Hokus Pokus by Fern Michaels

he could see Nellie and Justice Barnes walking to the curb. Two black Crown Victorias slid alongside. Nellie got in one and Justice Barnes got in the other. Jack puffed furiously as he tried to figure out his next move. Since Robinson hated his guts, he needed to do something preemptive to throw him off whatever he thought might be going on. But what?
    â€œI guess I’ll leave you, too,” Lizzie said quietly. “Jack, should we be worried?”
    â€œOh, yeah, Lizzie, we definitely need to worry,” Jack drawled before he dropped his cigarette to the curb. He ground his heel into it and then picked it up to stick it in his pocket. “Smokers have no rights these days,” he grumbled. The others ignored him.
    Quiet up to this point, Harry spoke up. “That’s because those things will kill you and if you’re too stupid to recognize the surgeon general’s warnings, then other people have to take your best interests to heart. How about if I just take Robinson out? That will solve everything.”
    Jack snorted. “It might come to that, Harry. For your information I only smoke seven cigarettes a week.”
    â€œThat’s seven too many. See ya,” Harry said, striding off toward his dojo .
    â€œGuess it’s just me and you, Jack,” Lizzie said.
    â€œI don’t think it’s a good idea for us to be seen together. Where are you headed?”
    â€œYou’re right. Home. Where else on a Sunday afternoon? Should we pick a fight and I bop you for some alleged obscene comment in case anyone is watching?”
    â€œYou’re really full of yourself, you know that, right?”
    Lizzie held his gaze for a long time before she turned and walked off without saying a word.
    Jack walked in the opposite direction. The rest of the day loomed ahead of him. He hated Sundays. Everybody he knew hated Sundays. One time, back when he and Ted Robinson were friends, they’d had an hour conversation about why they each hated Sundays. Why was that? he wondered. When no earth-shattering answer entered his thoughts, Jack stepped to the curb and hailed a cab to take him to Georgetown where he lived in Nikki Quinn’s house.
    In the cab, he leaned back and closed his eyes. He could do his laundry. Get his dry cleaning ready to drop off in the morning. He could stop and buy some groceries. The sheets on the bed needed to be changed. Hell, he could clean the windows if he was desperate to do something. What he really should do was balance his checkbook. One of these days he was going to do his banking online. Except he’d probably never do that because he hated everything online as much as he hated Sundays.
    Screw it, he’d go home and take a nap.
    Fifteen minutes later, Jack stepped out of the cab at his front door. The cell phone in his pocket started to vibrate. He fished it out and looked down at the caller ID. His blood ran cold. “Why are you calling me, asshole?”
    â€œTo get a comment, asshole,” Ted Robinson responded.
    â€œTo think you and I used to be buddies, not to mention friends. I have no comment other than to say the Scotch Eggs aren’t what they’re cracked up to be. Didja get it, Ted? Eggs not being what they’re cracked up to be. Forget it, you always were slow on the uptake.”
    â€œWhat’s up with Justice Barnes, Jack?”
    â€œHow the hell should I know? I don’t travel in those circles. Why don’t you call her and ask her? By the way, asshole, that was a shitty thing you did to Maggie. I have no love for either one of you, but guys don’t air their dirty linen in places like Wintergreen’s. The whole damn place heard you. All you did was make an ass of yourself. And you made Maggie cry. What that means to you, Teddy boy, is I have absolutely no respect for any man who makes a woman cry. Now, I’m going to hang up so you can go back under that rock where you live.”
    Livid with the