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. Dagger’s drug bookkeeping. Huge
amounts. If his people had taken all this cocaine, they’d all have died by now.
    Actually, if you read across the fold of the pages, like a
spreadsheet, the type of transactions became clear. The drugs were coming into
Dagger’s compound and going out in smaller quantities. He didn’t just give his
staff poison. He dealt it and on a large scale.
    Good. With this information he could shut Dagger down. He
could send the bastard away to prison for years, if not for life. Dagger
wouldn’t ruin any more human beings.
    With everything stashed in the plastic bag again, Jake
headed toward the main room. Before he got there, the sounds of voices came to
him. Several of them, one Dagger’s.
    “Find the goddamn rays, Steve,” Dagger shouted.
    “There aren’t any rays, Dagger,” Steve answered.
    “Sure, there are,” Howie said. “You found them and destroyed
them.”
    Steve groaned.
    “You’re part of the plot!” Dagger howled.
    “Come on, man,” Howie said. “Sit down and chill.”
    “I can’t chill. My fucking head is splitting open from the
rays. If it doesn’t stop, I’m going to fucking kill someone.” Something heavy
crashed against the wall. Dagger had thrown something with glass that shattered
and fell to the floor. He’d whipped himself into a rage with the help of
cocaine. He’d gone past irrational and volatile to outright dangerous. If only
they’d go away again, Jake could call the police before Dagger hurt someone. Or
worse.
    “Okay, okay. I’ll stop the rays,” Steve said.
    Things got quieter in the outer room. Keys clicked as Steve
worked on the computer. Someone paced the room, probably Dagger. Back and
forth, back and forth. Then, the footsteps stopped.
    “Who’s been in the file room?” Dagger demanded.
    “No one. Why?” Howie said.
    “The door’s open.” The footsteps approached where Jake hid.
He couldn’t escape. If Dagger found him here, he’d lose any connection to
sanity. Jake’s only choice to avoid detection was to shift. He dropped the bag
and shifted, not even getting out of his clothes. They ripped apart and fell to
the floor.
    Dagger stood in the doorway, Howie and Steve right behind
him.
    “That fucking bike,” Dagger said. “I should have known. The
thing is trying to kill me.”
    “It’s just a machine,” Steve said.
    “Oh, yeah? Then, how did it get here?”
    “Someone put it here as a joke,” Steve answered. “Lighten
up.”
    Dagger pointed to the open file drawer. “It’s been in my
personal shit.”
    “Chill, Dagger. It’s a machine,” Howie said.
    “Bullshit. I should have killed it before. I’m going to do
it now.” Dagger slammed the door closed. Keys rattled, and the lock clicked.
    The three men trooped out of the other room, leaving silence
behind them. What now?
    Jake shifted back to his human form and tried the door.
Locked, as he’d expected. How in hell could he get out of here? Before he had a
chance to think of a solution, the other men returned.
    “Don’t do this, Dagger,” Howie said. “It’ll bring the cops
down on us.”
    “Bullshit,” Dagger said. “It’s my property. I can burn it to
hell if I want to.”
    Something splashed out there, and gasoline fumes filled the
room.
    “Think of the computers,” Steve said.
    “Fuck the computers. Get out of here before you fry.”
    “Shit!” Steve yelled. “He’s going to do it. I don’t fucking
believe it.”
    “Get out!” Dagger shouted.
    Footsteps faded away. Steve and Howie. Then came the sound
of a match striking. Dagger had set fire to the cottage, and Jake was still
inside.

 

     

     

    Chapter Five
     

    By the time Lauren got to the guesthouse, flames were
working their way up the walls. Dagger danced around in front of the fire, a
look of pure insanity on his face.
    “Die, fucker,” he shouted. “Die. Die.”
    “What in hell is going on?” Lauren asked Steve.
    “Dagger’s lost it.”
    “I can see that,” she