Page 19 of Mission: Possible

"Come here and do that."

"We'll be late for work," said Solomon, his voice deep and promising.

"I'll take it up with the boss," I replied, pushing the covers back.

Solomon's towel fell to the floor.

~

"You two stop for a detour or something?" asked Delgado. He was checking his watch as we stepped out of the stairwell onto the floor of the Solomon Detective Agency.

"Or something," said Solomon.

"You say that like you didn't just take the stairs as we pulled into a parking space," I told my brother-in-law. "I saw you hightailing it through the door."

Delgado grinned. "Would you believe I've been here hours and just got back from following a lead?"

"Did the lead take you down to that new coffee shop at the end of the block?" asked Solomon. "I think I smell vanilla and powdered sugar."

"Busted," said Delgado with a shrug. "I couldn't resist. They make the best coffee."

"We have coffee facilities here," replied Solomon.

"Sometimes our filtered coffee just doesn't cut it," said Delgado. "Anyway, there's someone waiting in the boardroom. He insisted it was very important. Fletcher is keeping him company so I just came by to tell you."

"Why didn't you ask him to wait in one of the meeting rooms?" asked Solomon. "Unless it's a personal contact?"

"He had a courtesy card from Lieutenant Graves. I figured he was important."

Solomon glanced at me and I shrugged, palms up. I had no idea whom my brother handed out his courtesy cards to.

"Thanks for the heads-up," said Solomon. He tugged open the door, holding it wide enough for me to step through. I did, with Solomon and Delgado right behind my exceptionally nice heels.

The boardroom was separated from the office by glass. Fletcher positioned himself in Solomon's usual spot at the head of the table, while our guest was next to him with his back to us. He wore a mid-range navy blue suit with a blue shirt and the back of his head looked familiar. I must have seen him somewhere recently.

"You know this guy?" asked Solomon softly. He nodded to Fletcher who noticed us without giving any indication to our guest that we had entered.

"Looks vaguely familiar but I can't be sure without seeing his face."

Solomon didn't tell me to hang back so when Delgado sat down at his desk, I followed Solomon into the boardroom. The man rose as we entered and Solomon moved to one side. I blinked in recognition. I had seen the man before, and fairly recently. He was the First Eastern Bank manager. The last time I saw him was after the robbery, when Garrett was interviewing him before passing him on to the paramedics. A large Band-Aid covered his left temple and his arm was supported in a sling. He appeared tired but his suit was neatly pressed, the tie perfectly knotted.

"That looks painful," I said, nodding to his head. "I heard the bank robbers knocked you out cold."

He startled. "How did you know?" he asked, slightly surprised.

"Lexi was there," explained Solomon. "This is Lexi Graves-Solomon, one of my private investigators."

"The Solomon from the agency name?" asked the man.

"That would be me, John Solomon," said Solomon, extending his hand to shake the man's uninjured one.

"Charles Sampson," said the man.

"Please take a seat. Fletcher will get you a bottle of water, or coffee if you prefer."

"Just water, please," said Charles Sampson, dropping into his seat again. "I don't think caffeine is good for my head right now. And yes, one of the gunmen hit me with the butt of his gun and knocked me out cold."

Fletcher rose and slipped out of the room. Solomon took his seat and I rounded the table, sitting on his other side so the three of us were close enough to talk. The bank manager put his fingers on the card in front of him and pushed it across to Solomon. Solomon picked it up, examined it, and passed it to me. It was my brother's courtesy card; on the back, my brother wrote:please call if you need assistance, which he signed with his initials. I nodded, confirming it was authentic.