“Yes, he does,” Matt said.
“Good. Okay. Thank you. That’s all. I’ll see you in the morning,” Colt said.
They all filed out of the suite.
Matt noticed that they had not-except for the surprise on Alex’s face-acknowledged the presence of him, Hay-zus, or Olivia at all.
“They’re necessary,” Colt said when they were gone. “And they do what they’re supposed to do well, but sometimes, having them around my neck all the time is worse than the goddamn press.”
Colt lay down on the couch and gestured for the others to sit down.
“I was about to ask you if they have a cheese steak sandwich on there, Olivia. But it has now occurred to me that if they do, it’ll be a Ritz-Carlton cheese steak, not a real one. Like from D’Allesandro’s on Henry Avenue?”
“I can’t believe these prices,” Olivia said.
“Well, don’t worry about them, everything’s on the studio, ” Colt said. “I wonder, could we send out for a cheese steak?”
“It would be cold by the time it got here,” Matt said.
“Well, maybe later on,” Colt said.
Olivia handed the menu to Matt.
“Inspire me,” she said.
“I think you already do, baby,” Colt said. “Give me the menu.”
Matt handed him the menu.
He glanced at it quickly.
“Anybody doesn’t like shrimp cocktails?”
No one spoke.
“Anybody morally or intellectually opposed to filet mignon?”
No one spoke.
“Anyone determined to ruin a good steak by cooking it well done?”
No one spoke, but Matt and Olivia chuckled.
“Well, that wasn’t hard, was it?” Colt said, and walked to the sideboard and picked up the telephone.
“This is Mr. Colt in… I have no idea where I am, but I’ll bet you can find out. What we need right away is four shrimp cocktails; four filet mignons, medium rare; all the appropriate side dishes; and a couple of nice bottles of cabernet sauvignon. Thank you very much.”
He hung up.
“Okay,” he said. “You can start now, pause while they set up the table, and then continue, okay, Detective Lassiter?”
“Fine,” Olivia said.
“Can I call you Olivia, or will your boyfriend here think I’m making a pass at you?”
“I’m not her boyfriend,” Matt said.
“He’s not my boyfriend,” Olivia said, simultaneously.