“I’m glad you like it,” she responded. “Excuse me, I have to get to work on your closing Friday morning.”

“We’ve got a real estate department for that,” Herbie said.

“I know how to put a closing together,” she said, “and it will take me a third less time than if they do it.”

“Then go to work.”

Herbie looked around for his phone messages: there were two, one from Stone Barrington and one from Mike Freeman. He called Mike first, and was surprised when he answered his own phone. “Hey, Mike. Don’t you have a secretary anymore?”

“She doesn’t get in this early,” Mike said. “Only the boss does.”

“Thank you so much for sending your team down to High Cotton,” Herbie said.

“They’re back this morning—they’ve got the whole building to wire.”

“That’s great. With your help, I’ll turn this little venture into a real business.”

“From what Marshall Brennan tells me about their ideas, that will happen very quickly,” Mike said. “Tell me, Herbie, how’d you like a new client?”

“I’d like nothing better!”

“I hired a guy yesterday, and he’s going to set up a new division for me that will specialize in bodyguard training. We’ve always done that for our own people, but now we’re going to offer the training to our clients’ employees. We’ve bought an old road racing track upstate a ways that we’ll turn into a high-performance, defensive-driving school, and there’ll be four firing ranges, too—everything from handguns to automatic weapons.”

“Sounds terrific, Mike. How can I help?”

“I’d like you to create a corporate framework for the division, set up the accounting and a purchasing system for equipment. Though it’s wholly owned, I’d like it to operate like a separate company.”

“I can do that.”

“The guy I’ve hired, who’ll be the CEO, is called Josh Hook. He’s ex-CIA, spent a little over twenty years there, in operations. His experience is broad and deep. I’ll have him call you.”

“I’ll look forward to hearing from him, Mike, and I’ll go ahead and set up the company as a client. You have a name yet?”

“Strategic Defense,” Mike said.

“Got it.”

“You’ll hear from Josh later today.” Mike said goodbye and hung up.

There was a knock, and Herbie looked up to find Bill Eggers leaning against the doorjamb. “What the hell is this?” Eggers asked.

“Come in, Bill, and have a seat.”

“I didn’t authorize you to redecorate,” Eggers said.

“No, and you didn’t pay for it, either,” Herbie pointed out.

“In that case, I’ll have a seat.” He settled into an armchair and looked around. “I didn’t know you had taste this good, Herbert.”

“I don’t,” Herbie said, “but I have good taste in secretaries. She’s out in her cubicle right now setting up a real estate closing for Friday.”

“We have a department for that,” Eggers said.

“She’ll use their checklist, but she can do it faster and cheaper. You can bill High Cotton Ideas for your department.”

“You only got this piece of business yesterday, didn’t you?”