Boo was in the hallway to meet him when the elevator cruised to a stop on ten. She was wearing at least five thousand dollars’ worth of clothes from Escada. She had a great body, but she looked like a bullfighter or a marching-band leader in the gaudy outfit. No wonder her first two husbands had divorced her. The second husband had been a therapist and treating M.D. Still, she was a good, steady mistress who gave much better than she got. More important, she was able to get him Thorazine, Librium, Ativan, Xanax. Most of the drugs were samples from drug-company representatives; her husband had left them behind when they’d split. The number of “samples” left by the drug reps amazed Shafer, but she assured him it was common practice. She had other “friends” who were doctors, and she hinted to Shafer that they helped her out in return for an occasional fuck. She could get all the drugs he needed.

Shafer wanted to take her right there in the hall, and he knew Boo would like the spontaneity and the passion that were so clearly missing from her life. Not tonight, though. He had more basic needs: the drugs.

“You don’t look too happy to see me, Geoff,” she complained. She took his face in her manicured hands. Christ, her long, varnished red nails scared him. “What happened, darling? Something’s happened. Tell Boo what it is.”

Shafer took her in his arms and held her tightly against his chest. She had large soft breasts, great legs, too. He stroked her frosted blond hair and nuzzled her with his chin. He loved the power he had over her — his goddamned shrink.

“I don’t want to talk about it just yet. I’m here with you. I feel much better already.”

“What happened, darling? What’s wrong? You have to share these things with me.”

So he made up a story on the spot, acted it out. Nothing to it. “Lucy claims she knows about us. God, she was paranoid before I started to see you. Lucy always threatens to destroy my life. She says she’ll leave me. Sue for what fucking little I have. Her father will have me fired, then blackball me in the government and in the private sector, which he’s perfectly capable of doing. The worst thing is, she’s poisoning the children, turning them against me. They use the same belittling phrases that she does: ‘colossal failure,’ ‘underachiever,’ ‘get a real job, Daddy.’ Some days I wonder whether it isn’t true.”

Boo kissed him lightly on the forehead. “No, no, darling. You’re well thought of at the embassy. I know you’re a loving dad. You just have a bitchy, mean-spirited, spoiled-rotten wife who gets you down on yourself. Don’t let her do it.”