"Raised in an orphanage, remember? I didn't just run into them, I was raised under their 'teachings'." She shivered a bit.

"I think so. I'll be talking to people with no sense of humor, and it's my life if I screw it up. Unless you can bail me out of that situation-which I hope it won't come down to." She squared up her shoulders. "I'm ready to get started when you are-if you've done all the research you need?"