Ben waited in the lobby for about ten minutes before a woman of about forty with dark hair and great cheekbones came down to escort him to Ludlow’s office. She put her hand out to Ben. “I’m Cynthia,” she said. “I want to thank you for what you did for Agent Parker. We like him around here.” Ludlow was pouring himself coffee when Ben walked in. The agent said to the woman, “Didn’t I tell you we’d probably be seeing the intrepid Ben Harris sometime soon?” “The trained investigator knows all,” she said, before going back to her desk. “So what can I do for you?” Ludlow sipped his coffee. His handsome/ugly face was friendly enough, but he didn’t wave Ben back to his office. Cynthia looked at him and waited. Ben said, “Seems that I’ll be following up on this story on a freelance basis.” “Fired your ass, huh?” “That’s right.” Ludlow made a sympathetic noise, but there was faint amusement in his eyes. He said, “We’ll think of you when we need surveillance photography.”
