Page 7 of The Mouse and the Maestro

Blue parked. They made their way through the museum’s security until at last they landed in the presence of the man they’d come to see, in what Blue presumed to be his lab. The man turned to survey them, and Blue took stock. He was young and professional looking with unruly brown hair and ubiquitously geeky glasses. He straightened and offered his hand to Jane without a smile.

“Dr. Dunbar.”

Jane returned the formal shake. “Dr. Stevens.”

Blue refrained from rolling his eyes. They were as cold and stiff as he’d imagined they’d be. This visit was going to be a laugh riot, but at least seeing her with a friend had done nothing to dispel his uptight image of her. And then Dr. Stevens used the hand he still held to yank Jane hard against his chest.

“Give us a kiss, Jane.”

“Absolutely,” Jane replied. She stood on her toes, but instead of reaching for his lips ducked out of his grasp, hopped on his back, and kissed his cheek.

He laughed. “Get off, you little monkey.”

Jane slid down. “Speaking of monkeys, where’s yours?”

Dr. Stevens handed her a bowl of fruit. “You know what to do.”

Jane picked up the fruit and shook it. “Kiko, treats.”

A monkey appeared as if from nowhere, perched on her shoulder, and reached for the fruit. “You have to pay the toll,” she said, holding the fruit out of reach. She extended her lips, the monkey kissed them, and she gave him the fruit.

“Sure, the monkey you kiss on the lips,” Dr. Stevens said.

“So, you have a monkey,” Blue said, the first time he’d spoken since they arrived.

“It’s good PR for the museum. Jane used to have a monkey, too, didn’t she tell you?”

Blue shook his head, eyeing the monkey warily. They were in a lab, after all. Had no one besides him watchedOutbreak? He held out his hand to the doctor. “Blue Bishop.”

“Charles Stevens. Sorry, I got so caught up with delight at seeing Jane again I lost track of the introductions.”

“You were telling me about Jane’s monkey. Was this recently?” Exactly how weird was she?

“No, she was, what, nine?”

“Eight,” Jane corrected.

“You guys go back a ways,” Blue said. And yet the man still seemed to like her. Strange.

“Our families were in Africa for a while together,” Jane said.

“How is the family?” Charles asked.

“Well, thanks.”

“Is your dad still…?”

“Yes,” Jane said, hasty to cut off whatever he was about to say.

“It’s good to see you, Jane. It’s been too long,” Charles said warmly. To Blue he added, “Did she tell you we skinny dipped together?”

“Still when I was eight. And you were eleven, you corrupting perv.”

“Your sister dragged me into it,” Charles replied.

“That sounds about right,” Jane said, smiling. The monkey grabbed another grape and skittered away. “Right, I guess we should get down to business.”

“What’s this all about? Your message was so cryptic,” Charles said.

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