"You got another girlfriend?"
"What did she want?"
"She wanted to chew me out for sending you overseas with your 'crippling back injury.' She told me she'd hold me responsible if you got into trouble over there."
"God, Fede, I'm sorry. I didn't put her up to it or anything —"
"Don't worry about it. I'm glad that there's someone out there who cares about you. We're getting together for dinner tonight."
"Fede, you know, I think Linda's terrific, but she's a little, you know, volatile."
"Art, everyone in O'Malley House knows just how volatile she is. 'I won't tell you again, Art. Moderate your tone. I won't be shouted at.'"
"Christ, you heard that, too?"
"Don't worry about it. She's cool and I like her and I can stand to be shouted at a little. When did you say you were meeting with Perceptronics?"
The word shocked him. They never mentioned the name of the Jersey clients. It started as a game, but soon became woven into Fede's paranoid procedures.