Together Again(43)
“That’s where Jeff is this afternoon, isn’t it, Sam?” When Sam nodded, she added, “Jeff Wyatt’s my boss, Tony.”
“And they’re all waiting for us,” Sam said to his new colleague. “But ten minutes of doing penance for scaring her’s okay. They’ll keep for that long.” He started to walk away.
“Sam, I’m here to see you,” Margo said.
“To what do I owe that honor?”
“The messenger bag? From the woman in Forest Park?”
“Christ, apparently you’re not the only one made witless by the arrival of our out-of-town guests. You get the bag back from the airline?”
“Right here.” She handed him a dark charcoal gray leather bag. “I thought I was going to have to get a court order to retrieve it, but they finally gave it to me.” She turned to Tony. “Remember I said I’d gotten home with the wrong messenger bag?” He nodded. “Well, Sam found it.”
Sam snorted. “Not sure ‘found’ is the best description. A hiker stumbled on a body in a wilderness park in the West Hills where perps like to leave dead people they want to hide. The woman had Margo’s briefcase with her.”
“I apparently swapped bags with this woman who sat next to me on the flight from Seattle when we pulled them out of the overhead. Mine is exactly like this.”
“Let’s get this done, counselor, and then Tony can walk you out.”
Fifteen minutes later, Margo and Tony were out on the sidewalk. “When exactly were you going to tell me you were in town?” she asked.
“Called you when we got in but it went to voice mail. So, I was waiting until I had five minutes to myself to try again. Failing that, I figured I’d call tonight and make plans for the weekend.”
“I was in court most of the day. That’s why you got voice mail. And I must have forgotten to tell you I’d be home late tonight. Not to mention that I have plans for the weekend.”
“Oh,” he looked dejected. “Maybe the surprise thing wasn’t such a good idea.”
“We-e-el-l-l,” she dragged out the word as if thinking seriously about her options, “I suppose I could change my weekend plans.”
From the grin on his face, he wasn’t taking the bait. “I wouldn’t want you to disappoint some guy by making you change plans.”
“The only guy who might be disappointed would be you if you didn’t like the plans I changed to include you.”
“What’re we doing?”
“A hike in the Columbia River Gorge on Saturday, then dinner and a soak in the hot tub of a room at the Bonneville Hot Springs.”
“Sounds like fun.” He raised an eyebrow. “If I take you out for dinner tonight, could you find extra space in your room for me?”
“I’ll think about it.” She smiled. “As for dinner, I have no idea what’s waiting for me when I get to my office. Probably won’t be finished until seven. Then I promised I’d meet a friend at the First Thursday opening at a local gallery.”
“We’re likely to be in meetings until late, too. And Sam said something about going to First Thursday for his wife. Is she an artist?”