Chapter 20: Records

"What do you want to do first?" Phil smiled fondly down at Luana as they emerged from the World Traders building in WashingtonDC. "As if I couldn't guess."

"The first thing I want is to do something about these clothes!" Luana plucked at the collar of her blouse and smoothed down one leg of her slacks where they showed wrinkles from far too many months hung in a closet.

"Okay, then." Phil chuckled at her intent expression. "Let's go. We can pick up a rental car on the way."

He flagged down a taxi, telling the driver to take them to the nearest car rental firm. With her credit card showing a substantial balance from her accumulated salary, Luana then lost no time heading across WashingtonDC, Phil tagging along to carry her parcels. By the time they had the back seat of their rental car stacked with her purchases, Phil was ready to call it a day.

"I sublet my apartment," Luana told him hesitantly as they entered the lobby of his apartment building. I didn't know how long my job would last, and I wasn't sure I would come back here when it was over."

"I was hoping you wouldn't need your apartment," Phil

told her hesitantly. "I want you with me, now and forever. I haven't had time to pick out a ring yet, but..."

"Is this a proposal?" She stopped, turning to face him, her dark eyes glowing.

"It certainly is. I didn't realize how much I need you

untilJordan stole you away."

"Then my answer is yes." She raised her face for his kiss, returning his fervent hug. "Take me up to your apartment, and I'll show you how much I mean it."

"Why don't we shower," he told her as they reached his apartment. "Later, we can go to a good restaurant to finish celebrating. Tomorrow is soon enough to start our research, and I can think of better things to do with the rest of the evening."

"Sounds good to me." Luana smiled, taking off her new wristwatch as she slipped off her blouse and slacks. "I can

think of a few things, too."

It was mid-morning when they reached his office building, since their first stop had been at a jeweler's to pick out a set of rings. Then they finally arrived, it only took a few minutes to get Luana assigned a visitor's pass, and Phil was both pleased and surprised when he had no trouble getting through security. He'd half expected to run into some kind of problems, in spite of Neal Marten's assurances that everything had been straightened out.

The first thing he noticed was that the door to his supervisor's office bore the signs of a hurried change. Instead of 'Walter Manning', the legend under 'Director:

Investigations' now said 'Fred Carter', the name of one of the few agents Phil still had respect for. The door was open, and a hearty voice bid him enter.

"come on in for a minute, Phil, and introduce me to

your pretty new assistant."

"Morning, Fred. Luana, this is Fred Carter, an old

buddy of mine. Fred, I like you to meet Luana Grayson, who will real soon now be Luana Hadley."

"Congratulations Fred rose to take Luana's hand.

"You'll probably notice quite a few changes around this place. I'm not the only one to be shifted around. Manning is out of here, he's been transferred to East Podunk or some such place, and most of his cronies are gone too. Now maybe we can get some real work done in this department. The word's come down from on high that you're assigned to this Steve Jordan matter, and you're cleared to access any records you need to. Use this password instead of your old one." He handed Phil a slip of paper. "I've assigned you the office two doors down from this one, and it's all set up for you."