Annapolis, page 79
Then she looked out at the shadows on the Bowling Green. The man with the briefcase had disappeared… into a cab or a car or onto a bicycle, she couldn’t tell. Another man was crossing Whitehall Street and vaulting the fence. And those two from under the canopy were still advancing.
Evangeline reached into her pocket for her cell phone. Instead, she felt something harder and heavier and far older. In all the excitement, she had forgotten to grab the phone and had kept the crown finial.
TWENTY MINUTES LATER, Peter Fallon’s cell phone rang. Evangeline. He pressed the button. “What now?”
“I don’t know. You tell me.” It wasn’t Evangeline. It was some guy.
“Who’s this?”
“My name’s Joey. I picked up this cell phone from the sidewalk on the Bowling Green. Your number’s on it.” He spoke with a Brooklyn accent.
“The sidewalk?” Peter’s stomach turned. His focus split and split again. Who is this? What’s happened to her? Who do I know in New York who can help? He decided the best thing was to play it cool. So he asked, “Did she drop it?”
“That would be why it was on the sidewalk, don’t you think?”
“And she didn’t notice?”
“If she did, she might’ve picked it up.”
This guy was annoying, thought Peter, but don’t mouth off… yet.
“She jumped into a cab,” said Joey. “I’m sure she wants her cell phone back. What’s her address?”
“You want her address? Listen, pal, I was born at night—”
“Yeah. Yeah, but not last night. Ha-ha. Very funny. A smart-ass. I should write it down to call you whenever I need a laugh. Now I got your girlfriend’s cell phone, so—”
“We’ll get it in the morning,” said Peter.
“It’s your phone, too? This your wife? Is she there?”
“No.”
“No, she’s not your wife, or no, she’s not there.”
“Both,” said Peter. “Just tell us where to meet and when. We’ll give you a hundred bucks for your time.”
“A Benjamin? Nice. I’ll take a hedonistic sage over a dead president any day. You like that? Hedonistic sage. Bet you thought I didn’t have an education.”
“I just want the cell phone back.”
“Meet at the Bowling Green, tomorrow morning at nine thirty. I’ll be wearin’ a blue windbreaker and a Yankee hat.”
“I’ll have on a blue blazer and a blue button-down with an open collar.”
“That’ll makes things easy. Only about a million guys in New York wearin’ Yankee hats. Only about a million more wearin’ blue blazers and blue button-downs.”
“I’ll have my girlfriend with me, too,” said Peter. “You’ll recognize her, right?”
“I never forget a face, especially a pretty one, even at night. I might forget their names in the mornin’ but—”
“Are we done?”
“See ya tomorrow, Boston.”
Afterward, Peter called Evangeline’s landline. She answered on the fifth ring. She had just gotten in. She told him what had happened and admitted she had panicked.
He told her he’d be there in the morning. “We’ll go to the Bowling Green together.”
She took the crown finial from her pocket and turned it over in her fingers. She wondered what it was she had really seen that night, and how it had all begun.
Table of Contents
Other Books by this Author
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Copyright
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Prologue: The Last Chapter:
The Stafford Story: Book One: Jedediah’s Credo: July 1745
Chapter One: Sycamores and Submarines
The Stafford Story: Book Two: Staffords and Parrishes, Rebellion and Revenge: October 1774
Chapter Two: Stafford’s Fine Folly
The Stafford Story: Book Three: Boys and Honor: September 1786
Chapter Three: Talk of Ghosts
The Stafford Story: Book Four: Men and Glory: June 1807
Chapter Four: Ghost Hunting: October 9
The Stafford Story: Book Five: A Hanging Offense: December 1840
Chapter Five: Submarine: October 10
The Stafford Story: Book Six: Brother against Brother: March 1861
Chapter Six: At Chick and Ruth’s: October 11
The Stafford Story: Book Seven: Two Generations and a Big Stick: May 1897:
Chapter Seven: Meeting the Admiral: October 12
The Stafford Story: Book Eight: Dispatches from Armageddon: December 7, 1941
Chapter Eight: Melon and Smiley, Sitting: on a Bench: October 13
The Stafford Story: Book Nine: The Limits of Power: August 1964
Chapter Nine: The Last Story: October 13
The Stafford Story: Book Ten: The Limits of Power: June 1967
Chapter Ten: Telling the Story: October 14
William Martin, Annapolis
