The Pajama Affair Read Online Free PDF

It’s so remotely connected to you that no one would ever guess it, but you’ll know what it is and why you chose it.”
    Maybe she had been spending too much time with Puck lately because he was beginning to make sense to Liza. What if someone selected her on purpose because she was random and her randomness would keep the message hidden?
    “But why write on masking tape? Why write at all? This is the digital age,” she said.
    “Maybe he’s old school, or maybe digital info is too easily hacked,” Puck suggested.
    Liza squeezed her eyes shut and pressed her fingers to her temples. “This doesn’t make any sense.”
    “That’s because we’re lacking vital information,” Marion said. “Even supposing Puck’s crazy--sorry, honey--theory is true, there is no way to figure it out with so few clues. You only have part of the what.” She tapped the tape. “Not the who, how, or why.”
    They were silent a few minutes, staring at the tape.
    Liza thought it was a hallmark of true friendship that when she told them she found tape stuck in her pajamas they quickly rejected the possibility she was insane. Puck sat up so abruptly that Marion toppled to the floor.
    “I know someone who can help.” He looked under the table and held out a hand to Marion who was rubbing her hip.
    “Who?” Liza asked.
    “A guy I went to school with when I was a criminal justice major the first time,” he said.
    Liza wrinkled her nose. “A cop?” Her only experience with the police was with the serious and unsympathetic people who occasionally wrote her tickets for speeding.
    Puck shook his head. “He started out as a cop. He went rogue.”
    “What does that mean?” Liza asked. She pictured a man in flannel with a furry beard and a rifle slung over his shoulder, living off the land in some far-flung wilderness.
    Puck looked around and leaned in. “CIA,” he whispered.
    Liza flushed crimson with the thought of involving the CIA in a case of mistaken masking tape. “I can’t talk to someone in the CIA about this.”
    “I’m not sure he’s CIA,” Puck said. “That’s just a guess on my part. Officially he’s in the FBI and he works at the branch in town. I ran into him in the store the other day.”
    “What makes you think he’s CIA?” Marion asked. She looked vaguely bored by the conversation.
    Puck shrugged. “Some things he said. The cagey look in his eyes. I don’t know, but even if he’s not, he might be able to help.”
    Liza bit her lip. “I don’t know. I’m afraid I’ll sound insane.”
    “That’s a reasonable fear,” Marion said.
    “I’ll write down his name for you. You can tell him you know me if you decide to go. It will help break the ice,” Puck said.
    “All right. Thank you,” she said with genuine gratitude. She hadn’t developed a vested interest in Puck because she believed he was temporary. But he and Marion seemed happy together, and he was unbothered by her messiness, which was a point in his favor. Still, she had seen too many of Marion ’s boyfriends come and go to get attached over one act of kindness. She helped clean up the kitchen with Marion while Puck watched television.
    “What do you think it means?” Liza asked.
    “What?” Marion paused with a plate in midair, a quizzical look on her face.
    “The message. What do you think it is?”
    Marion faced forward and began scrubbing again. “Honestly, I think it’s probably the inspection code that came with the pajamas.”
    Liza shoved down her irritation. It was one of the maxims of their close friendship that they never lie to each other, but sometimes the truth was brutal.
    “Is there a way to find out?” Liza asked. Marion could be scattered at times, but she was a genius at research. There was almost nothing she couldn’t find.
    “Leave it and I’ll do some digging,” she volunteered.
    “Thanks.” Liza smiled.
    “It’s no thing,” Marion said easily. She smiled, too. There was nothing she liked better than