Free Project Moses - A Mystery Thriller (Enzo Lee Mystery-Thriller Series) by Robert B. Lowe Page A

and studied him for a few moments with a considering gaze.
    “So,” she said. “How did you end up at the News? I understand you used to work in New York.”
    “Quite a change, huh? So, you’ve been checking up.”
    “I have my sources. I want to know who I’m dealing with.”
    “It’s not a particularly interesting story,” said Lee.
    “That’s all right. Tell it anyway.”
    Lee could see that he was going to have to give her at least part of his story so he retraced the early years of his journalism career. He started with the years in Florida, learning the craft, moving to various newspapers in the itinerant lifestyle of a young journalist. He didn’t try to describe exactly what he wrote about. He glossed over the New York years.
    “So what made you leave New York?” Sarah asked.
    Lee finished his beer. Set down the bottle and ordered another.
    “Change of climate,” he said. “I just couldn’t stand the cold anymore.”
    They were silent for a minute. Lee studied his thumbnail, irritated that he had lied. It must be the guilt. He was still paying for that original story about Judge Miriam Gilbert. He took a sip of water.
    “Anyway,” he said. “I needed a change.”
    “And has it been a good one?”
    “The jury is still out. I have a city editor that I am ready to murder, though. So I may just kill him and get it over with. It would simplify my life. The only drawback would be the food on Death Row, speaking of which…I’m starving.”
    Lee ordered salmon filet in a creamy sauce with minced ginger and mango. Sarah opted for New York strip steak. While they waited for their food, Lee demanded equal time.
    “You know that I’m an attorney, right?” said Sarah.
    Lee nodded while he speared another lightly crusted circle of calamari. “Second in your class at Hastings. You went to work for some big law firm, right?” Sarah nodded.
    “But you left after two years,” he went on. “I guess the money was too good. See. I have my sources, too.” Lee flashed a smug grin.
    Sarah lifted an eyebrow ever so slightly. “Your intelligence is remarkable,” she said. “You must have honed those investigative skills working for Newsday.”
    Lee munched the calamari slowly. It had suddenly turned rubbery. He eyed Sarah thoughtfully.
    “All right,” he said. “I get the message. Tell you what. I’ll fill you in on all the sordid details of my past. Just not today, okay? I don’t want to ruin my appetite.”
    “Besides,” Lee said through another ring of calamari that was starting to taste better, “I want to hear your story. Tell me why you left and what you’re doing now. That part I don’t know and I am curious.”
    “Well, as I guess you know, I spent the first two years out of law school at Flowers & Myce. It was a very prestigious law firm, or so they thought,” said Sarah. “I hated it. I just wasn’t ready to spend my entire life making and saving money for rich people. I need more suspense than wondering whether the kids will make it into Stanford.
    “So, now I work at a small firm of lawyers that specializes in prosecuting lawsuits against employers, mostly accused of discriminating against women, minorities or the elderly,” Sarah continued. “I like the work. I run my own cases. I get into court. I have a lot of fourteen hour days but it’s good.”
    “Is that why you were so close to your aunt? I mean the fact that you were both lawyers?” asked Lee.
    Sarah nodded. “Yes. There was that. Actually, it was more. My family…our family…was not what you could call full of professionals or academics. Aunt Miriam blazed the trail. She really inspired me. And, she helped me along the way. It was a lot of things.”
    At the mention of her aunt, Lee could see Sarah’s mood darkened perceptibly. Fortunately, the food arrived on cue and Lee fell back to a safe discussion of their favorite restaurants.
    They skipped dessert and Sarah proposed that they return to her flat for coffee