one I watch.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
The Phillips family had put their impressive art collection on display starting in 1921 in Washington ’ s Dupont Circle neighborhood. The museum contained paintings by artists such as Renoir, Bonnard, O’Keeffe, van Gogh, and Diebenkorn. But prior to losing his sight, Deacon Munroe had always enjoyed the museum ’ s Rothko room. The Russian-American painter ’ s work was simplistic—mainly consisting of only colors without a defined form—and could easily be overlooked when comparing it to the more grandiose and intricate paintings hanging within the collection. Rothko had wanted his paintings to be very intimate and human, and Munroe found them to carry a certain spirit. He could remember the power emanating from the subtle shades during his previous viewings. Although he couldn ’ t gaze upon them now, he could still feel a strange energy from them, as if the artist had placed a piece of his soul in each painting.
Munroe recognized the sound of Gerald ’ s shoes before his friend announced himself. Gerald had placed padded inserts into his dress shoes, and it added a slight creaking to his steps.
“When we were boys, did you ever think that we ’ d end up like this?” Munroe said.
He felt Gerald ’ s weight fall onto the bench beside him. “ Well, let ’ s see. You getting into trouble, and me bailing you out and watching your back. Hell, Deac, nothing ’ s changed.”
“Everything changes, yet everything stays the same. It doesn ’ t matter our age or what time period we live in or our individual circumstances, when you break it down, we all just keep making the same mistakes over and over.”
“What ’ s eating you?”
“ I don’ t know. Easton ’ s death, I suppose. He lived through multiple wars and conflicts, and then he dies bloody in his own home. I don ’ t understand the world anymore. I keep thinking about his kids, his grandkids. Ripples, you know. All the people we effect in our lives. I wonder who will be there crying at my funeral, other than my girls of course. And you and Annabelle.” Annabelle also worked for Munroe handling all of the back-office labor including converting documents into formats that Munroe could consume as well as assisting with investigations. Gerald had followed Munroe into law enforcement when they were still teenagers, and so when Munroe had been given the leeway to form his own team, he had wanted to fill it with people whom he could trust. There was no one in the world who he trusted more than Gerald and his sister.
“I heard Annabelle was over for dinner at your house,” Gerald said.
The sudden shift in the conversation jolted Munroe. “Yes, I had some paper work that I needed her help with. What brought that up?”
“I was just thinking that since you ’ re in such a deep contemplative mood, maybe you should ask yourself why you ’ ve never asked her out.”
“Excuse me? Our relationship is completely professional.”
Gerald laughed. “You ’ ve had a crush on her since our junior year.”
“That ’ s not true. And even if it was, she works for me. It would be completely inappropriate.”
“Life ’ s short, Deac.” Gerald hesitated. “And Beth would understand. It ’ s been a long time.”
Munroe didn ’ t respond. He pressed a button on his watch, and a mechanical voice announced the time. In a whisper, he said, “Let ’ s see if Joey ’ s made any progress.”
~~*~~
Joey Helgeson, a master of all things technical, was under a permanent retainer with the DCIS. Although he had been part of Munroe ’ s team for some time, he refused to officially become an employee of the government and work within an office in the Pentagon or DCIS headquarters, which had forced Munroe to call in favors to obtain and maintain Joey ’ s security clearance. Instead, the tech guru ’ s command center , as he called it, was a short walk from the Phillips Collection inside a historic home overlooking DuPont
Lessil Richards, Jacqueline Richards