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.Javier and Marianne stepped out, took the plates Tim gave them,and sat down at the table.They were both so quiet and subdued,Nelson almost thought Javier had decided to throw her out on thestreet once the sun came up and then Nelson would really need tohave it out with him, for sure.But, no.Their body language as theycleaned their plates seemed weary, but easy, like two people who dshared a burden.234 Whatever big secret she d told him must ve been a doozy.Nelsonalmost expected Randy to demand that she air her dirty laundry infront of everyone else, just like he d been forced to do.He wasn t theone with zero instinct when it came to women, though, and while hecould have made a big stink, he chose to keep his mouth shut.Once Javier had eaten, he went into the boss office and came outwith Tim s netbook. Since we re all in accord, he said, the easiestway for me to explain the situation would be to let you hear what Iheard.It speaks for itself. He navigated to a file, and sat back with his arms crossed as thenetbook s small speakers hissed to life. Frank Logan? This is Javier de la Rosa from The Daily Gazette callingto verify some information on your charity dinner on Saturday.Thisphone call is being recorded for reference.May I continue? All right, a nasally man s voice replied. But the information onCanaan s website is all up to date.Can t you just ? I ll only take a moment of your time.Is it confirmed that the Mayorwill be in attendance? Well, he& look, let me switch you to my secretary.She ll have thelatest information. Fine.Thank you. A series of tones sounded before Javier finished unenthusiasticallythanking the man.The line rang twice, and then a man picked upand said, Arthur shipping. Is this Mr.Logan s secretary? Aw, shit, did he& ? Uh, sorry.The last two numbers of her extensionare the same as mine, but switched.He transfers a call to me at least235 every other day and then half the time the call drops when I sendit back over. Can you give me her direct number? I m calling from The DailyGazette and I d hate to bother Mr.Logan again. A pause. You re from The Daily? For real? That s right. Nelson wouldn t have read anything into the inflectionof Javier s voice if they didn t know each other.But now, having spentsome time together, he could totally picture a look of excruciatingcaution on his face, a kind of why on earth are you asking? expression. Listen, Arthur said, you didn t hear this from me& what is it theysay? The sound quality changed, as if the speaker had ducked intoa small, enclosed space. Oh yeah, off the record. Sir&. There s a job fair next week on Eighth Street.Something interestingmight happen there.Real interesting. A long pause in which Nelson could imagine Javier hanging up, sinceArthur in shipping sounded suspiciously like a paranoid crackpot.Instead, he responded with subdued encouragement. Go on. You really wanna know? Nelson quelled a smirk at the thought of Javier being strung alongby a guy who was obviously bursting to brag about some dirt hewas privy to. If you think it s relevant, Javier said, affecting a toneof boredom rather than frustration. Otherwise, just give me thenumber for Logan s secretary and Oh, it s relevant all right. Well? What is it, then? 236 You heard anything about the recall? Keys clattered as if one of them was typing on a computer. I don tshow anything on a recall. Right.That s right.Because no one s talking about a recall. But you have knowledge of a recall that s taken place. My whole third shift worked overtime last week on orders that camedown from corporate screwed up my whole schedule for the nexttwo weeks, but what do they care? Went out and rotated the stock attwenty, thirty different stores.And not just the short-dated manna. A dramatic pause. All of it. And this is unusual? Look, pal, would I give two shits if it wasn t? Javier went on, dry as you please. So the stock was removed andreplaced in a number of stores& did these vendors have anything incommon? You bet your ass they did.All the boroughs are part of my territory.But every single place that got cleaned out and re-stocked was inManhattan.Only Manhattan. What does this have to do with the job fair? You don t think I been sittin here waiting for a reporter to call meout of the blue, do you? I took things into my own hands
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