Grand Romantic Delusions Chapter 16: The Subject

     "Hello?" The voice on the other end of the line was hoarse and slurred. Who would be calling at 5 o'clock in the morning?

     "Doctor Jacobs?"

     "Yes, this is Doctor Jacobs. Who is this?"

     "This is Lewis Wright. You might remember me from a few years ago—"

     "Yes of course, Lewis. How may I help you? Is everything all right?"

     "I'm not sure."

     "Can you come into my office later today? It's very early, you know. I believe I can squeeze you in later this—"

     "Um, no, I'm afraid not."

     "Now, Lewis, I know you weren't always fond of our work together, but we really did make a lot of progress."

     "No, Doc, you don't understand. I'm out of town. I can't get to your office. I'm in Ohio."

     "All right. Well, perhaps you should begin by telling me what issues you're facing, and we'll talk through the problem."

     "Please, Doc, just listen!"

     Silence.

     "I need to get in contact with Celia—my wife. My ex-wife, I mean."

     "And you're calling me?"

     "Yes," Lewis replied." I'm sorry, Doc, but I'm running out of options."

     "Lewis, if she's broken off contact with you, I'm sure—"

     "Listen to me, Doctor Jacobs. Please! I think she and Izzy might be in some kind of trouble and I really need to speak with her, OK? Do you think I wouldn't have tried another method—any other method—before calling you, if this wasn't vitally important?"

Grand Romantic Delusions Chapter 15: The Hacker

     Gary Harold was a man of big ideas and small ambitions. He enjoyed figuring out complex systems, whether they were the mechanics of games or the rules by which international trade was conducted. He also enjoyed impressing others with his esoteric knowledge, but he lacked the drive needed to make any practical use of that knowledge. He also really liked smoking weed. These facts were probably related.

Grand Romantic Delusions Chapter 14: The Doctor

     Katie left the book store and went straight back to her hotel suite. She always kept a stash of burner cells on hand in order to make untraceable calls when needed, and she didn't want any record of contact between her and the psychologist who had worked on the Strange Animal project.

     She still wasn't sure what to think of O'Keefe. He was paranoid, sure—but she happened to know there were people watching him. Goofy though he was, he seemed a nice enough guy. Deception was a core part of her job—of who she was, even, she'd been doing it so long—but she almost felt bad having to deceive him. What was it about this poor hapless janitor that made her sympathize with him? Well, clearly he was more than just a janitor—his service record was proof enough of that. She wondered if she could get him to talk about his time in the navy. Obviously that was a secret he didn't want shared, if not even Labelle knew about it. Or were they involved in keeping the secret, too?

Grand Romantic Delusions Chapter 13: The Confluence

     "I don't give a damn about your stupid football team," Nita said. "Something strange is going on, and I want to get to the bottom of it."

     "So sorry," replied Mary. She grabbed the remote off the coffee table and shut off the TV. "What's the matter? How did you find that book?"

     Lewis sat back down on the couch without a word. Something was definitely bothering Nita, and it made him anxious. His head swam from standing and sitting so rapidly—he hadn't had this much to drink since before his nervous breakdown.

     "I know you don't want to talk about it, Mary, and I hate to pry," began Nita as she pulled the armchair around the coffee table to face them both. "But, I need you to tell me about your trip to the BMV yesterday. I know there was a guy—or some people, I guess—who got on your nerves. Tell me about them."

     "Why?" Mary was annoyed by the question. She hated when Nita got all schoolmarmish on her—especially since she was a year younger than Mary. "What business is it—"

     "This is important," Nita interrupted. "Honestly, Mary—I wouldn't ask if it weren't."

     "OK, fine—there was some guy in line that kept trying to talk to me. I tried to use that book as a prop—to keep myself looking busy so he'd leave me alone."

     "But he didn't."

     "No he didn't."