Chapter 78

The new year began, and with it the beginning of classes, and Nate knuckled down to a seriously heavy load of courses.

During the second week of February, George and Mike came to see me by appointment on a Friday afternoon. “Have a seat, guys,” I said, “and tell me what’s on your minds.”

“Thanks, Q,” George said.

“Yeah,” Mike said, “one of us has to pick up Robbie from school in an hour, but this probably won’t take that long.”

There was a pause, so I decided to prompt them, saying, “Well?”

“Quentin,” George said, “do you ever work on a barter arrangement?”

“It’s been known to happen, why?”

“Because there’s something we’d like to have you look into, but we can’t really justify putting a lot of cash into it.”

“If not cash, what?” I said.

“How about a week in our mountain cabin,” George said, “in exchange for some creative snooping in the area?”

“When?”

“In the spring, when it’s warmer and things up there are turning green.”