Brian Summers hit the screen to disconnect. He set the phone down and the phone assistant took a step toward it, but Summers held up his hand and the man stopped. “I’m going to make another call on that line. No more than two. Then you can get rid of it.”

“Yes, Mr. Summers.”

The phone assistant turned.

Summers said, “Wait. Get the others. We’re going to have a little meeting in the living room.”

When the others assembled in the living room, Summers was sitting in an armchair facing the long couch. He still had the pen and pad in one hand. He used the other to show he wanted them to sit on the couch.

“It’s time for a little honesty. I had nothing to do with selecting or hiring you guys, and I don’t know much about what you’ve been told or what your qualifications are. I give you orders, and my company pays you, but you don’t work for me. All three of you look like you might have been cops at one time, or military, but looks are deceptive. I also don’t know how much you know about me.”

The three stared at him like so many trained dogs. Their unblinking eyes were focused and attentive, but no more than that.

“It doesn’t matter. I have strong reasons to believe that trouble is coming for me soon. It’s not going to be something that you or I will be able to prevent, and to keep up my honesty, you won’t be of much use in getting me through it. If I do make it through, I’ll probably need your help at that time, but not so much until then. Any questions so far?”

The three remained silent.

“I’m in the process of making a list.” He held up the pad, where a few lines had been written. “I’d like to have you three pick some things up for me. After you’ve done that, I want you to take a couple of weeks off. If you’re here in the house during that time, it will put you in very serious danger.” He looked at each of them in turn, studying their eyes. It was as though he were speaking to men who couldn’t hear him or see him.

“I’ll be more explicit. People are coming here to kill me. They’ve already killed three of my former associates living in different states. I don’t know yet who the killers are, or what they look like, or even how many. I do know that so far there haven’t been any instances of them trying to kill one of my friends and failing. If they find you here, they’ll consider killing you a necessary step to get me.”

The car assistant raised his hand about six inches.

“A question?”

The man said, “When will the list be ready?”