"That's a little weird," said the dark-haired girl. She had a truly gorgeous face and a nice body from what he could tell. Her voice was somewhat monotone – but hey, nobody's perfect. Other than maybe himself.
"But it's harmless," he went on. "I like your boots, by the way."
"Thanks. It doesn't bother me to hear that you like them. I like 'em too."
"You have a nice smile too. You know that you do, right? Sure you do."
"Careful now. Don't lay it on too thick."
They both laughed, hitting it off okay, Sullivan was thinking to himself. The game was on anyway. He just had to avoid getting a red light.
"Okay if I go on?" he asked. Always ask their permission. That was a rule he had whenever he played. Always he polite.
She shrugged, rolled her soft brown eyes, shifted her weight from one booted foot to the other. "I guess. We've gone this far, haven't we? "
"A thousand dollars," Sullivan said. This was where you usually won or lost the game. Right… now.
The Madonna's smile disappeared – but she didn't walk away. Sullivan's heart started to pound. He had her going, leaning his way. Now he just had to close the sale.
"Nothing funny. I promise," Sullivan said quickly, pouring on the charm without being too obvious about it.
The Madonna frowned. "You promise, huh?"
"One hour," Sullivan said. The trick here was how you said it. It had to sound like no big deal, nothing threatening, nothing out of the ordinary. Just an hour. Just a thousand dollars. Why not? What's the harm?
"Red light," she said, and walked away from him in a huff, never even looked back. He could tell she was pissed too.
Sullivan was mad, his heart still beating hard, and something else was rock hard as well. He wanted to grab the Madonna and strangle her in the middle of the mall. Really mess her up. But he loved this little game he'd invented. Red Light, Green Light.
Half an hour later, he was trying his luck outside the Victoria's Secret at the nearby Tysons Corner Mall – he got to "one hour" with a dreamy blonde in a "Jersey Girl" T-shirt and short shorts. No luck though, and he was really getting hot and bothered now. He needed a win, needed to get laid, needed an adrenaline hit.
The next girl he approached had beautiful, shimmering red hair. Great body. Long legs and small, lively tits that moved around in rhythm when she talked. At the "one hour" prompt, she folded her slender arms over her chest. Talk about body language, wow! But Red didn't walk away from him. Conflicted? Sure. He loved that in a woman.
"You're in control the whole time. You choose the hotel or your place. Whatever you want, whatever seems right. It's all up to you."
She looked at him for a moment, silent, and he knew that she was sizing him up – they stared right into your eyes at this point. He could tell that this one trusted her instincts. It's all up to you. Plus, she either wanted, or needed, the thousand dollars. And, of course, he was cute.
Finally, Red spoke in a quiet voice, because nobody else was supposed to hear this, right? "You have the cash on you?"
He showed her a roll of hundreds.
"They all hundreds?" she asked.
He showed her that they were hundreds. "You mind if I ask you your name?" he said.
"Sherry."
"That your real name?"
"Whatever, Jeff. Let's go. The clock is running. Your hour's already begun."
And off they went.
After his hour with Sherry was over, closer to an hour and a half actually, Michael Sullivan didn't have to give her any money. Not a thousand, not a nickel. All he had to do was show Sherry his picture collection – and a scalpel he had brought along.
Red Light, Green Light.
Hell of a game.
Chapter 33
TWO DAYS AFTER she walked out on us, Nana was back at the house, thank God and the heavenly choir, who had to be watching over us. The whole family, but especially me, had learned a lesson about how much we loved Nana and needed her; how many small, often unnoticed and thankless things she did for us every day; how totally indispensable she was, and the sacrifices she made.
Not that Nana ever really let us forget her contributions under ordinary circumstances. It was just that she was even better than she thought she was.
When she waltzed in the kitchen door that morning, she caught Jannie eating Cocoa Puffs and let her have it in her own inimitable style: "My name is Janelle Cross. I am a substance abuser," Nana said.
Jannie raised both arms over her head in surrender; then she went and emptied the chocolate cereal right into the trash. She looked Nana in the eye, said, "If you're in a vehicle traveling at the speed of light, what happens when you switch on the headlights?" Then she hugged Nana before she could try to answer the unanswerable.
I went and hugged Nana too and was smart enough to keep my mouth shut but my powder dry.
When I got home from work that night, my grandmother was waiting for me in the kitchen. Uh-oh, I thought, but the second she saw me, Nana put her arms out for a hug, which surprised me. "Come," she said.
When I was in her arms, she continued, "I'm sorry, Alex. I had no right to run away and leave you all like that. I was in the wrong. I missed all of you as soon as I was in the cab with Abraham."
"You had every right -," I started to say.
Nana cut me off. "Now don't argue with me, Alex. For once, quit while you're ahead."
I did as I was told, and shut up.
Chapter 34
BIG STUFF – NOW HERE WE GO. On Friday morning of that week, at a few minutes past nine o'clock, I found myself all alone in the alcove outside Director Ron Burns's office on the ninth floor of the Hoover Building, FBI headquarters.
The director's assistant, Tony Woods, peeked his round, deceptively cherubic face out of Burns's outer office.
"Hey, Alex, there you are. Why don't you come on in. Good job the other day on Kentucky Avenue. Under the circumstances especially. The director's been wanting to talk to you about it and some other things he has on his mind. I heard Ned Mahoney's going to make a full recovery."
Terrific job – I almost got myself killed, I thought as I followed Woods into the inner office. Ned Mahoney got shot in the neck. He could have died too.
The director was there waiting for me in his sanctum sanctorum. Ron Burns has a kind of funny way about him: He's a hard-charging guy, but he's learned to make meaningless small talk and smile a lot before he gets down to business. That's pretty much a requirement in Washington, especially if you have to deal with as many sneaky politicians as he does. Like many type-A business-minded men, though, Burns is pretty awful at small talk. But we chatted about local sports and the weather for a good ninety seconds before we got into the real reason for my visit.
"So what's on your mind these days?" Burns asked. "Tony said you wanted to see me, so I take it this isn't purely a social call.
"I have a few things to go over with you too. A new assignment for starters: a serial up in Maine and Vermont of all places."
I nodded and let Burns rattle on. But suddenly I was feeling tense and a little unsure of myself. Finally, I had to cut him off. "There's no good way to ease into this, Director, so I'll just say it. I'm here to tell you that I'm going to be leaving the Bureau. This is very difficult, and it's embarrassing. I appreciate everything you've done for me, but I've made a decision for my family. It's final. I'm not going to change my mind."
" Shit," Burns said, and he hit his desk hard with the palm of his hand. "Damn it all to hell, Alex. Why would you leave us now? It makes no sense to me. You're on a very fast track at the Bureau. You know that, right? Tell you what, I'm not going to let you do it."
"Nothing you can do to stop me," I told him. "I'm sorry, but I'm sure I'm doing the right thing. I've thought this through a hundred times in the last few days."
Burns stared into my eyes, and he must have seen something resolute there, because he stood up behind his desk. Then he came around it with his hand outstretched.