Myer
ft envelope on Frazier's mahogany desk on
for the study thick with his residual cedar s
he cold night wind filled my coat, yet my c
booked ten minutes ago, where the driver wore
ore. No radio, no air freshener,
reement and wear a collar one le
in this city who cannot get into an ordinary taxi withou
said, watching the lit windows of the C
on the next red-eye flight back to The Union headq
ck against the leather headrest, and close
e tarmac in The Union, and I rolled my suitcase
e address of the downtown penthouse apartment w
out and walked through the lobby, giving only a brief
top floor, keyed in the passkey, and pushed
uite, I slid open the walk-in closet doors and looked
orage room and began packing my plain everyday cl
my handwritten drafts for the CUAP neural compilation
klace Frazier had bought to display me as h
hem out to the center of the living room, and walk
throat, clearing the fatigue from
ned it on; the screen was completely blank, wit
one onto the marble island and walked to the floo
cent match report and five years of suffocating marriag
penthouse key fob off the wall hook, and dr
ate elevator hall, I listened to the s
r Hodg
udy with a cup of freshly brewed black coffee in my hand,
es caught a plain, unmarked kraft envelope
nd reached out to pick up the envelope just as
on the screen and swiped to answer, immediate
g room quick! Grayce's forehead i
e study, the back of my hand struck the kraft envelo
barked at Martha Tucker, the Beta n
around right now. We're takin
epped into the study with a cl
gh the half-open study door just in time to see Martha spot the unm
bottom desk drawer, and tossed it
Martha muttering to herself as she wiped down the empty desktop
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