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Nick got back early in the evening. Elizabeth and Stephanie listened to him describe the interview.
"The place was depressing as hell," Nick said. "Not a good way to end up when you get old."
"Do you think he was telling the truth?" Stephanie asked.
"He didn't have any reason to lie. Branmore thought he was talking to someone he knew in the Army, someone he spent time with in Tokyo. He remembered the sword well enough. When he finally realized I wasn't the person he thought I was, he freaked out. By then he'd told me about divorcing his wife. He said she got the sword in the divorce. He was pretty bitter about her."
"Assuming she was around the same age as Branmore, she could be dead by now," Elizabeth said.
"Maybe not. Maybe he married somebody younger."
"There'll be records of the marriage and the divorce," Stephanie said. "I'll find out who she was. Once I know that, I can track her down."
"I'm going home," Nick said. "I'm beat and I want to see my kids."
"Let's meet tomorrow morning around nine," Elizabeth said.
Nick went out to his car and headed back to Washington. Traffic was heavy leaving the city this time a day, but going in was easy. He parked in the underground garage of his building and took the elevator up to the loft.
The six story building had once been industrial and manufacturing space. When gentrification hit the waterfront, it had been converted into six large units, all with windows facing the Potomac. The door to Nick and Selena's loft opened onto the main living area. Past that was the kitchen. The polished wood floor was strewn with fuzzy animals and toys. The twins were playing in the middle of the floor with Anna, the nanny. They looked up as he came in.
"I'm home," he called.
"Dada, dada," they cried in unison.
They had both reached crawler stage. Jason and Katrina started toward him. He knelt down, picked them up, and hugged them. They giggled.
"Hey guys. What's up? Hi, Anna."
"Hello, Nick."
"Dada!"
Katrina squirmed. Nick let her go.
He looked at his kids. He loved their smiles, their innocence.
"Where's mom?"
Jason looked at him and pointed in the general direction of the rest of the loft.
"I don't see her," Nick said.
Jason tugged at his shirt, pointing. "Da!" Selena came out of the bedroom.
"There she is," Nick said.
"How was Buffalo?"
"Depressing. How about we go out for dinner? Someplace nice."
"I don't know. Maybe Anna's got something planned."
"It's not a problem," Anna said.
Anna Montalbano was a beautiful young woman. She had flowing hair and dark brown eyes. Her northern Italian heritage showed in the classic features of her face. Selena sometimes thought she'd stepped out of a painting by Botticelli. Anna had a BA in English Literature, which was one of the reasons she was working as a nanny. There wasn't a big market for people with degrees in English Lit.
Once Selena had decided to hire Anna, she'd made sure she was trained in the basics of self-defense. Harker had pulled more than a few strings to get Anna a concealed permit. She carried a Glock 19 and knew how to use it.
The twins were safe with her, when Selena and Nick weren't there.
"You're sure?" Selena asked.
"You two go out and enjoy yourselves. We'll be fine."
"How about that Italian place near Dupont Circle," Nick said to Selena.
"Let me grab a jacket."
By the time they left the loft, Anna already had the twins engaged in choosing what they would eat for supper.
"Thank God for Anna," Selena said.
An hour later they were seated at the restaurant, waiting for the main course.
"What did you find out in Buffalo?"
"Branmore was in pretty bad shape," Nick said. "He thought I was someone he knew when he was in the Army."
"What about the sword? Did he say anything?"
"He remembered it, even showed me a scar where he cut his thumb checking the edge. He said it went with everything else in a divorce."
"His ex got it?"
"It looks that way. Steph will find out who he was married to and when they were divorced. With a little luck, the wife will still be alive. If not, maybe they had kids and one of them has the sword."
"It's like one of those British mystery shows," Selena said. "Midsomer Murders, or Agatha Christie. Follow the clues until you find out what happened."
"A lot like that, except we don't have any murders yet."
"I hope it stays that way."
He poured wine into Selena's glass and topped off his own. He took a sip and held up the glass to the light.
"This is pretty good," he said.
"We should do this more often."
"How about we take a vacation, as soon as this sword thing is done?"
"Where do you want to go?"
"Someplace warm with beaches. Hawaii? Maybe Kauai? I've always liked that island, it's beautiful. Or we could go somewhere we haven't been."
"There aren't too many places we haven't been," Selena said.
"How about Costa Rica? Have you been there?"
"Actually, I haven't. That might be fun. Somewhere on the Pacific coast. It would be different, anyway."
"As long as there's a good beach and a good hotel," Nick said.
"And palm trees."
"Right. Lots of palm trees and piña coladas."
Selena raised her glass. "Here's to piña coladas."
Later, after Anna had gone and they'd checked on the twins, they made love.
Afterward, they lay next to each other, cooling down. Selena turned toward him.
"Promise you'll never leave me," she said.
Nick looked at her, surprised.
"What made you say that? I'm not going anywhere."
"I don't know. Just promise."
Nick leaned over and kissed her.
"I promise," he said.