9
"You've seen him? He's well?"
Maria Roselli's dark eyes danced in her puffy face as she beamed at Jack.
Esteban had announced him and Benno the Rottweiler had greeted Jack at the door. She'd offered tea again but he'd declined.
"He looks healthy," Jack said. Couldn't say he'd looked clean, but he hadn't seemed malnourished. "Looks like he's working on a beard."
She frowned. "Really? He tried that once before and said the itching drove him crazy." She waved her hand. "But that's neither here nor there. What did he say when you told him to call his mother?"
"I didn't get to that. It seems he's, um, being punished."
"What?" Her hand fluttered to her mouth. "Whatever do you mean?"
"I don't know what he did, but he's not allowed to talk to other Dormen-talists and they're not allowed to talk to him."
"Isn't that silly? I can't believe Johnny allows himself to be humiliated like that. He should just get out of that place."
"That would be up to him. Since I'm pretending to be a Dormentalist wannabe, I can't talk to him in the temple. So I'm working on finding out where he lives. I'll catch up to him outside the temple and give him your message."
"How long do you think that will take? Another day, perhaps?"
Jack shrugged. "I'd like that, but don't count on it."
"But you've accomplished so much so soon."
"Pure luck."
A lucky coincidence. There it was again: the C-word. Was this situation being manipulated? It didn't seem so, but one of those old ladies with a dog had told him there'd be no more coincidences in his life.
He rose and looked down at Maria. "Are you sure you don't know Anya Mundy?"
"That woman you mentioned the other day? 1 believe 1 told you no."
"Yeah, you did, didn't you." He sighed. "If I'm lucky again, I'll catch sight of Johnny and follow him home. In case that doesn't happen, I'll work on getting a peek at member records."
Jack liked the former course better. Tomorrow he'd try hanging out on the Communing level at about the same time he'd been there today. If Johnny Roselli was a creature of habit, Jack might be able to create his own coincidence.
Out front, Esteban smiled and held the front door open as Jack exited. As he started walking toward First Avenue he realized he hadn't seen Gia all day. He had a few minutes. Why not pop in?