The Love Wars by Heller L. Alison

Author:Heller, L. Alison [Heller, L. Alison]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781101593233
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2013-05-07T00:00:00+00:00

21

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wwmd (what would machiavelli do?)

In the week after my mom’s visit, I’m back to my spy games, ducking out of Bacon Payne’s building, and soaking up the late-summer sun during my two-hundred-foot walk to the headquarters of Molly Grant, PC, for a mail check. I’ve been doing this so much that for the first summer since I moved to New York, my wrist bears the faint lines of a watch-strap tan.

I pull open the heavy glass door with CENTRAL OFFICES written on them in white lettering. Dottie looks up from behind the desk, smiles and disappears into the back office. She comes out carrying a thin beige envelope and pushes it toward me with a cheery “Here ya go.”

McDunn and Associates is written on the return address in a flowery cursive. I’ve called Risa about fifteen times since our court date, to no avail. Each time I dial, the phone is picked up by one of two voices—Cold and Colder. Cold is a receptionist with a clipped British accent who feigns complete ignorance about when Ms. McDunn will be available to talk. Colder is an outgoing voice mail message in which a different, even chillier British voice informs me that Ms. McDunn is not available but I am free to leave a message. Several times, I have called and asked to speak to Graham, but he’s never around either.

I wonder exactly what Risa is doing at these moments when she’s unavailable for a work call—trimming topiary in the shape of her wolfhounds? Holing up in a bunker with Robert Walker, the two of them in army fatigues, chomping on cigars and pointing at strategy diagrams pasted on the wall? My least favorite scenario is that she’s standing by the receptionist desk, dissolving into giggles each time I call.

Even though Risa won’t deign to chat with me, I don’t feel ignored. Last week, she served me with a ten-inch-thick document requesting that the case be dismissed in light of new information regarding Fern’s mental state, that the visitation schedule cease immediately and that Fern pay for fifty percent of the court costs. It was all bunk, but I still had to respond.

I rip open her letter and read it, standing on the nubby red carpet of the Central Offices lobby.

Dear Ms. Grant:

I have received the message that you called me but have been unable to reach you. Please call me at your convenience to discuss the Walker matter.

Very truly yours,

Risa McDunn

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