AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Jennifer’s eyelids dropped half over her eyes. “We’re not really dating.”
Why not? almost popped out, but I pulled it back in time.
Jennifer was always a catch in my mind. Now her look had gone sleeker and more relaxed. She looked fitter. Not the kind from the gym, but the kind from life.
She’d spent a lot of time indoors with computers when she lived in Sherman. She still did in Evanston, but some of the computers were farther away. As she told me after a few weeks there, “I live on one end of campus and the program’s at the other end. I do a lot of walking.”
So if this guy wasn’t snatching her up, what was his problem?
Mike didn’t back off. “Sure sounded like it.”
One of her shoulders moved — half a shrug or a twitch. She said to me, “What do you want first?”
Uh-huh. She could have shouted I don’t want to talk about it and it wouldn’t have been more obvious. What was that about?
I wanted to know — of course I did — but I’d already come to the conclusion not to pursue it before Diana’s warning gaze hit the side of my face.
Instead, I said, “A records search for background on Keefer Dobey. The two women — Brenda and Wendy, too.”
“What about this Randall Kenyon?” Mike suggested.
“Good. Yes, him, too, please, Jennifer. Business and personal. See how much of a big shot he really is. Anything you can find on the daughter, Robin, too. And about their relationship if possible.”
“Got it.”
“If you have time.” I might have ruined the effect of that caution when I immediately added, “Also see if you can find out where they’re staying. It might be Cody.”
“If it’s not, I bet it’s the Wild Horses B&B,” Jennifer said.
I wouldn’t take that bet. I agreed with her assumption the Kenyons wouldn’t go in for the Haber House Hotel — historic, offering its own quirky charm, but not luxury. Their remaining choice in town was the Do Sleep Motel, which prairie dogs wouldn’t consider luxury.
“What about me?” Mike asked. “What should I do?”
With him not only in Chicago with a demanding job, but also keeping his hand remotely on the rudder of KWMT, while trying to start a program that might solve a lot of the station’s problems long-term, but was tough to staff short-term, his plate threatened to overflow.
“You mean what else should you do in addition to talking to Aunt Gee, getting people hired to fill holes in the staff and to keep Leona from stabbing you the next time she sees you?”
“With her eyes if not a knife,” Diana said.
He groaned. “Don’t rule out both.”
“You could also persuade Diana to finally relinquish this deathtrap laughingly called the NewsMobile—”
“I don’t need some state-of-the-art—”
“We’re not talking about a mobile production truck—”
Mike jumped in. “Though we really need to replace that ancient truck. I swear it’s made out of wood—”
I turned the screen to give him a warning look for getting off topic. “—but a Live truck could combine with new microwave capability—”
Diana came back to her usual refrain. “I’m fine with the NewsMobile.”
“You’re not. This thing is uncomfortable and—”
“You’re uncomfortable. I’m fine.”
“Only if you don’t have any sensation left in your body. Besides, there’s no logical reason for refusing to upgrade. So, that’s on your list, too, Mike. Get Diana to accept the new, improved NewsMobile you’ve offered that won’t get her and me killed, leaving you with two more people to replace.”
