“Do you think you’d be able to put me in contact with him?” asked Mike. “I have…a sensitive issue.”
Claire set her fork down. This really wasn’t something she’d expected from Mike. “I could, but you could just call the line for the attorney general’s office.”
Mike was quiet for a moment before answering. “What if you tell him that I’m a retired FBI agent, and I’ve got something that can’t be ignored?”
Claire turned to look at Margie, then at Hank, searching their eyes to see if this was some sort of a joke. No one said anything.
“I didn’t know that you were in the FBI.”
“Now you do.” Mike smiled at her. “You’re in the circle of trust.”
Hank laughed. “Wow, Claire, you’d better be careful with all that trust.”
“Oh my.”
“Don’t feel pressured to help him,” Margie said. “He’s always getting us into trouble. I don’t want him getting you into trouble, too.”
“No, it’s okay,” Claire said. “Joe and I go way back. I just wouldn’t want to – no offense – bother him with something silly.”
“I can promise you that it’s not silly,” Mike said. “It might be one of the biggest cases of his career.”
She looked at him for a moment. Mike wasn’t someone that she was inclined to doubt. “Okay. I’ll call him tomorrow.”
“Thanks, Claire. I appreciate it. Here’s my contact information.”
She smiled and slipped the paper into her pocket, avoiding Margie’s gaze. She would probably think this was Mike’s way of giving her his number. Poor Margie, she saw love everywhere. And if it wasn’t there, she imagined it.
“Well!” Margie said. “Who’s ready for dessert?”
Claire and Hank met eyes, and the annoyance in his face almost made her laugh out loud. There was no stopping this woman.
Yet Margie had managed to keep the secret of Mike’s employment quiet for so many years. Surely Claire’s secret would be much easier to keep.
“Let me help you with it, Margie.”
