Chapter 19

“It is Gerry, right?” the man asked quietly. “Gerry Faun?”

The way the last word rolled off the man’s tongue sent a shiver down Gerry’s spine. “Yes. Yes, it is. And you are?”

There was no reply. Only the click of a receiver being lowered into its resting place. It wasn’t until a full minute of blank, thoughtless staring had passed that Gerry remembered he still had Francois on hold.

* * * *

“I’m sorry, you want me to do what again?” Gerry stared at his boss as though Mr. Manon had lost his mind. It was Wednesday, mid-afternoon, and with half the work week under his belt, Gerry had already started making plans for the weekend. Those plans had started with ‘lock front door on entry to house,’ moved on to a ‘curl up in ball and read until eyes get too heavy,’ and ended with ‘repeat until the calendar says Monday’. They certainly hadn’t involved a suit and a tie.

“Attend the event for me,” Manon repeated, slower and with more emphasis than the first two times he’d said it.