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We'll Always Have Parrots(25)

By:Donna Andrews


“Hi, Meg,” he said.

“How’s it going, Walker?” I said.

“Don’t ask,” Walker said. “Have a beer. Sorry, I forgot; you don’t like beer. Have some wine. Have any damn thing you like.”

He sounded as if he’d been acting on his own advice already.

“Walker, don’t you have to go on stage later?” I asked. “For the auction?”

“For what it’s worth,” he said. “My swan song.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The Duke of Urushiol is dead,” Walker intoned. “Long live the Queen. Long live Queen Porfiria, the biggest, meanest ballbuster in the jungle.”

“What do you mean, dead?” I asked.

“Dead as in deceased,” he said. “That’s usually what they do when they don’t want to renew your contract. Kill off your character. Throw you a big, hokey death scene as a sop, and by episode four of the new season, no one remembers you.”

“It’s not really that bad, is it?”

“Yeah, I suppose the die-hard fans will remember,” Walker said. “I mean, they still love Maggie. Hell, they still remember Ichabod Dilley, and he’s been dead twenty years.”

“Thirty, actually,” I said. “But I meant, is it definite that they’re not renewing your contract?”

“Herself told me an hour ago,” he said. “I should have seen it coming. Nate stopped calling me by name. He’s been calling me ‘Pal’ for weeks.”

“Oh, dear,” I said. “Have you told Michael yet?”

“If Michael hasn’t noticed he’s the new royal favorite, he’s an idiot,” Walker said.

“Maybe the fans will organize a write-in campaign,” I said.

“My one big chance and it’s over,” Walker said. “I should have done what Michael did, a long time ago. Kick this rat race, get a real job, and settle down with a nice girl. I want Michael’s life.”

He frowned, as if thinking deeply. I had a feeling I knew where his thoughts were heading, and I looked around for an excuse to leave.

“Of course, now Michael has my life and his life,” Walker said thoughtfully. “That’s not fair, is it?”

Luckily, Walker found this idea so absorbing that he forgot I was there. I slipped away.

I felt bad for Walker. But if he was out and Michael was in, I was the last person Walker needed around right now.

Okay, the second to last. I spotted Michael coming in. Which mean he’d delivered QB safely to her lair. I went over to steer him away from Walker.

“Mission accomplished?” I asked.

“Next time, I want the easy job,” he said. “Walker can bring Herself down; I’ll go wrestle the damned tiger. Let’s eat.”

I figured Steele wasn’t in a hurry for me to interrupt his tête-à-tête. We filled plates from the buffet and found a table in the corner. I snagged the seat facing out, so I could glare away anyone who tried to interrupt us. Michael looked exhausted.

“All in all, it went better than expected,” he said. He lifted a sandwich and eyed it, as if trying to decide if it was worth the energy of taking a bite.

“And it’s over,” I said.

“Except that I have to do it again in a couple of hours,” he said, putting the sandwich down and leaning back against the chair. “If I’m still alive in a couple of hours.”

He closed his eyes, and I realized that he really did look quite ill.

“Let someone else do it,” I said.

He shook his head.

“I could try,” he said. “But they’d end up calling me in eventually.”

“Then take a nap,” I said.

“I only have an hour before my next panel,” he said. “And I’m too wired to sleep.”

“And too tired to eat,” I said.

He picked up the sandwich and took a bite.

“Try the nap thing again,” I said. “An hour’s better than nothing, and even if you don’t sleep, lying down will help.”

He nodded.

“Yeah,” he said. “If you don’t mind, maybe I should. Only—damn.”

“What’s wrong?” I asked, as he patted his pockets. “Lose something?”

“The card key,” he said. “I gave it to someone to fetch my throat spray sometime during the autograph session.”

“Someone?”

“One of the volunteers.”

“Who didn’t give it back?”

“No, he gave it back,” Michael said, rubbing his forehead. “I just remember putting it down someplace because I wasn’t wearing my coat, and apparently I never put it back in my pocket. Damn.”