Time for a meeting with an old (very old) friend...     -----     Chapter 32: Upgrades and Relationships "I must thank you, Jason," Verne said, surveying the mound of equipment assembled in his dining room. "The advice of an expert is always appreciated." Verne had decided to fully enter the fast-approaching twenty-first century, adding telecommunications and computers to his formidable range of resources. I grinned. "No thanks needed. Advising someone on what to buy is always fun, especially when [ Continue reading... ]

Jason had been presented with a nasty offer...   -----     Chapter 28: A Nice Evening Drive, With Gunfire "Why the hell not?" I gestured at the ornate gold ring. "Why not, Verne? If he's going to be satisfied with the ring, just give it to him! Then we hit him later." Verne rubbed the ring gently, turning it about his finger and making the ruby send out sparks of crimson. "The reason he would be satisfied with the ring, Jason, is because he knows that I will never remove this ring. Never. I gave my word many, [ Continue reading... ]

  Something bad had happened to Syl...   ------   Chapter 27: Empathy and Electronics "Jason, you need your rest. It's been twenty-seven hours. Go to bed." I was too tired to jump at the sudden voice from a formerly empty space. "Verne, I've got work to do. I'm going to find that bastard and silver him like a goddam mirror. I don't have time to sleep. You heard what Winthrope told me." "About her assistant being found dead? Yes." "Then don't talk to me about sleep. Every hour I sleep could get someone else [ Continue reading... ]

  Jason had revealed some secrets...     -----     Chapter 26: Special Guest Appearance By… "What was her reaction?" "About what you'd expect." Verne raised an eyebrow. "Well, she didn't believe me, that's for sure. But she also wasn't comfortable not believing, either; the stuff Gorthaur's been up to has already got them spooked." "And she let you go rather than have you examined by a specialist? Isn't that a bit odd?" "Not really. She'd already admitted she knew I hadn't killed Jerome, and [ Continue reading... ]

Jason had gotten himself into a spot of trouble...     -----     Chapter 25: Ways to Make You Talk I looked up as the cell door opened. Renee entered. She walked over and took my hand without a word. After a moment, she said, "You okay?" "I guess," I said finally. "Am I getting out of here?" "Hell if I know," Renee said. "Jason, what were you doing over at Jerome Sumner's?" "Bending over and getting screwed by the bastard who killed him." The fury overwhelmed me for a moment; I slammed my fist into the [ Continue reading... ]

  I'm pretty sure this is the shortest chapter in the book.       ----     Chapter 23: Remembering Old Times "Okay, Jason, what've you got?" That was Renee, straight to the point. "A whole lot. But first, come here; there's someone I want you to meet." She followed me to the living room. Verne rose from the red chair, bowed as I introduced them. "Renee Reisman, Verne Domingo." She didn't shake hands. "Jason, we've had our eye on this man for some time. I'd like to know just what his [ Continue reading... ]

  Jason's got some information gathering to do...         Chapter 22: Three Conversations, One Problem I got back to my house, opened the door, and went to the kitchen. A few minutes later, sandwich and soda next to me, I booted up my terminal program. I needed to contact "Manuel Garcia O'Kelly Davis." Manuel was actually a fairly high-placed military intelligence analyst. I thought he was Air Force, but there was no way to be sure. I sent him a secured e-mail, asking for a conference. He agreed, and we [ Continue reading... ]