Judy Christenberry - A Soldier's Return

“The same work as Will.”

“You actually tail people?”

“Of course.”

“You carry a gun?”

“Yes.”

Jim raised his cup and took a long drink of coffee. Then he looked at Will. “How about a trial run? I’ll work for you for a week, no pay. If I like the work, we’ll talk.”

“That’s more than fair. Let’s shake on it,” Will said, extending his hand to Jim.

After shaking Will’s hand, Jim extended his hand to Carrie.

Reluctantly, slowly, she gave him her hand, hoping he wouldn’t realize she was shaking more than his hand. She had a thing about shaking hands. It told her a lot about a person. But she already knew about Jim. Shaking his hand only confirmed her attraction to him. To the real Jim.

“Well,” Will said, “shall we go to the office? If you can catch on to what we do on the computer, Carrie has some fieldwork to do. You can use her desk.”

Jim again looked at Carrie.

All she could manage was a nod agreeing with Will’s statement.

“Are you going to stay here for the week? That will be kind of expensive.” Will paused and then said, “Since you’re working for free, you could stay with us. We really do have plenty of room.”

“I don’t think—”

“Then I’ll have to pay you a salary for the first week.”

“No, I—”

“Vivian will ask. She’d be horrified at my taking advantage of you.”

“Fine. You can pay me minimum wage for the week. Until I catch on, that’s all I’ll be worth anyway.”

Will blinked several times. Then he said, “It’s a deal. But we’d still like to have you move in with us.”

“That’s very kind, but no thank you.”

Carrie smiled. Jim had just proven her right. She’d told Will this morning she didn’t think Jim would go along with his offer.

“So you’re going to stay here?” Will asked.

“I’m going to look for an apartment, but I’ll stay here until I find something.” Jim stood. “I need to go get my jacket. I’ll be right back.”

Once Jim had left the table, Carrie grinned at Will. “I won that bet,” she pointed out.

“Yeah, you did. I’d hoped I could persuade him.”

“I know, for Vivian. But they’ll get to see him often and he’ll get used to a big family after a while.”

“I guess it has been kind of sudden.” He stood. “We’d better head for the office.” He waved the waitress over for their bill.

“Can you show him what we need done on the computer?” Will asked as he paid.

“That shouldn’t be a problem. It’s not that difficult.”

“Then what will you do?”

“Fieldwork, like you said.”

“Nothing dangerous, right?”

Carrie shrugged her shoulders. “I have a couple of specific cases in mind.”

“Which ones?” Will asked.

“The Moore case…and maybe the Riley case.”

“No! I’ll do that one, Carrie. I told you that one is dangerous. That man is amoral. He won’t hesitate to kill anyone who’s trying to stop him from getting his money.”

“And that’s why I have to do it. He would suspect you, but he won’t suspect me.”

“No. I won’t allow you to go alone.”

“Trouble in paradise?” Jim asked, coming up alongside them.

“Carrie wants to do something dangerous, and I won’t let her,” Will said firmly.

“It’s obvious you just want to protect her,” Jim said, raising one eyebrow.

“I am. But she thinks she has to protect me.”

“Vivian made me promise,” Carrie said with a light chuckle that defused the situation.

“Uh, I’m ready to go,” Jim said, garnering Will’s attention.

“Fine. Do you want to turn in your rental car? We could follow you and pick you up.”

“No, thanks,” Jim said, “I’ll keep it until I buy a car.”

“I’m just trying to save you some money,” Will explained.

“I never said I was penniless,” Jim protested.

Carrie stepped closer to the two men. “I think Jim can handle his personal life. Shall we go to the office?”

“Yeah,” Will said. “Sorry, Jim. I’m used to— I try to take care of the family.”

“I appreciate that, Will, but I’m pretty independent.”

“Well, we’ll see you at the office. You can follow us if you want. Or better yet, Carrie can ride with you and show you how to find the office.”

“I managed to find it yesterday, Will,” Jim pointed out.

“Ride with him, Carrie,” Will said, and walked off.

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