بخش 04 - فصل 07

7

Todd Schneider is in, and affable. “I understand you folks are in for quite a storm, Mr. Hodges.”

“So they say.”

“Having any luck tracking down those defective consoles?”

“That’s actually why I’m calling. Do you happen to have the address that consignment of Zappit Commanders was sent to?”

“Of course. Can I call you back with it?”

“How about if I hang on? It’s rather urgent.”

“An urgent consumer advocacy issue?” Schneider sounds be­mused. “That sounds almost un-American. Let me see what I can do.”

A click and Hodges is on hold, complete with soothing strings that fail to soothe. Holly and Jerome are both in the office now, crowding the desk. Hodges makes an effort not to put his hand to his side. The seconds stretch out and form a minute. Then two. Hodges thinks, Either he’s on another call and forgotten me, or he can’t find it.

The hold music disappears. “Mr. Hodges? Still there?”

“Still here.”

“I have that address. It’s Gamez Unlimited—Gamez with a Z, if you remember—at 442 Maritime Drive. Care of Ms. Frederica Linklatter. Does that help?”

“It sure does. Thank you, Mr. Schneider.” He hangs up and looks at his two associates, one slender and winter-pale, the other bulked up from his house-building stint in Arizona. Along with his daughter Allie, now living on the other side of the country, they are the people he loves most at this end of his life.

He says, “Let’s take a ride, kids.”