Excerpt from new untitled book

The cell in his hip pocket rang. His heart fell when caller ID revealed Mrs. Brazelmoth on the line.
"Hello, Irene."
"Thomas, are you free for a tiny bit today --- say, in about an hour or so?" Her labored breathing sound a little desperate.
"I'm right in the middle of a job for new clients," he said. "I don't know when I'll be free."
"Oh, my. I was afraid you'd say that."
He didn't want to ask but he did. Uh, what's your problem?"
"Thomas, I hate to admit this, but I don't know where I am."
"You're joking, I hope." He wondered how far away she was. "Did you drive where you are?"
"It's no joke, young man. I drove into town and left my car in a parking lot. Now I can't remember the street name or why I came here in the first place."
He didn't know whether to believe her, plus he had no clue what to do. Then remembered Irene had a son named Myles in the area. "Why don't you call your boy? Myles will figure out your dilemma."
"Oh, God! I can't call him. He claims I have dementia. Did you ever hear of such foolishness? He has an Alzheimer Home all picked out for me."
No shit, thought Thomas. He sank down on the front steps. "Okay. There's a couple of things you can do, Irene. Take out your driver's license. It'll have your address on it. Go to the nearest policeman and ask him to show you where the taxis . . ."
"I don't have a driver's license, dear boy. Is that a problem?"
"Probably," he said. "In that case, avoid the police."
"If you say so, Thomas."
He pondered the futility of even asking her the question. "By chance do you remember your license plate number?"
"What license plate? You mean the square thingy under the trunk with numbers?"
"That's it. Good girl!"
"Please listen, Thomas. If I don't know where I am, how do you expect me to remember a silly old license plate?"
"Huh?" First thing tomorrow, he swore to silence the cell phone forever. "Irene . . . Irene, do you see a street sign?"
"Well, aren't you the clever man. Yes. I see one."
"What does it say?" He held his breath.
"It says DETOUR."