an expert but he did feel he was learning the wines and matching them better to whatever meal he was ordering. He expected he would order chicken parmesan and knew Sally was having linguini, so he was looking for a good Barolo or Amarone for his meal and found one he recognized and liked. “I’d like a bottle of the Bussola Amarone.”
Sally too was looking at the wine list and raised her eyebrows at his order. After the waiter left, she asked, “A $185 bottle of wine? Seriously?”
“Yeah.”
“What’s the occasion?”
“I’ll get to that,” Mac answered, as he slid close to her, slid his right arm around her and kissed her lightly on the lips, “How was your day?”
Sally gave him an approving look, slid into him a little more and then said, “It was pretty busy, of course. I was working hard on getting Senator Baker around Wisconsin.” Senator Alexander Baker from North Carolina was the vice presidential nominee. He spent the day in Wisconsin campaigning. “We had him going from Madison up to Oshkosh, then Appleton and finally to Green Bay.”
“Is he spending the night there?”
“No, we have him on a plane to DC and tomorrow he works Virginia and then his home state. He will be busy.”
“So how was it you could get away tonight?”
“The Judge gave us all the night off, at least after 8:00 p.m., even Sebastian and Kate. He told them to go home early, have a good meal and recharge for the home stretch.”
“Really? I would think the Judge would have you guys monitoring every computer and phone for the latest information until you fell asleep at your desks in a pool of drool,” Mac said as he sipped his water and cut some bread.
“That’s certainly the way it’s been the last month for sure, but tonight with it being Friday and the way the schedule was laid out and what the networks were doing for programming, it worked out we could bail earlier. Besides, we have other staff monitoring things and if anything comes up that really requires our attention, we’ll know about it. Starting tomorrow, we’ll be on the road through Monday.” She leaned up and kissed him once and then again, softer, her right hand lightly caressing his cheek. “The Judge did ask me something, though, a few hours ago.”
“What’s that?”
“He asked if you would be willing to talk with him in the morning.”
Mac, who was thinking he and Lich would be making another visit to the campaign, readily agreed. “Sure, I can jump on the phone with him again.”
“No, he wants to meet in person.”
“The Judge? He’s going to be here tomorrow? I figured he’d be out on the trail with the governor.”
“He will be, and I get to go with, but after he meets with you first. And he told me he has someone he wants you to meet.”
“Really? Who?”
“I don’t really know. He said it was someone who’s been helping him on the campaign and could prove helpful for you in your investigation. That’s all he said.”
Mac smiled inwardly. He knew the Judge and McCormick knew more than they told and now he’d get the full story. “You don’t say no to Judge Dixon. Just tell me when and where.”
Their waiter appeared, opened the bottle of wine and poured a small amount for Mac to taste. He swirled his wine glass, took a sip and enjoyed the intensity of the Bussola and then nodded. The waiter poured Sally a glass, added a little more to Mac’s and then left them to enjoy their wine.
“So what are we toasting?” Sally asked with a smile, holding up her glass.
“To life-altering events,” Mac answered with a twinkle in his eye. He had a surprise for her. After he accepted her toast and took a sip of his wine, he leaned in close and kissed her softly again.
* * *
Moriarity and Holmes sat in the back of a Ford panel van parked on West Berkeley Avenue in St. Paul’s Macalester-Groveland neighborhood. This stretch of Berkeley was dark and quiet as the lights in the many homes were starting to dim as the clock pushed past 10:00 p.m. The main levels of a majority of the homes were dark with the only light providing illumination for the sleepy street that which fought through shades and curtains in bedrooms on the upper levels. The clouds kept the moon at bay and the cool temperatures kept pedestrians to a bare minimum. There hadn’t been a