The Big Bad Wolf

CHAPTER 71

JAMILLA CALLED THAT NIGHT around eleven o’clock eight o’clock her time. I hadn’t

spoken to her for a few days, and to be truthful, now wasn’t the best time. Christine’s visit to

D.C. and the meeting with her lawyer had me tense and messed up. Shook. I tried not to show

it, but that was wrong too.

“You never write, you never call,” Jamilla said, and laughed in her usual loose and engaging

way. “Don’t tell me you’re already wrapped up in a case for the Bureau? You are, aren’t

you?”



“A big nasty one, yeah. I’m sort of in and out of it,” I told Jam, then quickly explained what

was happening, and what wasn’t, at the Hoover Building, including my mixed emotions

about being with the Bureau all the stuff in my life that didn’t really matter right now.

“You’re the new guy on the block,” she said. “Give it some time.”



“I’m trying to be patient. It’s just that I’m not used to this wasted motion, the wasted

resources.”



I heard her laugh. “That, and you’re used to being the center of attention, don’t you think?

You’ve been a star, Alex.”



I smiled. “You’re right, you’re right. That’s part of it.”



“You saw the Bureau from the other side of the fence. You knew what you were getting

yourself into. Didn’t you know?”



“I guess I should have, sure. But I listened to a lot of promises that were made when I signed

up.”



Jamilla sighed. “I know, I’m not being very sympathetic, empathetic, whatever. One of my

faults.”



“No, it’s me.”



“Yeah.” She laughed again. “It is. I never heard you so down and out. Let’s see what we can

do to bring you up.”



We talked about the case she was working on, then Jamilla asked about each of the kids. She

was interested as always. But I was in a sour mood, and I couldn’t shake it. I wondered if she

could tell, and then I got my answer.

“Well,” Jam said, “I just wanted to see how you were. Call if you have any news. I’m always

here for you. I miss you, Alex.”



“I miss you too,” I said.

Then Jamilla broke the connection with a soft ;ye.”



I sat there shaking my head back and forth. Shit. What an ass I was sometimes. I was

blaming Jamilla for what had happened with Christine, wasn’t I? How dumb was that?