busy here... and what with the project being put on ice and all... Well, I

don't...'

'You don't want to see me before I leave for Europe?'

'Well, yeah, I do, but...'

'Then don't make excuses. And believe me, Bradley, when you

have this information on Wilson, I don't think you'll have any problem

at all in reviving the project so you win on both counts. Now, do you

want it or not?'

'I want it,' Bradley said, now excited for more than one reason.

'Where and when can we meet?'

'My ship leaves tomorrow, so can you meet me today? I've a prior

engagement for this evening,' she said, sounding as if she was teasing

him, 'so how about lunch right here?'

'You can't make it any other time?'

'No.'

'Then lunch it is.'

'I'll be at a table in the restaurant. One o'clock?'

'Right,' he said. Thanks for calling.'

'My pleasure, Bradley.'

Feeling remarkably fl.u.s.tered, Bradley put the phone down just as

Mark, his eighteen-year-old son, entered the office. 'Hi, Dad,' he said. Mark was blessed with his mother's warm brown eyes and sensitive

features, which no doubt helped, Bradley thought, with the many

young ladies he dated in Manhattan during the weekends. In fact,

Mark, though oddly shy, was a considerable ladies' man who kept one

set of girlfriends in Manhattan, where he went to college, and another

in Connecticut, where he lived with the family on weekends. Bradley

had always liked people who could surprise him and Mark could

certainly do that.

'Hi, kid,' Bradley said, as his son took the chair at the other side of

his desk. 'Is it lunchtime already?'

'Yep, it sure is. Don't tell me you were working too hard to notice.

I don't fall for those tricks.'

Feeling guilty, Bradley grinned. 'Did I promise you lunch today?' 'Yeah,' Mark replied, 'but I'm letting you off the hook. Since my