Jack then spent an hour or so with Sean and Alicia working out the plan for Monday morning. Sean had called Gordon Haffner at HRG on Friday and arranged a nine-thirty meeting there with his new client, Alicia Clayton. He’d made it clear that his client did not under any circumstances want her brother present. They would confer with Mr. Haffner alone, and he would convey the substance of the meeting to Thomas Clayton afterward.

And then with everything set and in place for tomorrow, Jack had gone home, ready to end this exceptionally fine weekend with another installment of the Dwight Frye festival. The Vampire Bat, perhaps.

Then Milkdud called, saying he’d just returned from successfully rehacking the Hand Building. Jack thought that was great until Milkdud explained what Jack would have to do tomorrow…

MONDAY

MONDAY

1.

1.

“You rested and ready for this?” Milkdud said as he and Jack walked down Forty-fifth Street in their suits, carrying their briefcases.

“No.”

As they neared the entrance to the Hand Building, Jack said, “You’re sure there’s no other way to do this?”

“If there is, I don’t know it.”

“I must be crazy.”

Milkdud laughed. “Don’t worry. You’ll be fine.”

Jack wished he was as sure about that.

They pushed through the revolving door into the lobby, looking like they belonged there, and breezed past the security counter where a pair of uniforms were sipping coffee and raptly checking out yesterday’s football scores in the morning paper.

“Kind of gives you a new appreciation of the value of organized sports, doesn’t it,” Jack said as they approached the elevators.

“Especially football pools.” Milkdud checked his watch. “Quarter to eight. The shifts are changing. That helps too.”

“As does the lack of those dreadlocks you sported when I first met you.”

He smiled. “I learned the hard way that dreads and hacking don’t mix. They kept getting caught on things in tight spots. Besides, a big part of hacking is going unnoticed.”

“Yeah. And I imagine that’s kind of hard to do when you’ve got what looks like a hairy octopus hanging on your head.”

A bell chimed to their left, and the center elevator opened its doors. Jack stepped toward it but Milkdud held him back.

“Uh-uh. We’re taking the one over there on the left.”

“What’s the difference?”

“That’s the one that’s going to put you closest to where you want to go.”

“I’m all for that,” Jack said.

Milkdud reached inside the center cab and pressed a button, sending it back up.

Half a minute later, the doors to the left elevator opened.

“That’s ours,” Milkdud said.

As they started toward it, Jack spotted a red-haired woman rounding the corner. She headed their way.

“Move it, Dud,” he whispered. “Company’s coming.”