zy, Mandi. He's fifty-three, for
God's sake. If he was going to go nuts he'd have done it before now. Jesus, you
ought to hear some of the things he's been through."
"Great idea, John. When can I see his records?"
John's eyes got somewhat larger as he said, "Uh, well..."
Mandi put a finger on his chest that felt like a steel rod and said, "No.
Don't say 'uh, well'. Just say when I can see them."
Gathering himself against her imposing presence, John said, "Mandi, before I
say 'when', I have to ask 'why'."
Letting her finger drop from his chest, Mandi said, "I wanted him for my
project. I was going to talk to you about it, but now I have some doubts about
him."
"Uh, isn't he kind of old for what you have in mind?"
Thumbing toward the lobby, she asked, "You can ask that after what happened
out there? That guy was half Cade's age." She shrugged and added, "Besides, he
calls himself semi-retired and he joined this op without a second thought,
didn't he? Do you really think he'd turn me down?"
With a wry grin and a sigh, John shook his head.
"No. There's not a chance in hell of that, once you tell him what it's
about. Okay. You'll see his records."
"When?"
"Is now good? He'll be filling out reports in the ops room, so we can use
the computer in my room."
Mandi nodded and said, "Thanks, John. I wouldn't ask if I didn't need to
know."
They headed up to the fourth floor and John pulled up Cade's records on his
computer.
"This isn't everything," he said, "But it ought to be enough for now. If you
aren't satisfied with these, you can see his complete file on Monday."
Mandi thanked him and began reading as John lay down with a damp towel over
his face and dozed. Fifteen minutes later Mandi slid her chair back and stood
up. John pulled the towel off his face and looked at her.
"Well?" he asked.
"You never mentioned that he'd been a mercenary, John."
"You didn't ask." Indicating the computer with a nod, he asked, "How do you
feel about him after reading all that?"
Glancing at the computer screen, she said, "I'll still want to see his full
file on Monday. There are a lot of variables."
"If you'll swing by the office, I'll arrange it."
John started to get up, but Mandi raised a hand and said, "No, stay put. I
can find the door. Thanks, John."
"Only for you, ma'am," he said, putting the towel back over his eyes as he
chuckled