Major Crime, after lunch
The officers and detectives were enjoying a quiet lunch. Most of them had ordered from the deli across the street, especially since fresh homemade soup was on the menu.
"So, what happened with the paper cut-out guy?" Rafe asked Megan.
"She turned him down," replied Megan.
"Huh?"
"The girl the heart was trying to woo turned him down. So he ripped his heart in two." Megan replied with a grimace on her face.
"She broke his heart," Henri joked.
"Don't start H. The guy was crying as they put him in the squad car."
Jim kept his comment about the holiday to himself this time. He swore though, that it brought out the weirdoes.
The bullpen quieted down again just as Sgt. Anderson walked through the doors and over to Rhonda's desk. Smiling, he placed a very nice crystal vase with a single long-stemmed rose in it on her desk. "This arrived for you down at the desk, Miss Cameron."
Rhonda thanked the sergeant, and offered him a piece of candy from her earlier gift.
"Hey, Joe, how come you're making the deliveries?" Simon asked from his office door.
Sgt. Anderson smiled and answered "lunch" as if that explained it all and left the bullpen.
"So, Rhonda, who's the rose from?" asked Megan.
Rhonda was reading the small card that was attached by ribbons to the vase, and simply answered, "My date."
Megan returned to her desk to find Henri waiting for her. "Did you find out?"
"No. It wasn't that she didn't answer, she just didn't seem to answer, you know?"
"Well, whoever he is, his initials are 'C' and 'M' and I think they've been dating for a couple of months now," added Rafe.
"Ah, it's the season for romance," offered Blair. His partner only snorted at that. "Okay, I'll admit, there are a few weird things that happen because of romance and love. I'll even go as far as to say to just get a date, but come on, it's romance."
"Uh huh."
Blair looked around at his fellow detectives, "Are you guys trying to tell me you never did anything really out there to get a date?"
"Probably nothing as far-fetched as you, Hairboy," answered Henri.
"Yeah. So why don't you tell us about it? And the whacko from last week doesn't count."
Blair looked over at Megan. "But that wasn't my fault."
"I know," Megan reassured him. "But, come on Sandy, you do attract a... um... bizarre and eclectic group of dates."
"That's not true, not exactly." Blair was slowly succumbing to the needling of his friends.
"Yeah, Sandburg. Spill it."
Blair looked at Jim with one of those "oh thanks for the help" looks. "Well, there was this one time when I was mistaken for..."
...Blair looked up at the menu on the wall, then over at his friend Daniel. The new cafe, several blocks from the university, heralded itself to be the "healthy eaters' haven." By the prices, Blair decided it was an expensive way to eat healthy. And, if the food wasn't worth it, they were going to stick with the restaurant less than a block from the university.
"Well, are you going to order?" Daniel stepped away from the counter to give Blair access, knowing that his friend did not share his ability to size up a menu in seconds flat.
Ignoring Daniel, and then taking another minute to decide, Blair addressed the young man behind the counter. "I'll have a number three, no mustard, and an orange iced tea."
Blair handed over his money, and together he and Daniel looked for a table while waiting for their order numbers to be called. A bus boy cleared a table toward the back, away from the windows and the general traffic flow of the restaurant.
Still waiting for their orders, the two started to discuss Dr. Jones' Anthropology Methods and Theories class and the paper that would soon be due. Blair paused, distracted for the second time in five minutes. Daniel, getting a bit irritated that their "working" lunch wasn't going anywhere because of his friend's lack of attention, finally asked, "What is it?"
"That girl over there, she keeps staring at me. Like I've got a neon sign over my head."
"Maybe you do," Daniel joked. Blair didn't get a chance to respond as their order numbers were called. "I'll get them. You hold the table."
From his vantage point, Daniel took the opportunity to survey the woman Blair was referring to. Long brown hair, styled to high-hill, a bright yellow sun dress, and if Daniel's eyes weren't playing tricks on him, her fingernail polish was the same color. She looked like she should be in Southern California, not Cascade. She was probably no taller than five-five without the heels, and had a slight frame. Not bad. Not bad at all. And she was still staring at Blair, to boot.
Blair and Daniel were just finishing up their lunch when the young woman made her move. "Excuse me." Blair looked up to find her slipping into a seat at their table. Daniel noticed she still seemed to be enamored with Blair. "And I really I do hate to bother you while you're eating, but I just had to tell you how much I enjoyed your last movie, Aleksei. And, I was just thrilled to see that you were going to be here for the Indie Film Festival. By the way, my name is Abby. It's just unbelievable to see you eating here. I, well, wondered if maybe you'd have dinner with me tonight?"
"Thank you miss, but I think you..." Daniel's left foot made contact with Blair's right shin, "...thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed it." Daniel nodded in encouragement, and mouthed something about just playing along. However, Blair wasn't sure if that was the best thing to do, and he found a way out of it. "But I think you're party over there is trying to get your attention."
"Umm, thank you," the young woman said.
"You're welcome," Blair responded, smiling warmly, but not answering the question about dinner. When the young woman was out of earshot he turned on Daniel. "Why did you kick me?"
Daniel blinked at his friend. "She thinks you're some actor. Wants to go to dinner with you. And, she's very attractive. So, have dinner with her. You can tell her the truth after that."
"I don't know. I don't think this is a good idea."
"Come on, live a little. She is the one who thinks you're someone else. For a night, be an actor. Consider this a chance to improve your obfuscation skills."
Blair caved. Daniel did have a point about her being attractive, after all. On the way out, he stopped at Abby's table, and accepted her phone number and a dinner date for seven-thirty that night at Maxwell's.
Maxwell's, 7:45pm
"I've been a fan of yours for a while now, and I was very excited to hear that you'd be in town for the Indie Film Festival. And it was just so exciting to see you eating lunch in that cafe, and I couldn't stop myself from approaching you."
Blair nodded, as he wasn't sure what to say, but from her response to his "I'm glad you did" he guessed that was exactly what she wanted to hear.
Why exactly am I doing this? Blair thought. Oh yeah, there's a beautiful, young woman who is interested in me. Only she thinks I'm this Aleksei person. Who knows, maybe this will work. Blair sighed to himself, maybe.
The waiter arrived with their main course, and Blair hoped this would stop Abby's questions and allow them to eat, but after one bite, she started again.
"I like what you've done with your hair. I mean making it a darker brown. Is it for your next movie?"
Blair kept his answer simple, "Yes."
"But, Aleksei, why are you speaking with an American accent? Isn't that hard to do without messing up?" Abby asked, taking a bite of her salad.
Blair put his fork down and finished chewing, then wiped his mouth with his napkin, all the while formulating an answer in his head. "Like the change in my hair color, the American accent is for my next project. I thought it best that I try to use the accent as much as possible so that it comes off on screen as natural."
"Oh, that is why I absolutely loved that one review on you in the Indie Film Review that said: 'Aleksei Marik is a bright and upcoming Russian actor who works hard to make the audience believe that the character he is portraying is as real as you or I. He dazzles the audience with his performance as a British dancer struggling to make it in the cut-throat world of the London stage...'"
As Abby continued to recite the review from memory, Blair realized that he finally had the last name of the actor, an actor he had never heard of--Aleksei Marik. Blair was brought out of his thoughts as Abby finished her recitation. He thanked her for remembering the wonderful review. That comment seemed to just spur on more questions. Blair kept giving answers that he hoped she wanted to hear. That was, until dessert.
"Can I see your tattoo?"
"Not in public." Blair's answer caused Abby to giggle lightly.
"How about later at my apartment?" she asked with a gleam in her eye.
"I don't think that would be appropriate, not yet at least."
"How about after our next date?" Abby asked in Russian.
Blair didn't speak Russian. His only response to her question was a very charming smile. Abby saw that as a positive sign that there might just be a second date, and continued speaking in Russian. Blair stopped her when he put his hand on hers.
"It's been a long day," he said in English. "I'm very tired. And I must get up early in the morning for a meeting." Blair smiled sweetly, but kept an expression of being tired on his face. Abby looked like she believed him, so he added, "But I'd love to meet with you again."
Abby perked up at that. "I'd love that."
Blair paid the bill then escorted Abby to her car. She kissed him on the cheek and then quickly got into her car and drove away....
"...Did you meet with her again?"
"Better question would be, were you more prepared the second time?"
Blair looked at Jim. "Real funny, man. But, yeh..."
...The next day Blair called Daniel to see if he'd ever heard of this Russian actor. Daniel's only advice: "Check the Internet, and good luck, man."
Three hours later Blair had a working knowledge of Aleksei's life, the roles he'd played, turned down, where he went to school, his age, and even a little on the current movie he was working on. Blair was very happy to see that Aleksei was indeed playing an American in that movie.
Just to be on the safe side, he spent a few more hours visiting several Russian translation websites picking up useful but general Russian phrases he could possibly use on his next date with Abby. Which, if all worked out as he planned, would be tonight.
When Blair called Abby, he asked her in Russian if she'd like to go out tonight. In Russian she replied that she would. Switching back to English, he said, "Very good. It will give me more time to work with my American accent." Blair figured that way he wouldn't have to speak much Russian at the restaurant. "Shall we try Maxwell's again, say 6pm?"
Abby agreed.
Maxwell's, 6pm
Blair was at Maxwell's for the second time in two days. This time, Maxwell's was very busy. And, it was only because Blair had called early for a reservation that they had a table. He also got there early, at least ten minutes before Abby arrived, so that his real name wouldn't slip from the host's mouth. Abby was nice, but Blair wasn't sure how she was going to take being deceived by an Anthropology graduate student.
Like a gentleman, Blair stood when Abby approached, then offered her a chair, and scooted it in. Because Abby had her back to the majority of the restaurant, she didn't notice when the real Aleksei Marik walked in.
But, Blair did. He used the menu to hide behind. "Oh, boy," Blair muttered under his breath.
"Did you say something, Aleksei?"
In Russian, Blair answered, "No, nothing, my dear."
Abby smiled. "Remember, you're suppose to be working on your English."
Blair nodded. "Thank you."
From his seat, Blair could see Aleksei and his date's table. Thankfully, the way the dining room was set up, neither Aleksei nor his date could really see Blair and Abby's table.
Aleksei attempted to pull out a chair for his date, but she offered him a polite smile and did it herself, leaving the actor looking slightly befuddled as she scooted up to the table and began to survey her menu.
Aleksei's date looked familiar to Blair. She was about five-six with long brown hair that was cut in a style with bangs. Blair thought for a moment. Then it came to him. Melissa Shay. She was a grad student in something at Rainier. Blair turned his thoughts back to the menu and his date.
Blair and Abby waited for their waitress to return for their drink order. It didn't take long before Abby started asking questions again. This time, armed with the information he learned from the web, Blair answered to the best of his ability.
Unlike the dinner the night before, this time Blair was able to learn a little more about Abby. What he learned was that Abby was very into Aleksei. She lived and breathed his career. Blair decided that it was best that he just let her continue to talk. He'd nod or give the appropriate response, but after dinner, he was going to tell her the truth. It wasn't fair to her, and he didn't think he could take much more of the "Aleksei this" and "Aleksei that."
From their table, Blair noticed that Aleksei and his date weren't hitting it off so well. Melissa didn't seem interested in whatever Aleksei was talking about. Blair started to formulate a plan.
Their waitress came for their drink orders about the same time as Aleksei and Melissa's waitress took their drink order. After that, Blair saw Aleksei excuse himself and head toward the restrooms. Blair thought his plan might just work. If he could explain his plan to Aleksei, and Aleksei agreed. He too excused himself from the table and headed toward the restrooms.
After the restroom door swung shut, Blair asked, "Aleksei Marik?"
"Yes." Aleksei turned around. It was almost like looking into a mirror. Both men had long curly brown hair, although with the lighting in the restaurant a person probably wouldn't notice that their hair was two different shades of brown, Blair's being darker with just a hint of red. They both wore wire-rimmed glasses. And they were almost dressed alike: a pair of dressy black jeans, a white dress shirt and a multi-colored vest. The vests were going to be a problem though, they were different.
Now that Blair was here, he wondered how he was going to do this. Well, he thought to himself, direct has always worked best.
"Look, this is going to sound very strange, but my date thinks I'm you. She's really interested in your career. I'd even go as for as to maybe call her a 'groupie.' And I couldn't help but notice that you don't seem to be having fun with your date. What would you say to switching dates?"
"And exactly how would we do this?" the actor asked, cocking an eyebrow at the man blocking his way to the paper towels, wondering if all Americans were equally strange.
"We'll switch vests, go back to our tables and 'dates.' After ten minutes or so, and after the drinks arrive, we'll say there's a problem with the drinks and meet at the bar."
Aleksei, saw that this American's plan might work. He was right, he wasn't enjoying the company of Melissa Shay. She just didn't seem interested in him and his career as an actor. She was attractive and all, but she just wasn't that interested in acting in general or his choice of careers, and they didn't have much in common to talk about. Meeting Blair's eyes, Aleksei added, "Then, if this plan isn't working, we'll switch back the vests and our dates. If we like our new dates, we'll simply switch drinks and return to our new dates.
The two men finalized the plan, as well as exchanging addresses so if everything worked out, they'd have a way to return the vests to the rightful owners. Blair told Aleksei everything he could about Abby and their first date. He made sure to warn the actor that Abby chattered nonstop and liked to ask hundreds of questions about him and his career.
Aleksei, in turn, told Blair everything he knew about Melissa, including that this was their second date, and that she really wasn't interested in his career. She wanted to talk more about the day's events and what was happening in the news. Aleksei also made sure he mentioned that Melissa was a graduate student in creative writing at Rainier.
They switched vests and headed back into the dining room....
"...Did the girls ever figure out what happened?" Rafe broke in.
"Yes and no. I was just getting to that part..."
...The two men went to their new tables. They arrived just as the waitresses appeared to take their dinner orders.
After their orders were taken, Abby began to ask questions of her date again. This time, and to Abby's great surprise, Aleksei answered her back, and in detail no less. Guess it just takes him time to open up to new people, thought Abby.
Across the dining room, at the other table, Blair and Melissa were talking about that week's episode of The X-Files and whether Chris Carter was going to be able to pull off the storyline or not. During their conversation, Melissa began to wonder what had caused the dramatic change from an actor obsessed with his own career to a guy that knew what happened yesterday in the news. He seemed much more down to earth than the previous night, for that matter, since they'd arrived.
Aleksei would later tell Blair that Abby never figured out the switch. That he and she had ended up going out a couple more times while he was in Cascade. As a matter of fact, in an email that Blair would later receive, Aleksei would mention having run into Abby at another Indie film festival, them going out to lunch and her mentioning the dinners at Maxwell's.
Melissa, on the other hand, figured it out. "So, who are you? I mean, don't take this wrong and all, I've really enjoyed our dinner, but you're not the same guy I came in here with."
Blair froze. Melissa smiled. The look on Blair's face was priceless. Melissa couldn't help laughing. "I should probably be angry. I'll wait until I hear your explanation though."
"Blair Sandburg," replied Blair. "I'm a grad student at Rainier," Blair pointed to his old table. Melissa had to turn around in her chair to see where Blair was indicating. "And I was with Abby over there."
"Well, it seems like they're having a good time. Better than he and I were."
"She really wanted to meet Aleksei," Blair began. "She thought I was him, and then he appeared." Noticing that Melissa was still waiting for an explanation he added, "Maybe I should start at the beginning." And Blair did. By the time he was finished, Melissa was laughing again....
"...She took it well?" Henri asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, she seemed alright with it. I guess she found it so funny and hard to believe that she forgave me. Like Aleksei said, she wasn't really interested in his film career, and the two of us had a lot more in common-- we were both working on our Masters'. We went out several more times after that, and we still stay in contact with each other. She teaches creative writing at WestLake High School."
Jim looked up at that comment. "This the same Melissa you had lunch with about a month ago?"
"The same. She was on winter break."
Jim nodded, glad that Sandburg still kept in contact with people from before the whole dissertation fiasco.
"Okay Megan," Blair started. "You pushed for me to tell you about a strange date, what about you?"
Megan tried to look busy at her desk, but the other detectives wouldn't go for it. She looked at her colleagues and sighed. Turnabout is fair play, she thought. Thinking for a moment, she stared off at nothing.
"We've all had our dates from Hell," offered Henri.
"A date from Hell? Okay, I've got your date from Hell. It was midday Friday and my partner..."
"...Oh come on Megs. It won't be that bad. Just one dinner." Inspector Tristan Daniels promised his partner. "Carol and I were supposed to take him out, but the kids are sick. He's only here for a weekend."
Junior Inspector Megan Connor sighed. "But Tristan, I don't do blind dates. It's a personal rule of mine."
Her partner shook his head. "It's not like we're trying to set you up for a romantic relationship or anything. It's a simple dinner. He's here for one night until his connecting flight leaves and Carol doesn't want her cousin to eat alone."
"If he's a relative, why can't you tell me more about him?"
"Because it's a cousin Carol hasn't seen since childhood. He's 25 and not from this country, his mother asked us to keep an eye on him. Please Megs, we're desperate."
"Tristan..." Megan tried to look stern, but when faced with puppy-dog eyes, just couldn't. "Oh all right. One dinner."
He couldn't hide the relief in his eyes. "Thank you, Megan. Both Carol and I really appreciate this. Really."
Saturday night
Megan sighed and swirled the liquid in her glass before taking a sip of the dark amber brew.
"I'm going to kill them," she muttered darkly to herself. "If I survive this tonight, I'm going to kill them."
She looked around the room, wondering if it was too late to back out. When she had arrived at the 'Walkabout' bar, it had been nearly empty. An hour and a half later, it was beginning to fill up and was becoming noisier and rowdier.
In front of her lay a sheet of paper, from Tristan's cousin-in-law. "Running late. Heard about a great bar, the Walkabout. I'll meet you there, Kyle Rogers."?
Great bar? Megan thought with a snort. It looked like something from the movie "Crocodile Dundee." All it needed was for Paul Hogan to come bursting through the door carrying a stuffed croc. Then again, she thought, eyeing the clientele, that might be a drastic improvement.
She had just about given up on her "date," telling herself she'd give the guy fifteen more minutes before going home and calling Tristan to find out what had happened. Reminding him why she didn't go out on blind dates.
"Well hello there little-shelia!" a voice boomed out behind her as a hand touch her shoulder.
Megan's hand went for her gun just as she realized it was in her car. She hadn't planned on needing it for a dinner date.
"Whoa there, I'm guessing you must be Megan Connor," the voice belonging to the hand said from behind her. She looked around to gape at the man, nodding numbly, not quite believing her eyes.
A young man moved to stand in front of her. But instead of wearing regular slacks, or even jeans and a shirt, he wore what had to be the ugliest pants ever made. Crocodile? The man was wearing crocodile skin pants and a matching vest. On his head perched a brimmed hat, also made of the animal skin.
Megan blinked, wondering when she had stepped into the Paul Hogan movie. The bar, the man in the crocodile skin. All that was needed was a huge stuffed croc. If he pulls one out, she thought to herself, I'm out of here.
Planting a smile on her face, she held out her hand. "I'm Megan Connor. You must be Kyle Rogers." She was hoping desperately that he wasn't.
"Sure am. Like the outfit? I wanted to blend in." The young man smiled, obviously pleased with his choice of outfit.
Megan coughed. "Um...it's certainly different. The accent is nice." I think, she added silently.
"You think so? I've been practicing and driving my roommate crazy for weeks. Ever since I saw 'Crocodile Dundee', I've wanted to see the Australian Outback. Take a walk-a-bout and all that."
Megan nodded, unsure if the man was kidding or not. Taking in the whole costume he was wearing, she decided he wasn't. The only thing she decided was that she was going to kill Tristan the next time she him.
She was saved from a vocal response by the server approaching to get their drink and dinner orders.
Later that night
"Excuse me, Megan? Is anything wrong?" Kyle asked as Megan's gazed wandered to a table across the room.
Megan turned back to her companion. "No, nothing. At least I don't think it's anything. There's someone over there that looks really familiar, but he shouldn't be here. I must be mistaken."
Smiling, Kyle went back to eating his steak. "I really appreciate you spending the evening with me. This is all just too cool!"
"My pleasure," Megan told him, turning her attention back to the Alice Springs Chicken, which was way overcooked.
When they were finished eating, Kyle suddenly stood up and in a loud, fake-Australian accent he pulled Megan up from her seat. "Little shelia, would you like to avago at dancing?"
Megan stared. "Um...I'm not that good of a dancer really," she tried to say, but was cut off as she was pulled from her seat and spun out onto the dance floor.
Megan's thoughts of finding a way out of another dance were interrupted when an accented voice spoke from behind the couple. "May I cut in?"
Megan felt herself being turned quickly. Kyle just missed hitting the speaker. The tall man ducked, turning a smile towards the couple.
"Sorry about that, I didn't mean to startle you. But I'd still like a dance with the lady." Megan stepped away from Kyle and turned to find herself looking at a tall handsome man with dark hair and brown eyes. He held out a hand to her.
"No, I don't mind at all." Megan returned the smile and stepped towards the stranger. "Not a problem, is it Kyle?" she asked, ignoring the sputtering from behind her.
The man guided her expertly onto the dance floor, moving with the music. "I'm Scott Brunell. And you are?"
"Megan. Megan Connor."
"Nice to meet you, Megan. You'll have to excuse my interruption. I'm having a drink with some business partners and couldn't resist asking for a dance."
"No problem. Kyle is relative of a friend. And, my friend begged me to go on this blind date."
As they moved around the dance floor, Megan got another look at the men her dance partner had been sitting with. An older man wore a frown as he watched the couple dance.
"Your partners don't seem happy that we're out here," Megan commented.
Scott laughed, "He just doesn't like interruptions. I suppose I need to be getting back to our meeting though." He bowed over her hand. "Thank you for the lovely dance." With that he turned and walked back to his table.
At the same time, Megan recognized Scott's "business partner"-- the man at the top of organized crime in New South Wales, Walter Paulins.
Still smiling brightly, she casually returned to the table where Kyle sat sulking. "What's the matter, Kyle?" she asked.
"I thought we were supposed to be spending the evening together," the younger man said.
"We are," Megan told him, trying to keep the impatience from her voice. "But I wanted to get a better look at Mr. Bruenell's business partners."
"Why?"
"His partner is wanted by the police." She dug out her cell phone and slid it to Kyle. "You call the authorities and stay here. I'm going to try something."
Before Kyle could utter a protest, Megan picked up a piece of paper with a phone number on it and walked purposefully across the room. As she approached the table, she called out, "Oh Scott! I wanted to give you this."
Brunell gave his partner an embarrassed look and stood up to meet the woman before she got any closer. "Thanks Megan, that was sweet of you. Maybe we could go out sometime?"
Before Megan could answer or even hand the piece of paper to Scott, the door of the bar burst in and police officers poured into the room.
"FREEZE! NO ONE MOVE!" Nearly all movement ceased for a brief moment. Then confusion took over.
Paulins stood up with his bodyguards, heading for a back door, only to be stopped by the Chief Inspector of the New South Wales Police Department.
Brunell pushed by Megan and ran for a group of terrified patrons. Megan lost sight of him in the mass confusion.
"Megan!" Tristan's voice called out over the noise.
"Over here, Tristan." She waved to her partner, motioning him over to the table where she now sat.
The older man approached, a wide smile on his face as he shook his head in disbelief. "Only you Megs. Only you could take a simple dinner date and turn it into one of the biggest busts of the year." He gently squeezed her shoulder. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine." She smiled. "It was pure dumb luck. Dumb being the main thing. Who would have thought an escaped felon would pick a public bar like this to meet? This isn't exactly the movies. What are you doing here?"
Tristan snorted. "I got a call that a major tip had come in that Paulins was in town. The department was short handed and they wanted me to come in. I'm sure Paulins didn't expect to find a New South Wales Inspector here on a Saturday night. Speaking of which, why are you here? What happened with the dinner date with Kyle?"
"Oh my god. Kyle!" Megan looked around for her date. "I'm sorry! I forgot about Kyle." She moved to stand up, worried for the brash young man.
"OW!" yelped a voice from under the table.
Megan and Tristan looked under the table to find Kyle Rogers huddled against the wall. "Is it over?" he asked.
"Yes, Kyle. Everything is fine." Tristan reached under the table to pull his wife's cousin out....
...Megan looked at the shocked faces around her. "I told you Brunell and I went way back. Granted at that time no one knew who anyone was or anything."
"You danced with him?" asked Joel in disbelief.
"Yes," Megan smirked. "And last year I threw him into a van door and arrested him." The members of Major Crime laughed.
"Whatever happened to your date, Megs?" Blair asked, using the newly discovered nickname.
"Kyle. After he got home, he wrote up what happened, fictionalizing it quite a bit and sold it to some short story travel book place or something." Megan shrugged her shoulders. "After that, I'm not sure what happened to him. I do know that no one else asked me to take relatives on blind dates."
"I'm thinking that's a good thing," commented Henri.
"For Megs or the relative?" joked Rafe, who also couldn't resist a chance to use the nickname.
Megan coughed, but smiled. "Funny. I think I hear paperwork calling me."
