Killing the Blues - Michael Brandman [11]
“So how did you get this job?”
“I interviewed for it.”
“You interviewed for it?”
“Yes.”
“Who interviewed you?”
“Selectman Hansen.”
“Carter Hansen interviewed you?”
“Yes.”
“So he’s the one who hired you.”
“Yes.”
“And that’s how you met him?”
“No.”
“No, that’s not how you met him?”
“Yes.”
“I’m confused,” he said.
“Which part are you confused about,” she said.
“The Hansen part. You didn’t meet him on your job interview?”
“No.”
“You met him prior to your job interview?”
“Yes.”
“Alexis, the first rule of conversation is that you have to provide more than one-word answers.”
“Selectman Hansen is my uncle,” she said.
“Carter Hansen is your uncle,” he said.
“My mother’s brother,” she said.
“So it was your uncle who hired you.”
“Yes.”
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Jesse said.
Alexis stood.
“Don’t judge me, Jesse. I earned this job.”
“I’m sure you did,” he said. “What exactly did Hansen tell you about it?”
“Uncle Carter told me . . . I mean, Selectman Hansen told me that the board was interested in funding a handful of special events this summer, events designed to attract tourists.”
“Rock-and-roll events?”
“Arts-based events. Not rock and roll.”
“And he offered you the job of planning these events?”
“Yes.”
“Was it your idea to introduce rock and roll into the mix?”
“No. Yes.”
“Which is it?”
“I mentioned to Uncle Carter that a Woodstock-like event could reap amazing rewards.”
“To which Uncle Carter replied?”
“‘We’ll see.’ ”
“And have you made up your mind as to which events you’d like to present?”
“Yes.”
“You want to tell me about them?”
“Yes.”
“Here come those one-worders again.”
“I want to begin with a rock festival. An all-day event. At the Paradise High School stadium.”
“Funded by the board of selectmen?”
“Yes.”
“Does Uncle Carter know?”
“Not yet.”
“I’m flattered that you chose to tell me first,” Jesse said. “When exactly were you planning on telling Uncle Carter?”
“Stop saying ‘Uncle Carter.’”
“When were you planning on telling the selectman?”
“Soon.”
“Soon would be good,” Jesse said. They sat silently for awhile.
“May I ask you a question, Jesse?”
“That sounds ominous.”
“Would you consider having lunch?”
“Lunch?”
“With me.”
“With you?”
“Yes.”
“You mean now?”
Alexis laughed.
“Yes,” she said.
Jesse didn’t say anything.
“Have you anything better to do,” she said.
He looked at her intently.
“Nothing I can think of,” he said.
After agreeing to meet her at the juice bar in Nordmann’s Fitness Center, Jesse began to pack up. As he left his office, he stopped by Molly’s desk.
“Would you do me a favor, Moll,” he said.
“That depends,” she said.
“Will you please phone Captain Healy’s office and ask if he could stop by my place on his way home this evening.”
“Is it business or personal?”
“Excuse me?”
“Is it a business call or a personal call?”
“What difference does it make?”
“I’m not your social secretary, Jesse. I’m still reeling from the coffee incident.”
“The coffee incident.”
“You know what I’m talking about.”
Their conversation had attracted the attention of Suitcase, who was seated at the desk next to Molly’s. He was leaning forward in his chair, listening intently.
“You haven’t answered my question,” Molly said.
“What if I said it was a business call?”
“Then I’d most happily make it.”
“And if I said it was personal?”
“Then you could make it yourself.”
“Well, it’s a business call.”
“How do I know that?”
“Because I said so, that’s how.”
Molly didn’t say anything.
“Have you always been such a hard case,” Jesse said.
“Only since puberty,” Molly said.
Jesse looked over at Suitcase, who quickly looked away.
“Am I wearing a ‘kick me’ sign or something,” Jesse said, as he headed for the door. “Quit busting my chops and make the call, will you, please, Molly.”
He left the building.
After he’d gone, Molly looked at Suitcase, and they both burst out laughing.
12
Like all of the new-wave fitness centers, Nordmann’s was gigantic, football field–sized, containing every imaginable kind of electronic exercise machine. Jesse figured