Extract from my novel Silent Lips, which deals with a deadly virus that leads to New York City being quarantined (available as an eBook for only 99 cents):
Back in his office, Commissioner McGroarty had just sunk back in his armchair when the phone rang. He listened silently, finally growling: "Send her in."
A young woman walked in, limping slightly; he noticed that she wore a brace on her left leg. She had a neat brown skirt with a matching silk blouse; her coat was unbuttoned, the belt hanging from one loop only. She turned and held out her hand, her dark eyes gleaming with an inner excitement he found curiously attractive.
"I'm Naomi Jacobs," she said cheerfully. Her hand was cool and wiry. He was surprised by the firmness of her handshake.
"Please sit down, Miss Jacobs," he said.
"Thank you."
She sat down carefully, bending her left leg with a brief touch of her hand. The brace squeaked as it bent. He stared at her for a long while and she held his gaze, a half smile on her lips. Finally, he said: "The Governor thinks highly of you, Miss Jacobs. He says I am to cooperate with you to the extent possible." He sighed, thinking of the work he had to do, and she laughed. He sat back, startled, and she composed herself.
"I'm sorry," she began. "You looked so forlorn at the prospect of helping me."
He stared at her, really seeing her for the first time. Her hair was short and swept back from her face, with two longish tendrils straggling down before her ears, leaving her small ears uncovered. Her eyebrows curved above slightly almond shaped, widely spaced brown eyes which gleamed mischievously at him. She had a soft mouth, the lower lip a little fuller than the upper one. A dimple creased and uncreased as she spoke. Her eye teeth were a smidgen crooked and one overlapped the tooth next to it. A puckish nose above the pointed chin. Her hands were never still, tugging at the sleeves of the blouse or touching her hair in an unselfconscious manner or gently pulling at an earlobe.
"The Governor says you will be writing about the city; something about trying to form a bridge between the authorities and the people. To open channels of communication, he put it." His tone conveyed his opinion of the exercise. "I am to take you with me unless to do so would expose you to danger, and to help you see and talk to whomever you want to in the city."
She shrugged expressively, a slight smile on her lips. "I don't want you to think you have to nursemaid me, Commissioner. I will stay out of your hair, I promise. Just tell me those things you think might interest and inform the zany inhabitants of this city; if you miss anything, I'll ask questions." She settled her notepad on her knee and waited; he caught a glint of humour in the brown eyes.
He shook his head unconsciously. This was the last damn favour he was going to do for the Governor for a long, long time, he thought.
