The Bannerman Effect (The Bannerman Series) (58 page)

“You know what I wish?” she asked.

He turned his head.

“Never mind,” she said.

A sad smile. “So do I,” he told her. ”I really do.”

She hesitated. “Down at Washington National, just before all this came on television, I was about to tell you something.”

He waited.

“That I know you'll never quit. Maybe because you don't want to. Maybe because they won't let you. And maybe—”

He opened his mouth to argue. She shushed him.

“And maybe,” she continued, “as long as there are people who do things like that—maybe you shouldn't.”

He was silent for a moment. “You don't mean that,” he said.

”I don't love it, but I think I mean it.”

“What about tomorrow?”

“Ask me then.”

He turned to face her. “It wouldn't be for long, Susan. Not much more. Just a few—”

“Loose ends. I know.”

She took his arm.

“Let's go home, Bannerman.”

End