Don’t start without me, now!’ They laughed softly and left. ‘She’s a performer,’ Julius explained to Baxter and Shari. ‘In fact, she’s ...a repeat performer, to be honest. She literally begged to be hired back this year. And she’s so popular I couldn’t refuse.’ ‘She does this for a living?’ Baxter wanted to know, still skeptical because he didn’t trust the man. ‘Oh no,’ Julius said. ‘She’s a senior partner in a law firm in Chicago, flies out here just for these three days. Basically the only time. Rat-a-tat-tat, rat-tat. I was gettingquite musically minded with beating out that rhythm; I had visions ofdrumming behind Mark Knopfler in a swirl of pink and mauve mist. Markcame over to me and took the drum sticks from my hands. He held me inhis arms...he pulled me close... Ouch! My bodyshaper pulled a crotchhair and the moment was broken. Dream on Girl! Oh, goodness if only Icould have my time round again.I forced my attention back to the matters in hand, and without too muchbrain down-time.. ‘I’m not going to ask where she’s at.’ ‘I wasn’t going to tell you,’ said Moe. ‘I have a good guess.’ ‘Forget it, Jansen. Save your guesswork for the crosswords.’ Jansen shuffled papers on his desk from side-to-side like he was suddenly the maid, and then met Moe’s eye, man to man. ‘I don’t like your type, Gafferson. A pretty boy who thinks he’s tough while he’s snooping through windows and snapping pictures of unsuspecting parties. But…’ Jansen scratched at his chin again and sighed. ‘As much. “What do you think you’re doing?” she asked, more an exclamation than a question.“Ummm, I think I was trying to get out of bed,” I replied. “Why? Did it look like I was trying to do something else?”My attempt at humor, poor as it was, fell flat.“Get back in that bed!” she demanded, almost angrily, before letting her concern show. “My love, you’ve had a bad head injury, you’ve been unconscious for the better part of week. You need to give yourself a little time before you try to get up and walk.