Randi slipped in with a coffee refill and fell into the chair next to him, taking a hesitant sip as Klein pressed the intercom button next to his phone.

“Star? Could you come in here for a moment?”

She was just a few doors down and appeared a moment later, looking even more impressive than usual. The familiar piercings, tattoos, and black leather boots were all in evidence, but were now accessorizing a rather frilly pink dress. Smith suppressed a smile, suspecting how it must have happened. In the constant battle of wills between her and Klein, the old man had undoubtedly made the mistake of saying something to the effect of “couldn’t you just wear a dress?”

Those kinds of exasperated suggestions were pretty much his only recourse, though. A former librarian still in her early thirties, Star was a genius at tracking information—particularly information that hadn’t yet made its way to the digital world. She was, in the very real sense of the word, indispensable.

“I need to find someone,” Smith said.

“Sure.” She acknowledged Randi with a friendly grin. “Name?”

“I don’t actually know.”

“That’s okay. Male or female.”

“Male.”

“Where does he work?”

“Dunno.”

“Where’s he live?”

Shrug.

“Do you know where he’s from?”

“America. I’m fairly confident about that. Ninety percent.”

Her smile began to fade. “I’m probably not going to need a notepad to remember this flood of information, am I?”

“I doubt it.”

“Okay, what can you tell me?”

“Late sixties to early seventies. Probably retired U.S. military. I’d bet decent money marines—I can smell a jarhead a mile away. Five foot ten, probably a hundred and seventy pounds, only about two of which are fat. Gray military cut, no hair loss.”

“Original color? Any hanging on from when he was younger?”

“No.”

“Eyes?”

“Green,” Smith responded and then ran a finger from his collar to beneath his chin. “And he has an old scar along here.”

“Anything else?”

“Nope.”

“Well, that should narrow it down to a little over a million people.”

Smith smiled easily. “If it was simple, anyone could do it.”

“Uh-huh. When do you need it?”

He opened his mouth to respond but she held up a hand and retreated through the door. “Never mind. I already know what you’re going to say.”

Randi watched her disappear around the corner before speaking. “I have to admit that I’m looking forward to seeing what she finds out. It sounds like he had you dead to rights and didn’t take the opportunity. Why? Has he figured out a way to use you? Is he trying to convince you he’s something he’s not? That you’re on the same side? Does he really think you’ll give up just because he trashed your car and had some thugs point guns at you?”

“I can answer one of those questions,” Klein said.