“Sure, sure, whatever you want, Lizzie. Eat up,” Jack said, putting in front of her a bowl of soup that was loaded with skinny noodles. He crossed his fingers that Lizzie wouldn’t mention the lack of vegetables in the soup.

“This is good. Kind of tastes like Dip Sing’s soup, but they put wontons in it.”

“No kidding!” Jack said, feigning surprise. “Harry and I will take that as a compliment.”

Harry winked at Jack as he handed him his empty bowl.

Time froze when Jack’s phone, which was lying in the middle of the table, chirped to life.

Lizzie stopped eating. “Someone should answer that.”

“Yeah, someone should.” Jack reached for the phone.

Chapter 2

Elizabeth Fox Cricket, lawyer extraordinaire. Lizzie Fox, or as she was often referred to in legal circles, the Silver Fox.

Lizzie Fox, a legend in her own time.

Lizzie Fox, White House counsel to two-term president Martine Connor.

Lizzie Fox, nominated for a seat on the Supreme Court, but every lawyer’s and judge’s dream was not her dream. She said thanks but no thanks. She explained she had a husband to care for, a son to raise, and more cases to try.

Prosecutors lived in fear of going up against her, often caving in before they even got to present their case because no one won against Lizzie Fox.

Judges loved Lizzie Fox, and it was rumored that they often waggled and finagled among themselves to sit on any case she was trying. True or false, no one was sure.

The sun had just crept over the horizon when all those thoughts rushed through Jack Emery’s mind as he watched the friend he was in awe of dressed in what he knew was Cosmo’s robe, her glorious wet mane of silver hair piled high on her head in a scrunchy. She was freshly showered, but she still looked tired and beaten. He ladled out a second helping of soup and noodles into a bowl. Harry poured coffee into a mug that had a casino chip and a dollar sign on it and handed it over to Jack, who set it down next to Lizzie’s soup bowl. Both Jack and Harry watched Lizzie as she greedily tore into her meal.

“Just keep eating, Lizzie. Harry and I will talk and then you can tell us what you know and how we got to this point in time. In case you are wondering what we’re doing here or how we got here so fast, we were all up in Reno for the martial arts trials. Harry was a judge, and he also participated in one event. We heard on the radio yesterday morning that some big VIP here in Vegas got gunned down outside an apartment complex he owned. They didn’t mention a name, but we all came to the same conclusion, so we packed up and drove down here with five of Harry’s friends from the trials. They’re visiting from China. They were planning on coming with us anyway, so we just left a day early. Everyone is here, even Abner, but he was the last one in. He has Cyrus with him. That’s about all we know. You need to tell us what you know, as we’re all pretty much in the dark.”