He didn't let Deb's annoyance get to him. He couldn't. He'd known her for too long.
"Hello, Deb, nice to hear your voice too. Welcome to The City, by the way. That's big C big T. The City. It's an interesting and infuriating place as I'm sure you've found out by now."
What he didn't tell her was that she was lucky he was here at all. From what he'd seen, there was no sense of whole families being pulled in. Hell, if it had been that way, she and Rita would have come with him. But they hadn't.
"Sorry I didn't call you back right away. I've had a lot of work to do." That sounded better than what had really gone on by any stretch of the imagination.