“Okay,” he said, “I think we can feel pretty darn good about the day’s work. We figured out where your development was stalled, and we got it moving again. Since you’ve probably been blocked for a while, the second stage might come quickly. We’ll have to do some testing to see if that’s the case.”

“What’s the second stage?”

“Actually being able to do cool stuff.”

I smiled, but mostly I just felt scared. Getting a college degree would’ve been cool. Changing the fabric of reality was on another level.

“Before we get into testing, can I ask you something?” I said.

“Sure, what is it?”

I took a deep breath. Graham seemed to be an okay guy, but I didn’t really know that. Still, I got the sense he wasn’t a Williams fan. That might work in my favor.

“Do you think Williams could’ve kidnapped my sister-in-law?”

I could tell I’d taken him completely by surprise. He actually pulled over and turned to face me.

“Why would he have done that?”

“When he first came to talk to me, he told me not to leave town and not to tell anyone about him. But I was so scared that I went to the police, and they arrested him. Then I took off. I was gone about a day. When I came back, my brother’s wife had gone missing. She disappeared just after the police let Williams go. I thought he might’ve taken her to get me to come back here. That’s why I came back, actually — I called my brother from the road and he told me she was gone and that the police suspected me. They were interrogating me about it when Williams came and got me — they think he’s with the FBI.”

Graham stared at me, apparently at a loss for words.

Finally he said, “Well, I’ve never heard of him using quite that kind of tactic. He’s usually more direct. What you’re describing sounds like it would take some planning, and he’s not the brightest bulb. Then again, I don’t think there’s much he’s not capable of.”

He paused for a minute, thinking.

“Let me look into it quietly for a few days. I have some contacts in the organization that don’t care much for Williams. I’ll get in touch and see what I can find out.”

“Thank you,” I said, and really meant it. “I’d like to be able to talk to him soon — my brother, I mean.”

“Of course you can talk to him,” Graham said. “Go see him, if you like. We’ll just have to discuss some basic ground rules beforehand.”

“What ground rules?”

“Why don’t we talk about it tomorrow? It’s certainly too late to call or visit anyone tonight, right?”

He pulled the car back out. It was almost 10:00.

“Okay,” I said. “Tomorrow.”

Chapter 6