Free 19 Headed for Trouble by Suzanne Brockmann Page B

morning, it’s going to be another two weeks—at least—before I see her.” She’d added a P.S. that Sam didn’t understand. “
Tell Jules that Dave’s a maybe?
What does that mean?”
    Jules took another swig from his water bottle. “Don’t get too excited, because I haven’t cleared it yet with Tom. Or Max. I have to wait a few more hours before I call either of them. But if they give me the thumbs-up, I’ll be able to hang here, hold down the fort for you, until a replacement arrives. Alyssa told me she was going to ask Dave Malkoff.”
    Sam shook his head. “As an FBI agent, you can’t—”
    “I won’t,” Jules said. “You just told me the wedding’s not until Sunday, and the client’s gone until Thursday. Dave—or someone else—will definitely be here before then. I’m just going to hang here, pass along the message that you had to leave, that your replacement is on his way. I’m not getting paid, I’m just doing you a favor.”
    It was one hell of a big-ass favor. “You don’t get much vacation time,” Sam pointed out. “Wouldn’t you rather, I don’t know, go on a cruise?”
    “With who?” Jules gazed at him. “Ben?” He rolled his eyes as he shook his head. “Just take a shower, let’s go get lunch. If you really want to hear it, I’ll tell you the whole terrible Ben story. But I definitely need nourishment first.”

    “He did what?” Sam said.
    “Brought his beard,” Jules repeated. He leaned backto let the waiter take his plate. They sat in a little outdoor restaurant, overlooking the harbor below. The food had been unbelievable, the owner himself coming out of the kitchen to make sure everything was to their liking. “
Beard
is slang for a woman who pretends to be a closeted gay man’s wife or girlfriend. Ben’s beard is named Amanda. She’s his roommate. His own parents actually think she’s his fiancée.”
    Sam struggled to comprehend. “So, this guy lives with a woman, except he’s gay and … she’s okay with that?”
    “She’s not really his fiancée. They have separate bedrooms,” Jules told him. “She’s a grad student—they’re friends from high school. Plus, he lets her live in his condo for free.”
    Sam had to make sure he understood. “So Amanda helps Ben fool everyone into thinking he’s straight.”
    Jules nodded. “
Don’t ask, don’t tell
—I think you’ve probably heard of the policy? It sounds so innocuous, but it forces servicemen and -women into the closet. They have to hide who they are, pretend to be something they’re not. It’s okay to be gay in the military, as long as no one knows.” He was disgusted. “Ben takes Amanda to all kind of functions—including this date he had, with me.”
    “It was really a date?” Sam asked, as the waiter poured them each a cup of coffee. Alyssa had told him that when it came to dating, Jules was remarkably gun-shy—and yeah, okay that was probably an unfortunate expression to use.
    But Alyssa’s going theory was that Jules was still hung up on some actor he’d met out in Los Angeles—Robin something. The SOB had hurt Jules badly—their relationship had been a total train wreck. Still, Lys had been urging her old friend to get back into circulation. This Marine captain, Ben, had been calling him for awhile—apparently Jules had finally taken that first-date step.
    “Ben calls and goes,
Hey, how are you? I just got back from overseas. I was wondering if you wanted to get together, maybe have dinner at my place?
” Jules reported. “I wasn’t ready for that. So I suggested we meet at a restaurant. It wasn’t even downtown. It was suburban and discreet, and … he brought Amanda anyway. So we all sit down to dinner and it’s way weird. I mean, she was nice, but, what the hell …? She finally gets up to, you know, hit the ladies’ room, and Ben goes,
I’m career military. This is how I’ve made it work
. He knew I was freaked out. He said,
You should’ve come over.