An elderly waiter in a stained white apron immediately placed a menu the size of a newspaper’s double sheet in front of him.

Without even glancing at the menu Monster ordered the braised lamb. Jake did the same.

“And to drink?” wheezed the waiter.

Monster looked at Jake questioningly. “I’ll have a glass of red wine,” Jake said. Monster shook his head. “Water’s okay for me.”

Once the waiter left their table Monster hunched forward and said in a lowered voice, “Jake, you’re headin’ for trouble, you know.”

“Me?”

“You. What’re you snoopin’ around for, tryin’ to find Nacho?”

Jake ran the possibilities through his mind in a millisecond. What the hell, he thought. Monster already knows a lot more about this than I do. No sense holding back anything.

“Monster, the guy might have murdered somebody. Maybe more than one.”

Monster straightened up in his chair, his face suddenly stony. “So?” he said. “What business is that of yours?”

“Did he kill Professor Sinclair? And Sinclair’s wife?”

“You think I know?”

“Do you?”

Monster stared at Jake in silence. As if to break the tension, their waiter brought two dishes of braised lamb to the table, steaming with the aroma of spices and fresh green beans.

“Jake,” Monster said, “eat your dinner and forget about this whole business. I like you, Jake, but you’re messin’ with things that’re gonna get you in trouble. You and that girl you went to Florida with.”

Jake’s insides clenched. They know every move I make! he realized. They’re watching me.

He wondered who “they” might be. It’s not just Senator Leeds, he thought. There’s more to this. A lot more.

But he said nothing further. He followed Monster’s advice and ate his dinner. They talked about old times, high school days. Monster merrily recounted the fights he had been involved in. He went into some detail about the bones he had broken.

June (Fourth Part)

JUNE

Strategy Session One

STRATEGY SESSION ONE

April gave way to May and then to June. The weather warmed to pleasant summertime temperatures and Jake followed Monster’s advice. He stopped asking about Nacho Perez, paid attention to his classes and his students. He even started working again on his proposal for the Mars lander’s sensors.

Political activities had slowed after the primaries. Both Tomlinson and Senator Leeds were making preparations for the campaign that would culminate in November’s election, spending most of their time raising money. Jake saw Amy Wexler once or twice a week, but only to talk about the science planks in Tomlinson’s platform.