Smoke in Mirrors

was not going to be able to stay in the safe zone this time. When this was over he was going to go down hard.
    Oh, man, this was serious.
    Kyle’s mouth opened. The small action broke into Thomas’s morbid thoughts. He wondered if the professor was going to take a swing at him. He hoped so. Be nice to have an excuse to work off some of this new stress. Nothing like a little exercise to elevate a man’s mood.
    Belatedly he recalled that Leonora had said that her ex was a very modern kind of guy. So maybe Kyle wasn’t staring at him with that weird expression because he was jealous. Maybe it was the bruised ribs, black eye and scraped knuckles that were failing to make a great first impression.
    Kyle finally managed to get his jaw back in place. “Who the hell are you?”
    Leonora blew on her tea and answered for him.
    “This is Thomas Walker. He’s a friend.” She put a little extra emphasis on the last word.

    Thomas nodded once. “Delling.” Who said he couldn’t be a modern guy?
    Kyle appeared deeply troubled by the fact that Thomas had proven himself capable of human speech.
    Thomas spotted the little bottle on the counter. He left the doorway and went to help himself to the tablets.
    “Probably shouldn’t take those on an empty stomach,” Leonora warned.
    She put down her tea, plucked a slice of toast out of the toaster and buttered it with quick, economical motions. When it was ready she handed it to him.
    He took a large bite out of the toast and swallowed a couple of pills with the glass of juice she gave him. He made a halfhearted attempt to think of something civil to say to Kyle. When nothing leaped to mind, he abandoned the effort in favor of another bite of toast.
    “Cassie called while you were in the shower,” Leonora said. “Margaret Lewis has agreed to see us this morning. Cassie and Deke said they’d pick us up around ten o’clock.”
    “Sounds good.” He glanced at his watch. It was seven-thirty. “That’ll give me plenty of time to go back to my place, check in with Wrench and change into some fresh clothes.”
    “What happened to you?” Kyle blurted, obviously unable to contain his curiosity for another second. “Run into a brick wall?”
    “Accident on the footbridge that runs across the cove.” Thomas polished off the last of the toast. “Dangerous places, footbridges.”
    Kyle looked dubious. “Looks like you were in a fight or something.”
    “Or something.” He swallowed some coffee. “Sorry to eat and run, but I’ve got things to do and places to go. Better be on my way. See you at ten, Leonora.”

    “Right.” She put her cup down.
    He went to where she stood at the counter and kissed her. A bit more forcefully than necessary.
    She didn’t resist, but when he raised his mouth from hers he could tell from the ironic gleam in her eyes that she knew damn well that it had been one of those dumb, staking-a-claim kisses men used to mark their women in front of other males.
    He felt very immature until he noticed that Kyle was openly gaping, clearly appalled. That made him feel a lot better. In an immature sort of way.
    “See you around,” he said to Kyle.
    Delling looked blank.
    Thomas walked out of the kitchen and got his jacket out of the closet.
    Leonora followed him to the front door. She did not speak until they were out on the porch.
    “That was not real subtle or romantic,” she said.
    “I like to think that our relationship has progressed beyond the superficial.”
    “Progressed my left toe. What was with the macho show-off bit back there in the kitchen?”
    “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Only an extremely immature person would engage in macho show-off behavior.” The cold air hit his raw face, stinging initially and then turning everything nicely numb. “What’s with the ex-fiancé in the kitchen bit, anyway? Is he here to try to patch things up?”
    “No. He’s after something much more important than the repair of an ephemeral and transitory personal relationship.”
    “Yeah? Like what?”
    “Tenure.”
    “Ah.” He nodded. “I’ve hung with enough academics during the past year to know that tenure is some sort ofHoly Grail for that crowd. What makes Delling think you can help him get it?”
    “One of my best friends is the chair of the department that is going to make the decision concerning whether or not Kyle gets moved onto the tenure track in the English department. She’s very loyal to me, and she took great