jungle. Seems to me you’ve made a hobby out of hitting this
particular snake pretty hard, and pretty regularly.”
“Griffen’s a liar and a thief, and he’s
robbing little old ladies. All I did was create a website and shine
a light on his latest scam. There’s nothing illegal about creating
websites, last time I checked – besides which, it’s too late; the
damage is done.” Steven didn’t need any more statements of the
obvious.
Stan framed his fingers together and
looked through them at Steven.
“A colleague of mine used to go on
safari, in Africa, years ago. He had a saying: If you’re going to
go elephant hunting, bring an elephant gun and be willing to use
it. Otherwise you have no business elephant hunting. Steven, my
point is you’ve been elephant hunting. If you have even half of
this right, he’s been doing this for years, successfully, and is
well connected. Your current situation may or may not have anything
to do with him, but it isn’t lost on me you’ve had a lot of strange
things happen since you started with this...”
“Stan, I’m not saying you’re wrong, or
that I wouldn’t change anything if I could. But I can’t. So what do
I do?”
Stan considered the question for a long
time. “I’m not sure you have the means to get a gun big enough to
bring this particular beast down. Let me think on this. I’ll take
care of the bank first thing.” They shook hands and agreed to talk
soon. Stan looked at Steven again.
“At least your life’s not boring, I’ll
give you that. And sorry about Avalon. I liked him.”
As Steven pulled onto the freeway to
return home, his phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and saw it
was Jennifer. He picked up.
“Hi there. All rested?” Steven
asked.
“Where are you?” Alarm…no, make that
borderline panic in her voice.
“What’s going on? What’s
wrong?”
“You need to come home now. I don’t
think I can deal with this anymore, Steven.”
“Deal with what? I’m twenty minutes
away. Tell me what happened.” He hated when people said things like
‘there’s a problem’ and then refused to elaborate. This was very
unlike Jennifer.
“When you get here. I have to go.” She
hung up. Christ, she’d hung up on him. She’d never hung up on him.
He stepped on it. He figured he could be there in fifteen minutes
if he worked it.
He made it in twelve.
He rushed through the door from the
garage and found Jennifer sitting in the living room. The blanket
was gone, but a dark stain remained on the beige carpet. Her arms
were crossed as she gripped her shoulders. She looked scared. He’d
never seen her like this before.
“What’s going on, honey?” He approached
her, but she pulled away.
“Two men came to the front door this
morning, at around ten-thirty. They wanted to speak to you. I told
them I didn’t know where you were, which was the truth – you were
just supposed to go get bagels. You were supposed to be here with
me...” She started sobbing.
“Oh, Jennifer, I’m sorry. I had some
emergencies come up I had to deal with.” He tried to hug her, but
she pulled away. Shock? “I picked up the bagels, then stopped to
get some cash from the ATM. Turns out my account is frozen; some
law enforcement agency froze it, no explanation. So who were the
men?” Steven asked.
“They were from Homeland Security, and
yes, I made them show me their badges,” Jennifer sobbed. “They
wouldn’t discuss why they needed to talk to you. They just asked a
bunch of questions.” She was still crying, scared, and angry. He
should have been there. She’d been dealing with the mess, cleaning
up dog blood, and now this.
Whatever this was.
Homeland Security? Wasn’t that the
terrorist people?
“Honey, I have no idea what this is
about. I swear,” Steven protested. At least that much was
true.
“They wanted to know where you were,
when you were coming back, if you had an office around here. I told
them you were out, maybe for the
particular snake pretty hard, and pretty regularly.”
“Griffen’s a liar and a thief, and he’s
robbing little old ladies. All I did was create a website and shine
a light on his latest scam. There’s nothing illegal about creating
websites, last time I checked – besides which, it’s too late; the
damage is done.” Steven didn’t need any more statements of the
obvious.
Stan framed his fingers together and
looked through them at Steven.
“A colleague of mine used to go on
safari, in Africa, years ago. He had a saying: If you’re going to
go elephant hunting, bring an elephant gun and be willing to use
it. Otherwise you have no business elephant hunting. Steven, my
point is you’ve been elephant hunting. If you have even half of
this right, he’s been doing this for years, successfully, and is
well connected. Your current situation may or may not have anything
to do with him, but it isn’t lost on me you’ve had a lot of strange
things happen since you started with this...”
“Stan, I’m not saying you’re wrong, or
that I wouldn’t change anything if I could. But I can’t. So what do
I do?”
Stan considered the question for a long
time. “I’m not sure you have the means to get a gun big enough to
bring this particular beast down. Let me think on this. I’ll take
care of the bank first thing.” They shook hands and agreed to talk
soon. Stan looked at Steven again.
“At least your life’s not boring, I’ll
give you that. And sorry about Avalon. I liked him.”
As Steven pulled onto the freeway to
return home, his phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and saw it
was Jennifer. He picked up.
“Hi there. All rested?” Steven
asked.
“Where are you?” Alarm…no, make that
borderline panic in her voice.
“What’s going on? What’s
wrong?”
“You need to come home now. I don’t
think I can deal with this anymore, Steven.”
“Deal with what? I’m twenty minutes
away. Tell me what happened.” He hated when people said things like
‘there’s a problem’ and then refused to elaborate. This was very
unlike Jennifer.
“When you get here. I have to go.” She
hung up. Christ, she’d hung up on him. She’d never hung up on him.
He stepped on it. He figured he could be there in fifteen minutes
if he worked it.
He made it in twelve.
He rushed through the door from the
garage and found Jennifer sitting in the living room. The blanket
was gone, but a dark stain remained on the beige carpet. Her arms
were crossed as she gripped her shoulders. She looked scared. He’d
never seen her like this before.
“What’s going on, honey?” He approached
her, but she pulled away.
“Two men came to the front door this
morning, at around ten-thirty. They wanted to speak to you. I told
them I didn’t know where you were, which was the truth – you were
just supposed to go get bagels. You were supposed to be here with
me...” She started sobbing.
“Oh, Jennifer, I’m sorry. I had some
emergencies come up I had to deal with.” He tried to hug her, but
she pulled away. Shock? “I picked up the bagels, then stopped to
get some cash from the ATM. Turns out my account is frozen; some
law enforcement agency froze it, no explanation. So who were the
men?” Steven asked.
“They were from Homeland Security, and
yes, I made them show me their badges,” Jennifer sobbed. “They
wouldn’t discuss why they needed to talk to you. They just asked a
bunch of questions.” She was still crying, scared, and angry. He
should have been there. She’d been dealing with the mess, cleaning
up dog blood, and now this.
Whatever this was.
Homeland Security? Wasn’t that the
terrorist people?
“Honey, I have no idea what this is
about. I swear,” Steven protested. At least that much was
true.
“They wanted to know where you were,
when you were coming back, if you had an office around here. I told
them you were out, maybe for the
Similar Books
