Outside In

Chapter 3-2

The next evening, Cameron looked up from her desk as a very handsome woman, in her mid to late thirties, in a flowing magenta dress with a short, tailored beige wool jacket, walked into the outer office, precisely at seven o’clock. Her dark hair, which was lightly sprinkled with grey, was swept back in a neat shag that fell just below her collar. The woman had an elegance about her that was highlighted by the expensive clothing. A hint of gold jewelry added just the right touch.

“That her?” Russ asked, his eyes wide. “Not bad. How do you do it? Women that good never threw themselves at me.”

“You got the best one there is. I told you, I’ll swap you anytime.”

“Fat chance.” Russ laughed as Cam took her blazer from the coat rack and walked out of their enclosed cubicle. As she approached, Maggie extended her hand and Cam took it, while looking into warm grey eyes that wrinkled slightly at the corners.

“Maggie? I’m happy to meet you. I’m sorry I’m not very dressed up. We had a lot of running around to do today. I could stop home and change if you like. I hope wherever we’re going doesn’t have a dress code.”

“No. It’s not a problem. I’m still dressed from the office. We’ll be going someplace very casual. You should be comfortable.” Maggie examined Cam’s neat grey slacks and red rayon shirt. “I see nothing at all wrong, in any way, with how you’re dressed. Let’s go. I’m parked out front and I really don’t want to get a ticket,” she added with a light laugh that made Cam smile.

They walked out into the cold evening air and got into a late model yellow Mercedes.

“I was a little confused at first,” Cam admitted as Maggie pulled away from the curb. “This is part of Craig’s interview process?”

Maggie laughed quietly. “In a way, yes,” she said in a lowered voice, “but it wouldn’t look good to have you going to see a psychiatrist, now, would it?” She reached into her purse without taking her eyes off the road and handed Cam a small leather wallet. “That’s my ID so you’ll know for sure, going in, what this is all about. I have to officially inform you that what we may talk about and what may be revealed to you is of a highly confidential nature. Revealing any of this may be a breach of national security, which may carry a very heavy fine and penalty. Do you understand?”

Cameron nodded.

“Don’t nod. I have to hear it out loud,” Maggie said with a smile in her voice.

“I understand,” Cameron replied.

“Good.” Maggie reached under the dashboard and switched off a tape recorder which she dropped into her purse. “That’s done,” she sighed. “I hate this legal stuff but it’s regulations. I help Craig out with special assignments, you know, psychiatric evaluations. I’m the one that is called when they think an agent has been out in the field too long. No one in the Department knows me, so I get a chance to size people up without them realizing what’s happening. And I really do have my own practice.”

“Yes, I know. I did look you up.”

“Good. I like that. Good initiative. Never take anything at face value.”

“You’ve been in practice for ten years. Graduated from Temple and spent two years in Vietnam as a paramedic. You do a lot of community service work, especially at drug halfway houses. You’ve been divorced for five years, have no children, and currently no romantic involvements. Have I done my homework correctly?”

“Excellent!” Maggie beamed at her. “Craig said you were good. But you did miss the mole on my right shoulder blade.”

Cameron almost blushed. “Should I be fooled into thinking you’re really going to be a friend?”

“I hope we will be. In fact, Craig thinks we should even make it look like we’re more than just friends. I’m glad I like you.”

“You just met me.” Cam watched Maggie as she maneuvered through the evening traffic going into City Center.

“You don’t believe in like at first sight?”

Cameron smiled. “Yeah. I do. It’s just that I expected you to be more conservative. It did take you almost three months to decide on which condo you were going to buy.”

Maggie glanced at her with a small amount of amazement. “Well, we have done our homework. I’m usually very slow in making up my mind about inanimate objects, but I’m well-trained in sizing up the human factor. Would you like to see the condo I finally chose? Or do you already have pictures of it?”

“No pictures. But, do you think you should take me to your home already? This is our first date.”

Maggie chuckled once again, that beautiful warm chuckle that pleased Cameron very much. “Actually, I have every intention of taking you to my place. It’s much quieter there and we don’t have to worry about eavesdroppers. We do need to stop and get a bottle of scotch, though. I’m afraid I don’t have any in the house. I never developed the taste for it. It’s Dewer’s, right?”

“This is turning into an ‘I know more about you than you know about me’ contest. Doesn’t that take all the mystery out of our relationship?” Cam asked.

“You’re right. This could get too embarrassing. We should stop. You know I’ve read your file. I know you’ve done your homework. Let’s stop at that. I’m sure there are lots of things that we don’t know about each other.”

“Right. What do you usually drink?”

“A good vodka stinger or white wine depending on whether I need to keep my mind straight.”

“Which are you drinking tonight?”

“I haven’t decided yet.” There was that chuckle again. They pulled into a liquor store parking lot and Maggie got out of the car. When she returned, she was carrying five-liter bottles each of scotch and vodka.

“I hope that’s not all for tonight.” Cam commented.

“Let’s just say I’m looking ahead to the future.” She turned to Cameron. “Tonight is just getting-to-know-you night. Relax. I’m not fully on duty. That will come later. I want to know you as a person before I start dissecting you as a potential agent. I’m a little nervous, myself. I usually come in at a cocktail party or meeting or I watch some seasoned agent get grilled and make my evaluations from behind a two-way mirror. I very seldom get to meet people one on one and hardly ever before they’ve been given an assignment. Craig thinks that you’re too top-secret for the regular shrinks to work with. And he thinks you’re very special.”

“Do you know what my assignment will be?”

“Yes. But I’m not at liberty to tell you until you’ve gone through some evaluation and training. I’m sorry.”

“I understand.” Cameron stared ahead through the traffic.

“Relax, Cameron. Let’s get to know each other before I have to get tough. It’ll be a lot easier that way.”

* * * *

When Cameron walked into the office the next afternoon, Russ gave her a raised-eyebrow look.

“I noticed that your car didn’t move all night.” he said, keeping his eyes focused on the report in his typewriter.

“You my mother?” Cam asked. She sat down and thought back. It had been a very pleasurable night. After a wonderful pasta dish that Maggie swore she’d picked up at a deli, Cam and Maggie had talked about everything they could think of; their families, where they grew up, who they’d dated in high school, what college had been like for them, why they were doing what they were doing. Cameron was still aware that she was being interviewed, tested, evaluated, but Maggie was so open with her life that Cameron had almost no qualms about being open and honest in return. This woman was good at her job and knew how to draw the most out of people. They’d both been surprised to discover it was almost three o’clock in the morning, at which time, Maggie had declared that it was too late, and they were both slightly too inebriated, to drive around town. She’d shown Cam to her guest room and kissed her lightly on the lips, then disappeared into her own room, shutting the door behind her.

“Well?” Russ broke into her train of thought.

“Well, what?”

“Your date.” Russ always wanted details. “Well?” he demanded.

“I like her. Nothing happened.”

“You didn’t spend the night with her?”

“I didn’t say that. I said nothing happened.”

Russ shook his head. “Radcliffe, my dear, you’re either getting slow in your old age or there’s something wrong with this picture.”

“Nothing wrong. Just taking it slow. She’s a classy lady.”

“Slow, huh. When’re you seeing her again?”

Cameron smiled sweetly at him. “Tonight.”