The next morning when the Harts awoke, it was raining steadily. "It looks like Max the weatherman was right," Jennifer said with a wry grin, looking out the window.
Jonathan came up behind her, and put his arms around her waist. "How did you sleep?" he asked.
"Pretty good," she answered. "I think the last few nights were catching up with me."
"I’m sure they were," Jonathan responded. She put her hands on his arms. He kissed her neck. "I love you," he whispered.
"And I love you," she answered. She turned into his arms and gave him a proper good morning kiss.
"I’ve got to go to the office for a few hours," Jonathan said then. "Do you want to come with me?"
"No thanks, Darling," Jennifer replied. Max and I will go to the photo shop to get those pictures enlarged, and I need to stop by Marcy’s office to let her know what is going on."
"Okay," he replied. "How about meeting me for lunch?"
"That sounds great," she smiled. "It’s a date."
He had only been gone a half hour or so, when he called Jennifer on the car phone. She and Max had just left the house.
"Hi, Darling," he said. "Could you come to the office before you do anything else?"
"Sure," Jennifer replied. "What’s up?"
"I’d rather wait till you get here," he answered.
Jennifer didn’t like the serious tone in his voice. "All right, Darling," she said. "We’ll be there in a few minutes."
Max waited in the car, while Jennifer made her way to Jonathan’s office. "Hi, Deanne," she said, as she entered Jonathan’s outer office.
"Hello, Mrs. Hart," Deanne replied, looking up from her work. "Mr. Hart said to tell you to go on in."
"Thanks." Jennifer opened the door to Jonathan’s office. "Hello, Darling," she said, as she shut the door behind her.
"Hi." He stood up and smiled at her, then met her halfway to the desk.
"So what’s going on?’ Jennifer asked, eying him suspiciously.
"Sit down, Darling," he said, gently.
Jennifer did so, then tried to steel herself. She could tell by Jonathan’s demeanor that something was wrong. He picked up a piece of paper from his desk, then sat in the chair next to her.
"What is it, Jonathan?" Jennifer asked, impatient with his stalling.
He sighed, then said, "Deanne gave me my phone messages from last night and this morning. Yesterday, right before she left, she said a man called here looking for you."
"Me?" Jennifer echoed, confused. "Someone tried to reach me here? Who was it? Or do I want to know?"
"He didn’t say," Jonathan answered. "But this morning, he called again. Here’s the message." He handed Jennifer the paper.
Jennifer read it aloud. "I haven’t been able to reach you at your home number. Call me today at 555-7091, so we can make our plans. Drake." Jennifer looked at the paper for a few seconds, then back at Jonathan. "I was right," she said, dryly. "I didn’t want to know."
Jonathan gave her a small smile of comfort. "Me neither," he agreed. "I asked Deanne about the calls, and she said he was very polite and casual, nothing out of the ordinary."
Jennifer let out a breath she didn’t realize she had been holding. "What do you think we should do?" she asked.
"I called Herschel while I was waiting for you to get here," he answered. "I asked him to run a check on the phone number. It belongs to a car phone registered to James Simon."
"Who’s that?" Jennifer asked.
"A made up name," Jonathan replied. "The name and the address were apparently made up."
"Figures," Jennifer mused.
"I think you should go ahead and call him," Jonathan said, after a beat. "Find out what he wants. Maybe we can get a handle on the situation."
Jennifer had been thinking the same thing, although she wasn’t comfortable with the thought. "Okay," she said, with a note of resignation in her voice. "Let’s get on with it."
"You don’t mind if I listen in on the extension, do you?" Jonathan asked, with a half-grin.
"No," she replied. "I prefer it that way."
"Use the phone on the desk," he said, and he walked to the phone at the bar. Jennifer took a deep breath, then picked up the receiver. She glanced at the number on the message, and dialed it.
The phone rang twice, and a male voice answered it. "Hello, My Love."
Jennifer was a bit taken aback, but gave a nod to Jonathan for him to pick up the receiver. He did so with great care. "Hello," Jennifer said as he did so, her voice overriding the small click the phone gave.
"What happened to your other number?" the man asked. "I kept getting an answering service."
"I…uh…there was a pizza place that was one number off of mine, and I was tired of getting take out orders at all hours." Jonathan nodded approvingly, pleased with her quick thinking.
"Ah, I see," the man said slowly.
"I’m sorry," Jennifer offered. "I should have let you know."
"Yes, you should have," he replied sternly. "But it’s okay."
"You can always leave me a message at the answering service," Jennifer said then.
"I know," he answered. "But I don’t want to talk to you on the phone. I want to talk to you in the flesh again."
Jennifer hesitated, not sure what to say. Her situation had veered so much from the book’s plot that she was confused.
"I’ve got a surprise for you," he was saying, apparently not noticing the silence.
"You do?" Jennifer asked. She looked at Jonathan nervously. He gave her a reassuring smile.
"Uh huh."
"What is it?" she asked.
"You’ll find out in a day or two," came the curt reply.
Jennifer, and obviously Jonathan, judging by his reaction, did not like that. "Can’t you at least give me a hint?" Jennifer asked.
"No!" he said, sounding surprised she would even ask. Then his voice calmed. "That would ruin the surprise. But rest assured, it will take care of all our problems and we’ll be together."
Jennifer was silent again, at a total loss for words. The man wasn’t though. "When you get the surprise, call me. All right?"
She looked at Jonathan, who gave her a nod. "All right," she answered. "I will."
"Good. I’ll talk to you then. Is it all right if I call you at this number?"
Another glance at Jonathan and she answered again, "It’s all right. But it would be better if you called me at the other number."
"All right, My Love. Goodbye for now. I love you…" His voice trailed off, indicating he was expecting Jennifer to return the endearment.
"Goodbye," Jennifer said, and she hung up quickly. She stared at the phone for a few seconds, then looked back at Jonathan. He was beaming at her as he crossed the office to where she stood. "Very, very good, Darling," he told her.
"I’m not sure what I did," she responded, accepting the kiss he offered her.
"You didn’t lose your cool, that’s what you did," he told her.
Jennifer sat in the chair she had occupied earlier. "What do you think?" she asked Jonathan.
Jonathan sat beside her. "I think I need some coffee," he replied. "How about you?" She nodded. Jonathan reached over and hit his intercom button.
"Yes, Mr. Hart?" came Deanne’s filtered voice.
"Deanne, could I talk you out of two cups of coffee?"
"Certainly, Sir."
Jonathan switched the intercom back off. "What do you think?" he asked Jennifer.
"I don’t know what to think," she responded. "He doesn’t seem to be following the book very closely."
"That’s for sure," Jonathan agreed. "It’s like he’s taking bits and pieces of it, and using them as he pleases."
"There goes my outline," Jennifer responded, sounding amused.
Jonathan smiled at that. But he sobered immediately. "Unfortunately," he said, carefully, "that makes him even more unpredictable."
"Uh huh," Jennifer agreed. "That’s what I was thinking." A knock came at the door then.
"Come in, Deanne," Jonathan called, and his secretary entered carrying a silver coffee service tray. She set it down on Jonathan’s desk.
"Would you like me to pour?" she asked.
"No thanks, we’ll get it," Jonathan replied. "Thank you."
Deanne nodded, then hesitated. She looked at Jennifer. "Mrs. Hart, I’m sorry I didn’t get the messages to you sooner…" she began.
Jennifer put her hand up, shaking her head. "Oh, don’t worry about it, Deanne," she said. "You did everything you could."
Deanne smiled warmly at her. "Thanks," she said, obviously feeling relieved. "It was just so odd."
Jennifer nodded her agreement. "Very odd," she surmised. Then she regained her composure, "Hopefully, he won’t be calling here anymore."
Deanne nodded. "Okay," she said. "But if he does, I’ll let you know right away. Is there anything else, Mr. Hart?"
"No thanks, Deanne."
Deanne gave them both a smile, then left the office. "She’s definitely a keeper," Jennifer mused, after Deanne had made her exit.
"Yup," Jonathan concurred. "Definitely a lot better than the one she replaced."
"You mean the one who kept trying to go through your drawers?" Jennifer quipped.
That brought a laugh from Jonathan. "That’s the one," he said.
The levity helped a little, but the serious look soon returned to Jennifer. "What do you think this surprise could be?" she asked.
"I don’t know," Jonathan replied, taking her hand. "Herschel has been very cooperative lately- although I’m sure that has something to do with that little forgery caper we helped him on- I think I’ll see if I can’t get him to send a little extra help out to the house. To keep an eye on things."
"Do you think he’ll do that when there’s not actually been any crimes committed?" Jennifer asked.
"Well, like I said, he owes us one. I think he’ll do it for us, especially when I explain the situation to him."
"Okay," Jennifer said. Then she slapped her thighs as if resolving herself not to worry anymore. "Well, Max is waiting for me in the car. I think I’ll go ahead and get those pictures blown up."
"All right," Jonathan responded, standing up with her. "That’ll give the police an idea of who they’re looking for."
She nodded, then put her arms around him. "I’ll see you later, Darling," she said.
"We still on for lunch?"
"Sure, we’ll be back at noon."
"Good, now stay with Max today, okay?"
She nodded. They shared a kiss, and hugged warmly for a few seconds, before Jonathan let her go.
