tell you?" I had to think about it. Marilyn and I hadn't been secretive about the vacation, but we hadn't specifically told anybody about it either.
"Yes and no. You told me you were going away, but not where. You did mention something to Missy, I think, or maybe Jake, about the Bahamas. I simply put two and two together."
I nodded in understanding. We went inside and got to a table quickly, despite the lunch crowd arriving. We both ordered small steaks and salads, and ice teas. John said he was a working man and didn't need a drink. I joked I wasn't a working man and could have a drink if I wanted, but then ordered an iced tea anyway. No point in making my friend uncomfortable.
After the waitress left, he looked at me and asked, "How's your arm?"
"My arm? My arms are fine. What are you talking about?"
"The cut on your arm and the stitches. That's what I'm talking about."
My eyes popped at that. "How do you know about that!?", I asked.
He reached inside his suit coat and pulled out a folded up page of the Tuesday edition of the Baltimore Sun, from the local section. 'Local Hero Foils Robbery, Catches Bahamas Killers', was the headline for the piece. "What the hell!?", I exclaimed quietly, looking up at John.
"That's what I said!", he replied.
I looked back down at the paper. The Associated Press had picked up the piece from the Nassau Guardian and run it on the national wires. The Sun had, of course, picked up the piece. It was a no-brainer for them; local boy makes good and all. I ran through it quickly, and it was just a basic rehash of the original Monday morning piece.
I looked back up and just shook my head. "It really wasn't like that." I folded the paper up and passed it back.
John refused it. "No, you keep that one for your scrapbook. I have one all for my own."
"You have a scrapbook?"
"Sure, I put in it all the news pieces about my clients who've been in bar fights and gone to jail."
"Maybe you need to start one about lawyers who do stand-up comedy.", I replied.
John snorted at that. "Do you have life insurance? Should I be finding you a broker?"
I laughed. "Wow! Your wife feeding you Wheaties these days? You're sure full of piss and vinegar for an old fart!"
"I just don't want my billable hours being cut when you end up in the morgue!" We both laughed at that, then he asked, "So, tell me the truth, what really happened."
I shrugged. "It wasn't all that heroic. Marilyn and I were out barhopping on Saturday night - I mean, we were on vacation, right? - and we were in this one place, late. Nice joint, a little crazy, but not in a bad way. When I got up to go to the bathroom, there was this chick laying on the bar, with her boyfriend doing body shots out of her belly button."
John rolled his eyes. "I don't know if I should be jealous or disgusted. Please, please, don't tell me you had Marilyn do that."
I laughed. "No, but I think I'll mention it the next time. Anyway, I head off to the can, and when I come out, now there's two broads on the bar getting body shots..."
"Naked?"
"No, it wasn't that crazy. So I'm actually kind of watching them, when I hear Marilyn scream. I turn around and see this black guy running my way carrying a bunch of purses, including hers, so I stopped him..."
"By putting him in the hospital."
I ignored this. " ... and then his two buddies, who were also thieves, came after me, so I stopped them, too. I wasn't trying to stop a crime wave. I just heard Marilyn scream. You'd have done the same thing."
"Right, just as soon as I can get Helen into a bar to do body shots."
I had to grin at that. I had met Helen Steiner a number of times, going back to when I was in Explorers with John and Alan, and while Helen was a lovely lady, she wasn't exactly shaped for body shots. "I want photos when you do that!"
That got me a smile. "I'll be needing a lawyer for that, a divorce lawyer!" He reached over and tapped the paper. "Your father called me."
I sighed. That was an easy one to predict. As long as I had known my family, we had always gotten the Sun, and my father would have certainly read the local news. Hamilton, too, now that I thought about it. Mom and Suzie, not so much. I nodded but didn't say anything.
"He asked about you, if I had talked to you lately."
"And you said?"
He just shook his head. "He knows you're one of my clients. Leaving aside any ethical issues about talking about my clients, I do not want to get into this with you two. You need to work it out on your own. I told him to call you, and gave him your phone number."
I just nodded sadly. "I know. Suzie has told us the same thing. She told me that Dad asks every once in a while, but is afraid to say anything in front of Mom or Hamilton. She gave him the number also. What the hell am I supposed to do, John? He won't even call me from his office. I think he's afraid of what Mom will do if she finds out he still thinks he has two sons."
"I don't have any answers for you either, Carl."
We let it go at that, and over lunch I told him about the trip down and where we stayed. He was very impressed with our dinner with the Who's Who of Eleuthera, although I had to remind him it's a very small place. Then we talked about the property and what we were going to build.
I asked him, "So, know any good home builders?"
"Like contractors?" I nodded as I chewed. He shook his head. "I think you need more than just a contractor. I think you need a professional outfit, one of the big builders. You're going to need an architect, blueprints, permits, all that stuff. Your average contractor isn't going to do that."