Ray Reid made a magnanimous sweep with his hand and told the waitress, "Drinks for everyone, including you, the bartender and that guy over there at the end of the bar, whoever he is."
Sandy ordered a beer. Kagan said with his stomach perhaps he'd better just have tonic water. "So that's Martinis for Tammy and me. Meg?"
Meg hesitated and then said, "Sure, but I can stay for just one. I'm speaking at an investment seminar in Geneva next week and must prepare. I need to stop in Milan on the way. You talked about the magnificent museums in Milan, Ray. Next time you'll have to go with me. I can use some help tomorrow on my presentation, if you want to lend a hand; I'd like that."
"Absolutely, Meg, I'd love it. Tomorrow is the first full day of the rest of my freedom."
"And if you're free tonight we could talk about it," Meg added.
"Oh, sorry, I already have plans tonight. Tammy is fixing me dinner." He felt a sharp kick under the table. He knew it was Sandy. He added, "But...I'd really like to get together and spend time with you tomorrow, I'll call you."
Sandy said, "We all need to thank you, Meg. You were very helpful and you stood by Raymond from that first dark day."
When she saw Linda come in, Sandy got up and walked over. In a low voice she asked, "What happened, Linda, do you still have a job?"
"Yes, and thanks to you, I'll probably keep it. Moran phoned my editor and officially informed him of Ray's release. Moran still didn't realize the paper never intended to print any of your material anyway. The editor was confused and just said fine, unaware I'd lied to Moran that it would be printed."
"Let's hope the real killer is caught before he wises up and your lie becomes an issue. I broke my rule against dating cops. Chip's taking me to dinner tomorrow night. Somewhere we won't be bothered. How sweet is that? I need to buy a little black dress somewhere."
"Oh my God, you in a little black dress. Why don't you just hit him with a sledge hammer and save the money?"
"I'll let you know if we start sharing a toothbrush."
Everyone scooted around the table to make room for Linda. "Hey gang, you won't believe why I'm late," she said. "The paper got a call from a young girl who read about Sandy accusing Huress of assault. The girl hid the clipping in her drawer and kept looking at it, because some cop in a red pickup pulled the same routine on her and succeeded. He told her he knew where she lived and to keep quiet, or he'd come around for seconds. After that, she avoided being seen in public, and got the shakes whenever she saw a cop car or a red pickup. Every day when she looked at the clipping the whole nightmare would come back. Eventually, she got up the nerve to phone the paper. She's embarrassed but wants to bring charges like the woman in the paper did."