Her eyes got big, then her face shut down. “You’re leaving?”
I gentled my voice when I said, “Probably.”
That was when her face fell. “Oh, Frankie.”
I so totally like Tandy.
“I’m sorry, honey. But I’m in love. I have a new puppy. I have a dining room table to clear off and a kitchen to buy tile for and a life to start living.”
“I get you,” she said quietly. “But I’ll miss you.”
I grinned at her and replied, “Well, when I find a new job, my assistant better be cracking or I’ll be headhunting a new one.”
Her lips trembled, but they did this before they smiled.
“Sucks for me because I liked my boss before you, but he didn’t ever buy me a latte. Not even taking a turn,” she told me.
“I’ll make sure I get you a few cards so you can keep topped up.”
Her smile stayed in place, then she looked out the window and back to me. “You think Heath’s resigning?”
My brows went up. “You know about that?”
“Last night, Nightingale or a member of his team called all of us. Briefed us on everything. Told us the way things were going to go. Got our statements. It was cool. It felt good knowing it’s gonna be over soon.”
“I get you,” I agreed.
“Just sucks. It’s gonna be over, Bierman will stop spreading his dickishness wide so things will be good again, but you’ll be gone.”
Yeah. I’d miss Tandy.
“You’re the freaking bomb, Tandy,” I whispered.
“So are you, Frankie,” she whispered back.
We looked at each other as we both battled emotion that could come out in a variety of ways. Emotion that was about change and loss and relief.
Then we both got our shit together and she went back to her desk.
The minute her ass was in her chair, my phone rang.
It was the three-oh-three number.
I answered with, “Two calls from a commando today. That’s a record.”
There was laughter in Luke Stark’s deep, rough voice when he replied, “You did good, babe.”
“Approval noted,” I replied.
“And babe,” he started, “nothin’ in this world is more important than buildin’ a life with the man you love.”
My breath caught.
They did have microphones.
And commandos could be gushy.
Before I could call him on it, Stark disconnected.
Or maybe he disconnected because he knew I was going to give him shit.
Either way, I put my phone on my desk, got to work, and did it smiling.
***
At ten o’clock, my phone rang again.
It was Benny.
“Hey, honey,” I greeted.
“Status,” he replied, and I knew he was still agitated.
“Well, a while ago, Heath left Lloyd’s office looking like he’d been whipped. Lloyd looked pissed, but I think it’s because he knows I’m going to resign soon too so he’s going to be down two managers rather than one.”
I wasn’t done with my update, but Ben cut in.
“You’re gonna resign?”
I’d forgotten he wasn’t in the know since he didn’t have microphones, and things were so weird, I didn’t call him with the news and I should have.
“Got the news direct from Berger. No Chicago office,” I told him quietly.
“Fuck.”
“Job search.”
“Yeah.”
“It’ll be okay, Benny.”
“You know it will, Frankie.”
That made me feel better because he was right. I knew it would.
“Anything else?” he asked.
“Sandy, Heath’s secretary, has spent most the morning in the bathroom, the rest of it looking like she’s about to burst into tears, this being before she runs into the bathroom. Heath hasn’t opened his door and has had his back to the room since he gave Lloyd his resignation. Bierman is looking smug rather than dickish, which would be annoying if I didn’t know there’s a possibility he’ll be incarcerated by this evening. And Tandy is coming to lunch with us.”
“She is?” Ben asked.
“Yep,” I answered.
“Why?”
“Because I like her. I’m gonna lose her and that means I’m gonna miss her, so I want to spend time with her. And last, I want her to meet my man.”
“That’s acceptable.”
I rolled my eyes at my computer screen before I gave him my finale.
“I think Berger knows what’s going down.”
“Yeah. Stark called with his update. He didn’t tell me Berger didn’t give the go-ahead for a Chicago office, but he did tell me he pushed for somethin’ else.”
It was cool Stark left it to me to give Benny that news.
I didn’t share this with Benny.
I said, “I can’t be sure. I mean, Bierman is up in my shit so he could be badmouthing me and Heath, but other than that, there’s nothing else to tell him.”
“Glad to know Heath isn’t the douchebag we thought he was, but it’s too bad he got down to business. Stark told me they swept Bierman’s office and found his copies of the photos last night. Also told me they just got done sweepin’ his house and found a bunch of other shit, includin’ more copies of the photos. They got a lock on his other hiding places and no more photos. Sal got the shit the PI had. All of it will be destroyed. This means Sandy’s covered and he didn’t need to resign.”
That made me want to laugh.
I didn’t.
Instead, I gave in to my wonder.
“Man, these guys are good.”
“Totally could oust a government in a small South American country.”
That made me laugh.
Benny let me laugh for a while before he went about finishing things.
“Okay, if you got no more, I got no more. I’ll see you and Tandy in a coupla hours.”
“See you then, honey.”
“Later, cara.”
“Later, Benny.”
We disconnected.
I looked to Heath and saw his back to the room. I moved my eyes to Sandy and saw her blowing her nose.
Then I looked to my computer and wished I could get a latte.
***
My gaze went to the bottom right corner of my computer screen.
It was 4:43.
Seventeen minutes and I could get the fuck out of there.
Lunch with Benny and Tandy went great. Before we even got in his SUV that was idling at the curb outside the front doors, Tandy saw Ben through the windows and said, “God, Frankie. You showed me pictures and I got it, but now I get it.”
And I got that. One look at Benny, even through a car window, any girl would get it.
She got it more as Ben charmed her during lunch.
Tandy being Tandy charmed him right back.
Benny dropped us off and the last thing he said to me was a firm, “Five, babe.”
I nodded and I also did this firmly. No way I was working late that night. Not even by a minute.
The good news was that he didn’t seem agitated anymore, but he did seem on guard, which was understandable.
The afternoon dragged no matter how much I tried to throw myself into work. I just wanted that day done. I wanted to go home and wait with Benny until we heard the rest of it was done. And then I wanted to get on with a life filled with promise without anything fucking it up.
I took in a deep breath and considered shutting down early just so I could get out of there without delay.
This was when my phone rang.
It was Benny.
“Hey, honey. We’re in the home—”
“Do not leave your desk.”
My back went straight at his tone and my eyes went out my windows to Bierman’s office.
He wasn’t there.
“I’m ten minutes away,” Ben told me. “I’ll come in and get you at your office.”
“What’s happening?” I whispered.