Claire Gulliver #02 - Washington Weirdos Read Free Page A

frazzled; she couldn’t even make sense of the menu. She threw herself on the mercy of the waiter. “I’m not very hungry, what do you recommend?”
    “She-crab soup. It’s our specialty. That and some of our cornbread make a great meal.”
    She agreed. “Sounds great but I need a glass of wine.” She thought a minute, shaking her head, unable to make a decision asked, “What do you recommend?”
    He suggested a Kendall-Jackson Chardonnay they were offering by the glass and on her agreement turned to Jack. He ordered Scotch on the rocks, and then hesitating, he added the peach cobbler. Sheepishly he reminded her he was on local time and had already had dinner.
    The waiter came back with their drinks and after a healthy swallow, Jack sat back and looked at Claire carefully.
    “Are you okay? That was pretty scary. I wouldn’t blame you for having hysterics or something.” Then he smiled. “But knowing you as I do, I’d be surprised. You’re pretty cool in an emergency, aren’t you?”
    “I don’t think cool describes my reaction, frozen is more like it. Of course there are those times I just pass out cold or my legs give out.” She smiled ruefully, remembering prior occasions. “I think I’m okay but I won’t guarantee how long it will last.”
    She drew in her breath with a ragged shudder. “I just can’t believe that on my first night in town I was mugged. But then, I don’t suppose it mattered to him that I had just arrived.”
    Jack shook his head. “Don’t suppose,” he agreed. “Well, how is everyone? Have you been in contact with the rest of the tour group? Is Lucy’s leg better? Have you heard from Betty? And how’s my friend Joe?”
    She laughed at his eagerness to know what was going on, only too glad to fill him in on the lives and happenings of the other members of their tour rather than continue to dwell on the encounter on the Mall.
    Earlier in the year, Lucy Springer, her travel book author friend, had organized a tour for novice travelers to follow the route through England and Wales she described in her newest book, An Armchair Traveler’s Adventure . Claire who had never traveled outside the States offered her bookstore, Gulliver’s Travels, as a co-sponsor for the tour. She, of course, would also go along. It was a great publicity gimmick for both Lucy’s book and Gulliver’s Travels. It was unfortunate that Lucy broke her leg rather severely just before they left and couldn’t go. So Claire ended up in charge. It was the trip from hell. Fortunately, Claire, novice that she was, didn’t know until the end what danger they had been in. She thought the many problems they had were normal.
    Jack was the tour director assigned them by Kingdom Coach Tours. But of course, as it turned out he had a bigger role than just tour director. Claire didn’t know who he really worked for but assumed it was the C.I.A. Somehow it hadn’t seemed appropriate then to ask him a lot of questions, and he wasn’t given to volunteering much.
    “Vern and Mike are scheduled to go to Paris for Christmas. They said they didn’t know why they hadn’t done more traveling over the years and felt they had to make up for lost time.” She continued, trying to remember if she covered everyone.
    “And, Lucy? How is she doing? I still want to meet that lady some day,” Jack inquired as he dipped into the steaming cobbler with a large scoop of ice cream melting on top.
    “She’s really remarkable. You know Rosa didn’t verify any of the data in the book which was, of course, the initial purpose for the trip. Lucy about had heart failure when she found out. But desperation drove her to be creative and she contacted Kingdom Coach Tours and hired them to verify the data. She was determined to meet her deadline. She’s a professional. I really admire that in her.”
    Jack’s eyes had darkened at the mention of Rosa, and Claire asked him for an update. He shook his head, an expression of disgust on his