Whistler's Angel by John R. Maxim Page B

was doubtful that they’d leave it at that. They’d fret for a while. They’d try to cover their tracks. But sooner or later they’d look for a way to try to regain an advantage.
    “They must know that I’ve been spending some time in Cherry Creek.”
    “Sure they do. And they’d naturally wonder whether what you’ve been doing is turning whoever’s on their payroll out there. They would wonder whether that’s where those affidavits came from. They’ll look into that and they’ll satisfy themselves their people out there had never heard of you before. They’ll see that your only interest in Cherry Creek is a girl who happens to live there. They’ll check her out. It should go no further. But of course you’ll be watched while you’re visiting.”
    “They’ll tap the Gellers’ phone.”
    “Sure they will. Wouldn’t you?”
    “They’ll also be reading those emails you swap. They’ll know that you’re friendly with Kate.”
    “Adam, they read what I want them to read. Their content is innocent, and they serve as a reminder that I’m not as far way as I seem. They also suggest that you have more on your mind than causing trouble for them.”
    Whistler still wasn’t sure. This all seemed too easy. And it wasn’t like his father to leave so much to chance. Ordinarily, his father would probably have urged him to come over to Europe for a year or two. Stay away from Cherry Creek. Forget about Claudia. Or stay in touch, if he feels that he must. Better yet, bring Claudia to Europe.
    He would also have made sure that Aubrey and Poole were left with no doubt that he was serious. He would have had the twins visit each of their homes late at night when they were in bed with their wives. They’d wake up to a gun muzzle stuck in their mouths. A twin would say, “ Hush. Don’t wake up the nice lady. Harry Whistler asked me to drop by .” They would be asked to blink to show that they understood. The twin would say, “ For now, all I want is to give you food for thought about how easy I could make you not a problem. Blink again so I know you started thinking .” He’d get his blink and probably a squeal. “That’s good. Go back to sleep. I’ll let myself out. Your alarm system sucks, I should mention .”
    Maybe they’d done that. Or maybe these faceless “associates” had. But Whistler didn’t think so. As far as he could tell from his father’s account, it was simply a semi-polite office visit that laid out the terms of their parting of ways.
    His father heard the silence. “What’s bothering you, Adam?”
    “ Me walking away with them not even singed. You might have been a little too generous.”
    “Perhaps. But this thing’s a done deal.”
    “If you say so.”
    “Adam, let it go. Forget about those turkeys. There will always be hypocrites; there will always be thieves. What we’re short of is people like the Gellers.”
    And of course that was it. His father was being less thorough than usual because he was still playing cupid. Add to that, he’d grown fond of Katie Geller himself. Initially, the idea behind all those faxes was to give the potential young lovebirds a nudge. They’d ended up nudging themselves in the process. His father’s original intention had been clear right from that first day in Aspen. His hope was that the closer his son got to Claudia, the less he would care about things he couldn’t change and find something more useful to do.
    He said, “Adam, go. Get on with your life. Give Katie a kiss for me, okay?”
     
    If indeed the plan was to get him refocused, that part of it was working fairly well. He found himself losing interest in Aubrey. He found himself being gentled by a woman who was so much better than any of those people that his heart did not have room for much else.
    Still, one could not have called it a whirlwind romance. They had kissed; they’d held hands, but that was all.
    She had already asked him, “Is something wrong, Adam?”
    “Wrong?