“Tell him he’s about to get stuck on the Ferris wheel again, and there’s no getting off this time.”

She smiled, slightly puzzled, and repeated back his words before hanging up the phone. “You can wait here, Mr. Douglas.”

“Thanks.” He took a seat in the lobby, watching as people came and went – busy, full of importance, and not noticing him in the least. Chip was glad he’d bought the jacket. It felt like it was suffocating him, but it did keep him from looking like a total intruder.

The security desk phone rang nearly forty minutes later. The conversation was brief.

“Mr. Douglas?”

He stood and approached the desk. “Yes?”

She pulled out a visitor pass, scanning it into a machine. “You can go up to the eighty-second floor. Just use this.”

He smiled, accepting the pass. “Thank you.”

The elevator took him up without stopping, and Steel was waiting for him when the doors opened.

“Chip! My man! I thought you were dead.”

Chip shook his hand. “Not yet, Steel.”

“Come on in. I’ve got a late lunch coming up. Would you like anything? It’s just lobster, but I can get whatever you like.”

Chip shook his head. “No, thanks. I don’t want to take much of your time.”

He led them into an office absolutely stuffed with sparkling black granite. Even the desk was made of heavy stone, polished and shining.

They both sat down and Steel made a face. “Why do I feel like you’re going to tell me about an exciting investment opportunity?”

“That must be your next meeting,” Chip quipped.

Steel laughed. “Right. You’re here to remind me about the time I almost died at the county fair.”

Almost died. He was such an exaggerator. He’d gotten stuck on that Ferris wheel for forty minutes, tops. He probably could’ve gotten off sooner, too, if it weren’t for his determination to make a deal with the guy who was stuck with him. A deal, as it turned out, that had nearly ruined him.

Chip hid his annoyance. “Remind you of it, yeah. And warn you that you’re about to do it again.”

“Oh no. You’re the ghost of Christmas future?” Steel chuckled, getting up to pick up a bottle of dark liquor. “Would you like one?”

Chip shook his head. “No thanks.”

“How’s the wife?”

“Quite happy. She finally divorced me.”

Steel laughed, hard, going as far as slapping his knee. “Still the same old Chip. Never change buddy.”

Chip wasn’t here to pretend they were still friends. “I’ve got some information about SureFired.”

Steel’s smile lingered. “Do you?”

He nodded. Steel was suspicious of him – he always was – but Chip had no reason to lie.

He cleared his throat. “After the crash, I moved out to Orcas Island. Have you ever been there?”