Sissy3211: I can't help thinking it's a trap. She needs someone to fire and I think I'm next.
Bronco8881: I sure would like to meet this old nag.
Sissy3211: She's not an old nag, she's about thirty and very pretty. She knows it too.
Bronco8881: Those are the worse kind.
Sissy3211: I'm going to be that way, as soon as I can afford to get this big wart taken off my nose.
Bronco8881: Very funny.
Sissy3211: Go ahead laugh. Should I send you a picture of the wart?
Bronco8881: From one of your magazines? No thanks.
Sissy3211: Darn, I had the perfect picture all picked out. I think it is from a movie…something about a nanny.
Bronco8881: I don't think I've seen that one.
Sissy3211: You've got a lot of catching up to do.
Bronco8881: I'm sure I do. What kind of movies do you like?
Sissy3211: I am partial to romances, but not if the ending is sad.
Bronco8881: I like political thrillers, but the books are better than the movies.
Sissy3211: You read a lot?
Bronco8881: Not lately. Sissy, don't.
Sissy3211: Don't what?
Bronco8881: Sign off yet. I can always tell when you're getting tired of talking to me.
Sissy3211: I don't get tired of talking to you, I just…
Bronco8881: What?
Sissy3211: Run out of things to say, I guess.
Bronco8881: Well, we could talk about the books we've read and the movies we've seen.
Sissy3211: Okay, talk.
Austin smiled and started with some of the classics. That kept her online for nearly an hour more, and reminded him of books he could mention in the future. She was well read, even more so than he was, and someday he hoped to catch up.
Someday…after this mess with Nick's will was over.
*
The next afternoon, Maggie peered around the corner of the bookstore and searched the faces of the people in the plaza. At the same time, Jim peered around her.
"That's him," she said, "sitting on a bench eating lunch."
"Maggie, there are five guys out there sitting on benches."
"The one by the big green trashcan."
Jim stepped out in the open. "All the benches have green trashcans next to them."
Maggie grabbed his shirt and pulled him back. "He has dark hair and is wearing a suit, a white shirt and a red tie." She let him peek around the corner again.
"The one with the axe in his hand?"
She giggled. "That's the one."
"He looks pretty dangerous to me."
"You stay here; I'm going to go talk to him."
"Not on your life. I intend to find out everything I can about this weirdo first."