He answered it. "Is this Ray Decker?" The voice was a woman's voice, calm, clear, the kind of calm that wasn't relaxed. It was the kind of calm that came from spending a long time deciding exactly how much to reveal in exactly which words.
"It is," he said. "My name is Nadia Voss." He knew the name. Anyone in the city knew the name.
Voss Capital had a building downtown with her photograph in the lobby. She had been on the cover of two business magazines in the past year. She was the kind of name that showed up in conversations Ray was never part of. "My daughter came home last night," Nadia Voss said.
"She told me what you did." Ray leaned against the truck fender. "She get home okay?" "She did."
A short pause. "What did you charge her?" "Nothing." Another pause, longer this time.
"I'd like to know why." Ray thought about it. Not long. "Because she needed help and I could give it. That's all."
The line was quiet for a moment. Not an empty quiet, a thinking quiet, the kind that meant the person on the other end was deciding something. "She said you gave her your number in case she had more car trouble." "That's right."
"She also said..." Nadia Voss stopped, then started again. "She said you didn't ask her any questions. You just fixed the tire and got her on her way."
"Yes. Most people would have asked what was wrong." "Most people would have," Ray agreed. She was quiet again.
He waited. He was good at waiting. 12 years of working alone in a shop had made him comfortable with silence in a way that made some people nervous. "Mr. Decker," she said finally, "I'd like to bring my car in. I think there's something wrong with the engine."
"What's it doing?" "A small vibration at idle. It started about 2 weeks ago." "What are you driving?"
"A Range Rover, 2 years old." "I can take a look at it. When works for you?" "This morning, if you have space."
Ray looked around the shop. The pickup would take most of the morning. He had one other job after lunch. The bay at the end was open.
"I've got a bay free," he said. "Good." She said the word the way people say it when they are relieved, but will not show it. "I'll be there in 2 hours." She hung up.
Ray stood holding the phone for a moment. He thought about the girl's face again. The thing that moved across it. He put the phone back in his pocket and went back under the hood.
She arrived in exactly 2 hours. He heard the Range Rover before he saw it. It pulled into the lot with a low, even hum that told him immediately the idle vibration was minor. Whatever it was, it wasn't serious, but he didn't say that yet.
He came out of the bay and watched her get out of the car. She was not what he had expected. He was not sure what he had expected exactly. Someone more formal maybe, someone who traveled with people, someone whose clothing made a point.
She was in dark trousers and a gray shirt, sleeves pushed up to the elbow. No entourage. She walked like someone who was used to moving fast and had decided today to move at a normal speed, which took more effort than the fast pace did. Her hair was pulled back loosely.