Waiting for Armando (Kate Lawrence Mysteries) Read Free Page B

after nine o’clock, feeling both languid and refreshed. I enjoyed Armando’s scent clinging to my sheets. Armando himself, however, was nowhere in sight, nor was the shower running. This was surprising, since Friday was the one night of the week he stayed at my place so that we could enjoy a leisurely breakfast together. So where was he?
    Propping myself up on my elbows, I spotted Jasmine and Oliver, who should have been screaming for their breakfast, napping rump to rump at the foot of the bed. Armando’s clothes, shucked hastily last night with my help, should have been heaped on the wing chair, and his watch and cell phone should have been on the bedside table. They weren’t. Where his head should have been on the pillow next to mine was a sheet of paper, torn hastily from the notepad he always carried in an inside pocket.

 
Mija – I must have done something very well last night to make you sleep so soundly.   I have been called to an emergency meeting about the South American contract and will call you later.   I fed the felines.   XO

 
    Typically self-congratulatory Latin male, but I couldn’t deny the truth of what he said. Well, that explained why the cats weren’t bugging me. I scritched their hairy heads thoughtfully. Never exactly pals, the two strays had finally discovered something on which they agreed: It was warmer when they slept together. Without opening her eyes, Jas turned her head upside down so I could rub under her chin. Ollie sighed and put his nose under one white foot. Their bellies were full. The morning sunshine warmed their backs. Life was good.
    Okay, so I wasn’t having a bodacious breakfast with my squeeze. At least I didn’t have to struggle into pantyhose and drag myself downtown for another day of drudgery, I comforted myself. On that happy note, I padded into the kitchen to make coffee. As the appetizing aroma filled my nostrils, I wondered about the reason for TeleCom’s hastily called meeting and what it could possibly have to do with Armando. The corporate comptroller wasn’t usually included in site work confabs. Maybe they want him to go down there and serve as an interpreter for the installers, I thought, then laughed at my own far- fetchedness . I drank my coffee and then tackled the laundry, vacuuming and other domestic tasks that had accumulated during the week.
    The phone rang as I was returning the vacuum cleaner to the hall closet.
    “Leon wants me to go to Bogota and es -serve as an interpreter for the installation team,” said Armando, his use of the Spanish “ es ” betraying his excitement.
    I gripped the telephone tightly and frowned. Leon Kowalski was the head of TeleCom’s installation operation. “Since when do corporate officers fly to South America to do translation work? Can’t Leon just hire a local?” I asked somewhat testily.
    “He could, of course,” Armando replied, puzzled by my lack of enthusiasm. “Leon thought I might enjoy it, combine business with pleasure, as you say. I would have an opportunity to visit my aunt and my cousins. I have seen none of them in more than twenty years.”
    Immediately, I regretted my churlish response. “Of course you could. I forgot that your cousins still live in Colombia. It was good of Leon to think of you.”
    “It was kind, was it not?” Armando’s good cheer was restored. “I am sorry you cannot accompany me, mija , but we will be working most of the time, and I am sure you do not want to ask for time off from your new job so soon.”
    The words were right, but something about his tone struck me all wrong. He didn’t sound sorry at all. In fact, he sounded downright pleased. My heart chilled in my chest as I considered the wisdom of telling him that my new job was about to become history. Perhaps he had more than cousins that he looked forward to visiting. When it came right down to it, what did I know about his life in the years before he had come to the United States other than the