“I really can’t say.”
“I know. That’s why I said it.”
“I’ll be here when you’re ready to go.” The man nodded curtly at King and left.
“Well, it was fun while it lasted,” said King.
She reached out and took his hand, squeezing it. “Hey, I’ll be back. I’m not going to let you have a good time all by yourself.”
“Just rest for now, okay?”
She nodded. “Sean?” He looked at her. “About last night, the swim and everything. It was fun. I think we both needed that. Maybe we can do it again someday.”
“Hell yes, I loved dumping your butt in the water.”
King was walking down the hallway after leaving Michelle when a woman stepped in front of him. Joan looked both anxious and upset. “I just heard. You’re okay?” She looked at his bandaged head.
“I’m fine.”
“Agent Maxwell?”
“Fine too. Thanks for asking.”
“You’re sure you’re all right.”
“I’m fine, Joan!”
“Okay, okay, calm down.” She motioned to some chairs in an empty room off the main corridor. They sat, and Joan looked at him, a serious expression on her face.
“I heard you discovered a gun at that woman’s home.”
“How the hell did you find that out? I just told the cops.”
“I’m in the private sector, but I didn’t turn in my investigative skills when I left the Service. Is it true?”
He hesitated. “Yeah, I found a gun.”
“And where do you think it came from?”
“I have my theories. But I’m not in a sharing mood.”
“Well, let me jump right in with one of mine. This woman was a maid at the Fairmount Hotel, she had a gun hidden in her garden and she meets a violent death with money stuffed in her mouth. She was blackmailing the person who was the owner of that gun. And that person may have been involved in Ritter’s assassination.”
He stared at the woman in amazement. “Who the hell are your sources?”
“Sorry, I’ve used up my sharing spirit too. So you get the gun, lose the gun, and you’re almost killed in the process.”
“Michelle actually got it a lot worse than I did. They just knocked me out. Apparently they did their best to kill her.”
She looked at him strangely when he said that. “Do you think this has anything to do with Bruno’s disappearance?” she asked abruptly.
He looked surprised. “How could it? Just because Ritter and Bruno were both presidential candidates? That’s quite a stretch.”
“Maybe so. But things that look complex tend to have very simple cores.”
“Thanks for the detective lesson. I’ll sure remember that one.”
“Maybe you need some basic lessons. You’re the one running around with the woman who let Bruno be kidnapped.”