with English street names, and stately Georgian and Tudor homes that some would call mansions. Lights were on in windows I passed, and beyond glass I could see fine furniture and chandeliers, and people moving or watching TV. No one seemed to close their curtains in this city, except me. Leaves had begun to fall. It was cool and overcast, and when I pulled into my driveway, smoke was drifting from the chimney, my niece's ancient green Suburban parked in front.
'Lucy?' I called out as I shut the door and turned off the alarm.
'I'm in here,' she replied from the end of the house where she always stayed.
As I headed for my office to deposit my briefcase and the pile I had brought home to work on tonight, she emerged from her bedroom, pulling a bright orange UVA sweatshirt over her head.
'Hi.' Smiling, she gave me a hug, and there was very little that was soft about her.
Holding her at arm's length, I took a good look at her, just like I always did.
'Uh oh,' she playfully said. 'Inspection time.' She held out her arms and turned around, as if about to be searched.
'Smarty,' I said.
In truth, I would have preferred it had she weighed a little more, but she was keenly pretty and healthy, with auburn hair that was short but softly styled. After all this time, I still could not look at her without envisioning a precocious, obnoxious ten-year-old who had no one, really, but me.
'You pass,' I said.
'Sorry I'm so late.'
Unnatural Exposure (1997)
'Tell me again what it was you were doing?' I asked, for she had called earlier in the day to say she could not get here until dinner.
'An assistant attorney general decided to drop in with an entourage. As usual, they wanted HRT to put on a show.'
We headed to the kitchen.
'I trotted out Toto and Tin Man,' she added.
They were robots.
'Used fiber optics, virtual reality. The usual things, except it's pretty cool. We parachuted them out of a Huey, and I maneuvered them to burn through a metal door with lasers.'
'No stunts with the helicopters, I hope,' I said.
'The guys did that. I did my shit from the ground.' She wasn't happy about it.
The problem was, Lucy wanted to do stunts with helicopters. There were fifty agents on the HRT. She was the only woman and had a tendency to overreact when they wouldn't let her do dangerous things that, in my opinion, she had no business doing anyway. Of course, I wasn't the most objective judge.
'It suits me fine if you stick with robots,' I said, and we were in the kitchen now. 'Something smells good. What did you fix your tired, old aunt to eat?'
'Fresh spinach sauteed in a little garlic and olive oil, and filets that I'm going to throw on the grill. This is my one day a week to eat beef, so tough luck if it's not yours. I even sprung for a bottle of really nice wine, something Janet and I discovered.'
'Since when can FBI agents afford nice wine?'
'Hey,' she said, 'I don't do too bad. Besides, I'm too damn busy to spend money.'
Certainly, she didn't spend it on clothes. Whenever I saw her, she was either in khaki fatigues or sweats. Now and then she wore jeans and a funky jacket or blazer, and made fun of my offers of hand-me-downs. She would not wear my lawyerly suits and blouses with high collars, and frankly, my figure was fuller than her firm, athletic one. Probably nothing in my closet would fit.
The moon was huge and low in a cloudy, dark sky. We put on jackets and sat out on the deck drinking wine while Lucy cooked. She had started baked potatoes first, and they were taking a while, so we talked. Over recent years, our relationship had become less mother-daughter as we evolved into colleagues and friends. The transition was not an easy one, for often she taught me and even worked on some of my cases. I felt oddly lost, no longer certain of my role and power in her life.
'Wesley wants me to track this AOL thing,' she was saying. 'Sussex definitely wants CASKU's help.'
'Do you know Percy Ring?' I asked as I thought of what he
'Lucy?' I called out as I shut the door and turned off the alarm.
'I'm in here,' she replied from the end of the house where she always stayed.
As I headed for my office to deposit my briefcase and the pile I had brought home to work on tonight, she emerged from her bedroom, pulling a bright orange UVA sweatshirt over her head.
'Hi.' Smiling, she gave me a hug, and there was very little that was soft about her.
Holding her at arm's length, I took a good look at her, just like I always did.
'Uh oh,' she playfully said. 'Inspection time.' She held out her arms and turned around, as if about to be searched.
'Smarty,' I said.
In truth, I would have preferred it had she weighed a little more, but she was keenly pretty and healthy, with auburn hair that was short but softly styled. After all this time, I still could not look at her without envisioning a precocious, obnoxious ten-year-old who had no one, really, but me.
'You pass,' I said.
'Sorry I'm so late.'
Unnatural Exposure (1997)
'Tell me again what it was you were doing?' I asked, for she had called earlier in the day to say she could not get here until dinner.
'An assistant attorney general decided to drop in with an entourage. As usual, they wanted HRT to put on a show.'
We headed to the kitchen.
'I trotted out Toto and Tin Man,' she added.
They were robots.
'Used fiber optics, virtual reality. The usual things, except it's pretty cool. We parachuted them out of a Huey, and I maneuvered them to burn through a metal door with lasers.'
'No stunts with the helicopters, I hope,' I said.
'The guys did that. I did my shit from the ground.' She wasn't happy about it.
The problem was, Lucy wanted to do stunts with helicopters. There were fifty agents on the HRT. She was the only woman and had a tendency to overreact when they wouldn't let her do dangerous things that, in my opinion, she had no business doing anyway. Of course, I wasn't the most objective judge.
'It suits me fine if you stick with robots,' I said, and we were in the kitchen now. 'Something smells good. What did you fix your tired, old aunt to eat?'
'Fresh spinach sauteed in a little garlic and olive oil, and filets that I'm going to throw on the grill. This is my one day a week to eat beef, so tough luck if it's not yours. I even sprung for a bottle of really nice wine, something Janet and I discovered.'
'Since when can FBI agents afford nice wine?'
'Hey,' she said, 'I don't do too bad. Besides, I'm too damn busy to spend money.'
Certainly, she didn't spend it on clothes. Whenever I saw her, she was either in khaki fatigues or sweats. Now and then she wore jeans and a funky jacket or blazer, and made fun of my offers of hand-me-downs. She would not wear my lawyerly suits and blouses with high collars, and frankly, my figure was fuller than her firm, athletic one. Probably nothing in my closet would fit.
The moon was huge and low in a cloudy, dark sky. We put on jackets and sat out on the deck drinking wine while Lucy cooked. She had started baked potatoes first, and they were taking a while, so we talked. Over recent years, our relationship had become less mother-daughter as we evolved into colleagues and friends. The transition was not an easy one, for often she taught me and even worked on some of my cases. I felt oddly lost, no longer certain of my role and power in her life.
'Wesley wants me to track this AOL thing,' she was saying. 'Sussex definitely wants CASKU's help.'
'Do you know Percy Ring?' I asked as I thought of what he
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