Chapter 43

MY HEAD WAS STILL BUZZING from my meeting with Molinari as I headed back to my office. On the way, I stopped at Jill's.

A worker was vacuuming the corridor, but her lights were still on.

An Eva Cassidy CD was playing lightly in the back-ground. I heard Jill dictating¹ into a recording² device.

"Hey." I knocked on the door. A look as apologetic as I could muster³. "I know you left some messages. It probably won't help if I tell you about my day."

"Well, I know how it began," Jill said. Icicles.

Deserved.

"Look, I can't blame you for being mad." I stepped in, placing my hands on the top of a high-backed chair.

"You could say I was a little mad," Jill said, "earlier in the day."

"And now?"

"Now...I guess you could call it very fucking mad, Lindsay."

There wasn't a hint of humor in her face. When you needed someone to seriously bust⁴ some balls - to use the wrong metaphor⁵ - Jill was your gal⁶.

"You're torturing me," I said, and sat in the chair. "I real-ize what I did was way out of bounds."

Jill laughed derisively⁷. "I would say the part about send-ing a hit man after my husband seemed a bit wide of the lines - even for you, Lindsay."

"It wasn't a hit man," I corrected her. "It was a knee-cracker. But who's being technical. What can I say? You're married to a total SOB⁸." I pulled the chair up to the side of her desk. "Look, Jill, I know it was wrong. I didn't go there to threaten him. I went for you. But the guy was such a tight -assed creep."

"Maybe what the guy didn't appreciate was our business being laid out like a laundry list in his face. What I told you was in confidence, Lindsay."

"You're right." I swallowed. "I'm sorry."

Gradually, the little lines of anger in her brow began to soften⁹. She pushed back her chair from the desk and rolled it to face me, almost knee to knee.

"Look, Lindsay, I'm a big girl. Let me fight my own battles. You're my friend in this case, not the police."

"So everybody's telling me."

"Then hear it, honey, because I need you to be my friend. Not the 101st Airborne." She took my hands and squeezed them. "Usually a friend hears another out, invites her to lunch, maybe sets her up with a cute coworker.... Barging into her husband's office and threatening to have his knees capped... that sort of stuff... we call them enemies, Lindsay."

I laughed. For the first time I saw a glimmer¹⁰ of a smile crack through Jill's ice. A glimmer.

"Okay, so as a friend, how are you and the SOB since he punched you?" I sniffed¹¹ back a false smile.

Jill laughed, shrugged¹². "I guess we're okay.... We talked about counseling."

"The only counseling Steve needs is from a lawyer, during an arraignment¹³."

"Be my friend, Lindsay, remember.... Anyway, there are more important matters to discuss. What's going on in this city?"

I told her about the message Cindy had received that morning, and how it ratcheted up the case. "You ever hear of an anti-terrorism guy named Joe Molinari?"

Jill thought. "I remember a Joe Molinari who was a prose-cutor back in New York. Top-notch investigator¹⁴. Worked on the World Trade Center bombing. Not hard to look at, either. I think he went down to Washington in some capacity."

" `Some capacity' means the Department of Homeland Security and my new point man on the case."

"You could do worse," Jill said. "Did I mention he wasn't hard to look at?"

"Cut it out." I blushed.

Jill cocked her head. "Normally you don't go for the federal types."

" 'Cause most of them are just career guys looking to score a promotion¹⁵ on our sources and leads. But this Molinari seems like the real deal. Maybe you could do some ground-work for me...."

"You mean like what kind of litigator he is?" Jill smiled, cat-eyed. "Or whether he's married? I think Lindsay's a little taken with the special agent."

"Deputy director." I wrinkled my nose.

"Oh...the man's done well." Jill nodded approvingly. "I did say he was handsome, didn't I?" She grinned again. We both laughed.

After a while, I took Jill's hand. "I'm sorry I did what I did, Jill. It would kill me if I added to what you're going through. I can't promise to stay out, at least not completely. You're our friend, Jill, and we're worried sick for you. But I'll give you my word...I won't put a hit out on him. Not without run-ning it by you first."

"Deal." Jill nodded. She squeezed my hand. "I know you're worried for me, Lindsay. And, really, I love you for it. Just let me see it through my way. And leave the cuffs¹⁶ at home next time."

"Deal." I smiled.

1 dictating   

v.大声讲或读( dictate的现在分词 )；口授；支配；摆布

参考例句：

• The manager was dictating a letter to the secretary. 经理在向秘书口授信稿。 来自辞典例句
• Her face is impassive as she listens to Miller dictating the warrant for her arrest. 她毫无表情地在听米勒口述拘留她的证书。 来自辞典例句

2 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

3 muster   

v.集合，收集，鼓起，激起；n.集合，检阅，集合人员，点名册

参考例句：

• Go and muster all the men you can find.去集合所有你能找到的人。
• I had to muster my courage up to ask him that question.我必须鼓起勇气向他问那个问题。

4 bust   

vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部

参考例句：

• I dropped my camera on the pavement and bust it. 我把照相机掉在人行道上摔坏了。
• She has worked up a lump of clay into a bust.她把一块黏土精心制作成一个半身像。

5 metaphor   

n.隐喻，暗喻

参考例句：

• Using metaphor,we say that computers have senses and a memory.打个比方，我们可以说计算机有感觉和记忆力。
• In poetry the rose is often a metaphor for love.玫瑰在诗中通常作为爱的象征。

6 gal   

n.姑娘，少女

参考例句：

• We decided to go with the gal from Merrill.我们决定和那个从梅里尔来的女孩合作。
• What's the name of the gal? 这个妞叫什么？

7 derisively   

adv. 嘲笑地，嘲弄地

参考例句：

• This answer came derisively from several places at the same instant. 好几个人都不约而同地以讥讽的口吻作出回答。
• The others laughed derisively. 其余的人不以为然地笑了起来。

8 sob   

n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣

参考例句：

• The child started to sob when he couldn't find his mother.孩子因找不到他妈妈哭了起来。
• The girl didn't answer,but continued to sob with her head on the table.那个女孩不回答，也不抬起头来。她只顾低声哭着。

9 soften   

v.(使)变柔软；(使)变柔和

参考例句：

• Plastics will soften when exposed to heat.塑料适当加热就可以软化。
• This special cream will help to soften up our skin.这种特殊的护肤霜有助于使皮肤变得柔软。

10 glimmer   

v.发出闪烁的微光；n.微光，微弱的闪光

参考例句：

• I looked at her and felt a glimmer of hope.我注视她，感到了一线希望。
• A glimmer of amusement showed in her eyes.她的眼中露出一丝笑意。

11 sniffed   

v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说

参考例句：

• When Jenney had stopped crying she sniffed and dried her eyes. 珍妮停止了哭泣，吸了吸鼻子，擦干了眼泪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The dog sniffed suspiciously at the stranger. 狗疑惑地嗅着那个陌生人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 arraignment   

n.提问，传讯，责难

参考例句：

• She was remanded to juvenile detention at her arraignment yesterday. 她昨天被送回了对少年拘留在她的传讯。 来自互联网
• Wyatt asks the desk clerk which courthouse he is being transferred to for arraignment. 他向接待警员询问了马宏将在哪个法庭接受传讯。 来自互联网

14 investigator   

n.研究者，调查者，审查者

参考例句：

• He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
• The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。

15 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

16 cuffs   

n.袖口( cuff的名词复数 )v.掌打，拳打( cuff的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• a collar and cuffs of white lace 带白色蕾丝花边的衣领和袖口
• The cuffs of his shirt were fraying. 他衬衣的袖口磨破了。