a speaker phone. That seemed to mean that Cade was listening to both sides of
a conversation over a regular phone or a cell phone.
"Look, I'm in a hurry," said the guy. "I'll head down to the lobby and get a
cab. You just tell me who I have to see what all I have to do on the way, okay?"
Cade instantly opened the landing door and stepped into the hallway. The
door to the room on his left opened and a guy with a suitcase in one hand and a
cell phone to his ear hurried out of the room and down the hall.
'Damn,' thought Cade, suddenly far too aware of a myriad of sounds in the
hall. 'What other changes could he expect?'
Mandi's idea that he might need supervision made more sense as he tried
vainly to filter out some of the useless noise around him. Training was what
he'd need.
As he approached his room, he stopped walking as he heard Mandi say, "Ed has
been a bit difficult, Andrea. More than a bit difficult, in fact. I hate to say
it, but converting him may have been a mistake."
A familiar woman's voice responded, "Oh, he didn't strike me as being all
that terrible. You heard what he said about my eyes, didn't you? And the way he
said it? And he was so polite when he excused himself and moved on. He called me
'ma'am'. Jerks don't act like that, Mandi."
"Uh, huh. He'll call you 'milady', too, but don't let it go to your head.
You know that horse you call a 'hardmouth'? The one who sometimes decides to go
where he damned well pleases? You may come to think of Cade as a hardmouth,
too."
With a snicker, Andrea said, "Well, if I do, I'll be sure to let you know.
But if he's no worse than what I've seen so far, he'll max out just fine, 'cause
I'll bang his brains out all week."
Laughing, Mandi said, "Yeah, sure. More likely he'll tickle yours loose
first." She took a breath and intoned solemnly, "Be warned," then burst out
laughing again.
Laughing with her, Andrea said, "If he's that good, more power to him.
What's keeping him?"
'Uh-oh,' thought Cade, getting underway again just as he felt Mandi's gaze
locate him.
A few steps later he tapped on the door as he used his keycard and let
himself into his room.

Chapter Twenty-three

From long habit, Cade stood somewhat to one side of the doorway as he pushed
it open with his left hand, then pretended to take a moment to put his keycard
back in his jacket pocket rather than walk straight into the room.