Rick nodded. Hes getting sloppy.

Or Ive got friends in all the right places. Teeny smiled big.

That goes without saying. Rick closed his laptop and leaned his back against the tree trunk. He looked up into the canopy of bright green, fan-shaped leaves and the pale blue sky beyond. After lunch with Josie, hed changed out of his suit and into his real career wardrobeshorts and a T-shirt. He took a deep breath, knowing that something about Teenys news bothered him.

If it was that easy to find out about the jet, it could just be a decoy.

Teeny grunted. I wouldnt put it past our pal Benny, but I think its for real. In my opinion, hes getting ready to make a visit to Shaky Town.

Rick smiled, remembering how hard it had been to persuade Teeny to move cross-country with him. Hed had to provide studies showing the statistical improbability of the big one hitting San Francisco within the next decade.

Teeny had studied the pros and cons of the move in the way he conducted all his businessconcerns were based on hard facts and voiced in a no-frills fashion. Theres a flood, you camp out on the roof, hed explained to Rick, counting off on his fingers for effect. Theres a hurricane, you evacuate as soon as the word comes down. Theres a tornado, you go to the basement. But an earthquake? Shit, man, unless I learn to levitate, its Barney Rubble time for my ass.

What else is he up to? Rick asked. He lowered his gaze to his friend.

The truth was that Teeny had made the transition to San Francisco just fine. His right-hand man didnt talk much about his private life, but Rick knew Teeny had a significant other, and when he wasnt working, Teeny was with his lover in the Castro District. Teeny didnt hide the fact he was gay. He didnt advertise it, either. It was simply who he was. Rick was with Teeny that day in physical therapy, when his friend decided life was too precious to pretend to be something he wasnt. Soon after, he came out to his family and former teammates at Syracuse, and the world kept spinning.

Cummings is doing his usual, Teeny said. His Yalie pals. His broker.

Golf at the club. Nothing much elsehis semiretirement doesnt look all that semi to me. He cocked his head and looked at Rick with concern. He hasnt contacted anyone in the freelance violence industry, if thats what youre getting at. I dont think hes planning to outsource this errand.

Its personal.

Rick nodded.

So if flight plans are filed for that jet, it means the mans decided to make good on his promise to fuck you up.

Thanks, Teen. Keep me informed.

Always do.

They sat under the tree for a few moments before either spoke. Rick let his eyelids slide shut. Eventually, Teeny cleared his throat. We need to talk about Miss Sheehan.

Ricks eyes popped open. Did you find something on her?

Teenys burst of laughter sent the birds scattering. Not only did I not find anything on her, I didnt even know women like her /existed/ anymore.

Rick rolled his head from side to side, hiding his smile as he stretched his neck muscles. How so?

Shes boring, is what Im saying. Excellent work-performance reviews. No traffic citations, parking tickets, or library fines. No freaky shit on the Internet. No maxed-out credit. She spends most of her time at work, at home with her silly-looking dog, or with three women friends from the newspaper. None of them have lives so they hang out together at the dog park three to four times a week. Its sort of pathetic.

Rick chuckled.

Your girl hasnt dated in a while. Theres only the occasional movie or dinner out with friends and time with her family. Shes enrolled in a yoga class at her gym, but her attendance is sporadic.

Anything new on the Sheehans?

Nothing. No freaks. No fakes. And certainly no connection of any kind with Bennett Cummings. As far as I can tell, theyre just as mind-numbingly normal as she is. And were about done with all the old boyfriends.

Anything interesting?

Teeny hissed, shaking his head. Aside from the fact that Ive never seen a more pitiful group of slacker white boys in my life, theyre pretty unremarkable. One dude has defaulted on his student loans. Another had a juvenile pot charge. One guy got arrested in some kind of militant environmental protest. But Ill tell you what Teenys eyebrows arched high on his scarred forehead.

Rick waited. What?

None of these guys lasted long, man. A lot of them moved in with her, but they didnt stay. Maybe shes lousy in bed.

It was Ricks turn to laugh. From what he could tell from those lunch-break kisses, whatever Josie Sheehan might lack in finesse would be more than made up for by her enthusiasm. Her soft skin was on fire when he touched her. Her pretty little mouth had sought out his with real hunger. Those sighs she made were incredibly hot.

Shed be a quick study with the right teacher, Rick said.

Teeny shrugged. Hey, man, this is your area of expertise, not mine. /Was it?/ Rick squinted, staring up at the sunshine punching through the ginkgo leaves. It was true that women had once been his specialty, but everything was different now.

When he thought back on those days, a sick knot of regret twisted in Ricks gut. The truth was that in the seven years between graduation and the accident, women took up most of his waking hours. If hed had a job back then, he might have considered his pursuit of women an avocation.

But because hed had the freedom to live off his ample trust fund without the annoyance of actual work, womanizing became his profession, the outlet for all he learned getting his business degree from Yale. Rick had traveled the world looking for new opportunitieswith women. Every night he observed the market. He made new acquisitions at regular intervals, only to plunder their natural resources and dump them back on the open marketplace in a matter of hours, days, weeks, or months, according to his whim, and at a much reduced value.

That was a long time ago. Now his vocation was Celestial Pet Superstores, Inc., and his avocation was an anonymous charitable foundation that paid the bills of uninsured or underinsured head injury patients. Women were no longer his area of expertise. They didnt interest him. They didnt even exist for him.

Until Josie.

And he was well aware that the free-market exploitation approach was not only wrong for Josephine Sheehan, it had been wrong for Margot Cummings and every other woman hed ever messed with. In fact, it was just plain wrongin a huge, karmic kind of way. He knew if he wanted something good with Josie, hed have to do everything right, every step of the way.

Besides, he owed it to Josie, Margot, all women everywhere, and himself.

His plan was to get to know her. Hed take his time with her, moving as slowly as possible. Hed make sure she felt comfortable and knew she was appreciated. Only then would he bring up the possibility of sex.

Im going to her place for dinner Thursday, Rick said, still looking up at the leaves.

Teeny said nothing.

Shes cooking for me. Seven oclock.

Teeny still said nothing.

Rick returned his gaze to his friend, whose face was a mask of equal parts horror and hilarity.

And you dont have to sit outside her apartment waiting for me, Teeny.

Ill be fine.

Teenys eyes widened, but he still had no reply.

She said shed like to make me eggplant Parmesan.

Apparently, Teeny had been holding in a huge guffaw for as long as humanly possible. When it finally exploded from him, he rolled off his organic buckwheat-hull cushions and flopped over in the grass, clutching his sides.

Rick could appreciate the irony. Hed instituted a no-alcohol, no-drugs, no-woman-no-way policy seven years ago, and had never veered from its confines. Not once. No matter how tempting the temptation. Even Gwen Anders, the tall, cool, blond bombshell executive director of his foundation, didnt distract him. Hed lost count of her subtle attempts at seduction over the years, though hed noticed an uptick in their frequency lately. In fact, shed called him three times that morning alone, on foundation business she would need to discuss in person, no doubt.