Her Man Friday by Elizabeth Bevarly

on it. You always get roughed up yourself before you can get your licks in."
    "It's still gonna cost ya," the other man said, ignoring Leo's remark. "I can give you the friends and family rate, naturally, but it's still gonna be expensive."
    "Nuh-uh," Leo said. "No way. You owe me, pal. Big time. And I'm collecting."
    "I owe
you
?" Eddie asked, his voice tinted with confusion. "For what?"
    Leo smiled. Okay, so it had been seven years ago. But he was sure the incident was still quite fresh in Eddie's memory. And it would only take two words to bring those recollections to the fore. "Walla Walla," he said.
    At the other end of the line, there erupted a feral growl of discontent. "Oh,
man
. You're not gonna bring that up again, are you?"
    Leo expelled an incredulous sound. "
Again
?" he echoed. "What do you mean again? I haven't brought it up since it happened. Hell, I wish I could forget it happened. You're the one who always wants to relive the incident every time you cuddle up with Jack Daniels. And, yeah, you're damned right I'm going to bring it up," he added, picking up steam. "I nearly got my butt shot off that night. And for what? Because you couldn't keep it zipped."
    "Hey, Leo, she was a beautiful woman," Eddie pointed out.
    "She was also a
married
woman."
    "Yeah, well, we all have our little idiosyncrasies."
    "Eddie," Leo said, striving for patience. "Being married to a mob boss is
not
an idiosyncrasy. It's a terminal condition, often fatal."
    "Yeah, yeah, yeah, so you've said. About a million times." He hesitated a telling moment before adding in a voice rife with lasciviousness, "You know, she still calls me sometimes."
    Leo shook his head. "Like I said. Terminal.
Fatal
. You better watch yourself, pal."
    "Oh, sure," Eddie replied. "At least until I even things up between us, right?"
    "Right."
    "Okay, fine," the other man relented. "Tell me what you need, and I'll get back to you when I can. And then we'll be square, got it?"
    "Got it. I need everything you can find," Leo told him frankly. "Everything on everybody."
    "Gotcha."
    "And call me at home when you get it, okay? I'm going to be out of the office for a while."
    "No problem. Gimme a coupla three days or so. I'll be in touch."
    Leo dropped the phone receiver into its cradle, then spun back around in his chair to face the computer. He nearly leapt out of his seat, however, when he realized he wasn't alone in Kimball's office. A tall, willowy, attractive brunette with wide blue eyes had joined him at some point. She was wearing a pale, whispery, flowered dress, dainty white gloves, a ridiculously large straw hat, and a very suspicious expression.
    "Uh, hi," he said in greeting, wondering how long she'd been standing there.
    "Hello," she responded in a voice that was as pale and whispery as her dress. But she said nothing more.
    Leo arched his brows in silent inquiry, and when she continued to remain silent, he asked, "Uh… can I help you?"
    The woman shook her head, then turned side-ways, lifting her chin and closing her eyes to strike as melodramatic a pose as was ever struck. "No. I'm afraid no one can help me," she told him. "But thank you for asking."
    "You're welcome," he replied automatically.
    She turned her head again then, and opened one eye just enough to study him, with an intensity that made Leo more than a little uncomfortable. And all the while, she kept her thoughts to herself, whatever they might be. He was struggling to think of something to say himself, something that might either generate conversation or, better still, make her go away, when she finally lowered her head, opened her other eye, and parted her lips, as if she were about to speak.
    But another few moments passed before she finally asked, "Do you know what the word 'didactic' means?"
    As questions went, it wasn't one Leo heard often, nor was it the traditional ice-breaker for conversation. Nevertheless, he answered, a bit cautiously, "Uh… It generally describes something which