I laughed and almost spilled beer all over myself. “Kate! She’s a schoolteacher! She’s not some fanatic looking for some time in the spotlight.”

“How do you know? Schoolteachers don’t get fame at all; even more reason for her to grab it when she can.”

I groaned. “You and Todd really ought to get together. I mean it. You’re perfect for each other. You could sit around dreaming up conspiracies and waiting for the other shoe to drop on every situation you encounter while waiting for people to try to cash in on their relationship with you.”

Kate sighed. “Look, I’m sorry. You understand why I worry—”

“Yes, I do, but I’m telling you not to. It’s not the end of the world if someone gets wind of it, and no one is going to anyway, so just chill out.” I took a swig from the bottle. “So what did she say?”

“Just that she wanted to thank you again. She was totally flustered when she found out the number was for me and not you. It took her a second to regroup.”

“I didn’t even think to mention the number was for my assistant. Sorry about that.”

“I don’t mind. She did sound nice, though. Very … polite.”

I chuckled. “You sound surprised.”

“Hey, I don’t talk to many polite people during the day. I usually deal with the press. It was a nice change.”

“Well, thanks for passing on the message.”

“No problem.”

“Talk to you later.”

“Sure thing.”

“Bye—Wait, hold on.”

“What?”

“Did you get her number?”

“Yes, why?”

“Do me a favor. Call her back and give her my number here.”

“Your number … like, your personal number?”

“Yeah. Wait, no, I take it back. That seems way too … I don’t know. Having my assistant call is too impersonal. I’ll just do it.”

“You sure? Because, like, that’s the sort of thing I’m supposed to do.”

“Yeah, I know, but this isn’t business. Never mind. Thanks, Kate. Later.”

She made a weird noise that sounded like a cross between a sneeze and a snicker. “Bye, Jack.”

I drained the bottle and got up. What had I done with the paper I’d written Graces info on? I checked the pockets of my jacket and finally found it in one of them. I dialed the number. It rang four times and then went over to a machine.

“Hi, you’ve reached Grace Winslowe. Leave a message.”

“Hi, Grace, Jack here. Uh, Jack Harrington; guess I shouldn’t assume you’d know right away who I meant.” Great. I sound like an idiot. “Listen, sorry about not explaining about the number on the card. I wasn’t thinking. If you need to call me about the car or anything, you can call me here at my place. The number is 310-555-2853. Hope you enjoy the car. Take care. Bye.”