Part 16 (1/2)

”Are you all right?” Sue asked.

I did my best to sound fine. ”A little stiffness from the flight, that's all,” I said.

Sue Ling already had a low opinion of me. I didn't want to justify it by telling her about the dog bite.

Christina's voice came from the kitchen. ”Do you want some coffee?”

I covered the phone. ”That would be great,” I shouted back.

”Is that Christina?” Sue Ling asked.

I cringed, hoping she hadn't heard the exchange.

”Um . . . exactly why are you calling, Miss . . . um, Sue?”

The voice on the other end of the line cooled. ”The professor asked me to take another look at your book. To dissect it . . .”

”Dissect it.” This conversation was going downhill fast. ”OK . . . so you called to give me a review?”

”I found something. Something disturbing.”

”Disturbing. Factually or grammatically?”

”Does Christina have a copy of your book in her apartment?”

I frowned. ”How did you know I was in Christina's apartment?”

”I didn't, until now.”

I cringed. She had set me up, and just like a guy, I walked right into it.

”Um . . . let me check,” I said.

In order to get up I had to crawl on my hands and knees to the padded benches that rimmed the alcove and use them to push myself to my feet. I poked my head in the kitchen. ”Christina . . . Do you have a copy of my book?”

Her hand was atop the coffee grinder. ”Who's on the line? Your editor?”

”I'll tell you later. Do you have a copy?”

Christina didn't appreciate being dismissed. When she walked by me it felt as though someone had left the refrigerator door open. She went to the alcove and pulled a book from the very shelf I'd used to push myself up.

”Thanks,” I said sheepishly. To Sue on the phone, ”All right, I have a copy.”

”You'll need a paper and pen.”

Christina had just placed her hand atop the coffee grinder again when I said, ”Do you have a scratch pad, or something I can write on?”

She yanked open a drawer, rattling its insides, and rummaged around until she found a scratch pad which she flung at me.

I mouthed the words thank you to her. I was definitely going to have to do some damage control when this call was over.

Pulling out a chair from a small tea table, I sat down slowly on half of it, placing the book and scratch pad in front of me. At the top of the pad was a female cartoon mouse, her gloved hands clasped against her chest as she gazed amorously at her counterpart male on the far side of the pad. Little hearts floated between them.

Beneath the graphic, Christina had written: ”Call Dr. about birth control pills.”

Tearing off the top sheet of the scratch pad, I turned it facedown and placed it at the far side of the table.

”I'm ready,” I said to Sue, my mind on Christina.

Birth control pills?

The coffee grinder buzzed to life. I had to wait for the grinding to stop before I could hear what Sue had said.

”You'll need to repeat that,” I told her.

”Go to chapter one,” Sue said.

I opened the cover and saw my autograph and inscription to Christina: ”My light . . . my inspiration . . . my ever-present help. With love, Grant.”

”Are you at chapter one?”

”Almost. All right. There.”

”First word.”

”First word? Don't tell me you're going to review my book word by word?”

”Just write it down.”

I wrote it down. ”All right, now what?”

”Chapter two. Second word. Write it down.”

I flipped the pages to chapter 2. ”None of this is making any sense,” I said.

”You'll see. Chapter-”

”Three,” I said. ”Third word.”

”Correct.”

”I'm sensing a pattern here.”

”Smart boy. Keep working your way through the book.”

”How far?”