What looked to be fear flashed across Paul’s face. “Can you clear it with her? If she thinks I’ve hurt Kelly, she might...” He swallowed.

“Break your bones into little pieces and use them for plant stakes?” Paul didn’t smile but he nodded.

Adam took his keys out of his pocket. “Leave tomorrow early. Before daylight if possible. The sooner you’re gone, the faster I can do whatever needs to be done.” He held out his hand, they shook and Adam drove away.

He frowned on the drive into Kansas City. It was a fairly long way but the highway made it clear driving, and he admired the surroundings. A lot of people said Kansas was too flat, but to Adam, the fields, the open spaces, were beautiful. It reminded him of Africa. Add a few giraffes and a zebra or two, change the color of the soil, and it could be Africa.

The travel agency where Vera worked was on the beautiful Plaza, built in 1923 to look like Seville, Spain. It was the first shopping center in the world made to accommodate motorcars, so there were covered parking garages everywhere. He pulled into one, got out and walked to Vera’s office on Wyandotte.

Like all the other buildings on the Plaza, it had a romantic look about it, old Spain in Kansas.

She was on the phone and motioned for him to take a seat and wait for her. The walls were covered with posters of places in the world to visit.

“I’ll call you as soon as I know,” Vera said, then hung up. She smiled at him. “Hungry?”

“Starving.” He held the door open for her. There was no need to talk about what they would eat for lunch. It was Kansas City, so they’d have barbecue. Beef and how to cook it was practically a religion in the state. Burnt ends, brisket and ribs said it all.

“Enjoying your time off?” Vera asked as soon as they were seated.

“Actually, I’ve had a busy day. This morning I—”

He stopped as the waitress took their orders.

“Joe Harding called me,” Vera said as soon as she left.

“He owns that big farm in Garland?”

“No, silly. The Joe Harding.” Adam drew a blank.

“I wrote you about him. He did that series on modern-day Pakistan for the New York Times. There’s talk of a Pulitzer for it. Anyway, I wrote him a long letter about how I would soon be traveling and I told him I work in a travel agency. Today he called me and asked if I’d plan his next trip for him.” She fell back against her chair and waited for Adam’s exclamation.

“That’s great! Really, it is.”

“I think so. In fact...”

The waitress put their platters in front of them. It was a huge amount of food. “In fact what?” Adam asked.