Pieces of the Puzzle by Robert Stanek Page A

division.”
    “Fraud? Look, Ken, I’m in a hurry. Are you following me?”
    “The cuckoo’s egg.”
    “Come again?”
    “The cuckoo’s egg.”
    “Look, I’m on vacation. If you’re some kind of nut case, that’s fine by me, but go bother someone else.”
    “I’m gone. You’ll never see me again.”
    Scott said dryly, “That would be wonderful.”
    Ken walked off. Scott sulked for a moment. Wondered if he was getting paranoid. Wondered if Glen had sent Ken to check up
     on him, then went into the hall.
    Two pay phones were off the lobby. Someone was using one.
    He could have used the other, but didn’t want to talk while anyone was within earshot. He remembered seeing a phone booth
     on the street near the hotel. He went outside and walked about half a block. Thankfully no one was using the phone.
    He called Glen at the office. Glen’s secretary told him, “Mr. Hastings is still at home.” He dialed Glen’s home number, but
     the line was busy. As he waited to try again, it started to rain.
    The second time he tried, he got through. He yelled into the receiver, “Did you send some idiot down here to check up on me?”
    Glen didn’t say anything.
    “Well, did you?”
    “Scott,” Glen said, clear tension in his voice, “I think you should come back to Baltimore.”
    “Why?”
    “I think I should tell you this in person.”
    “Tell me now, Glen. I’m close to something. I can feel it. A few more days, that’s all.”
    “Scott, where are you? Are you sitting?”
    “Don’t play melodrama with me. It’s not you. Spit it out, I’m listening.”
    There was silence on the other end of the line for a moment. Glen said, “There’s been an accident. Cynthia’s in the hospital.
     I think you should fly back to Baltimore on the next flight.”
    For an instant, Scott saw his father’s face. Heard the snap of the trigger and the explosion of the gun firing.
    “Scott, are you there?”
    “Which hospital?”
    Glen told him.
    Scott hung up and raced to the hotel. Helen seemed to recognize the alarm on his face right away. He didn’t have to tell her
     he was leaving. She knew. She wanted to go with him. She didn’t want to be alone. She told him that she had proof that Jessica
     had the gizmo with her and that it was worth a lot more than anyone knew.
    He asked her if she had a safe place to stay, a place that wasn’t in Miami or Boca Raton. She said she knew a place no one
     would think to look for her. He gave her enough cab fare to take her to the Georgia state line, even though she was only going
     to Tampa. She wrote down the phone number. He put her in a cab and told her to stay out of sight until he came for her.

Chapter 7
    Baltimore, Maryland Tuesday,
    4 January
    Glen sank into the folds of the black leather chair, then purposefully plopped his feet onto the top of the massive mahogany
     desk that dominated his office. He didn’t care that his shoes were caked with mud or that one of the little people would have
     to clean up the mess. He glanced at the umbrella and the puddle forming beneath it. Damned rain just wouldn’t end.
    The phone rang. Glen snatched it up, then waited for the Christmas tree of indicators on a box attached to the phone to light
     all the way to the top. Once he was sure he was on a clear, untapped line, he grinned into the video phone and said, “Did
     you do it?”
    “Is it safe?”
    Glen beaded his eyes.
    “All right, stupid question—”“You’re right, it was. Did you do it?”
    “The money. You said we’d talk money now.”
    “You give me what I want, and by close of business, there’ll be a hundred thousand in your account. Does that make you happy?”
    “I think two is a better number.”
    Glen slammed the phone on the desk a few times. The video screen cracked and blanked out. He whispered into the phone, “Now
     you listen to me and listen close. That’s the only offer. Try a double cross and they’ll find you wrapped in your intestines.
     Do