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abuse, and a whole host of other things. Jackson still had an unfair advantage, but for him, this was a big step. I only hoped that he might learn to relax a little. He was so damn serious all the time, and I thought this experience might just teach him to not sweat the small stuff.
    So, I’d made him promise to stay in a cheap hotel instead of a shelter, and I’d called off Ben and Sean. We put them to work following Nick instead. I was hoping that they might dig up some information that would be helpful to us.
    I gave Jackson back one of his credit cards in case he really needed something. I gave him back his cell phone as well, but he was bound and determined to only use it if it was really necessary. He really wanted to try to finish this week out under his own power. I’d agreed, but we were going to meet every day for lunch just so I could check on him, and so we could continue to talk about Nick. I was going to have my secretary schedule a call for tomorrow that Jackson would be monitoring.
    I’d prodded for information about this mysterious Alissa before I left, but after a few basic facts he’d gone shy on me and simply promised to let me meet her in the near future. I was fucking delighted. She sounded like the perfect fit for him, and truthfully, I was glad that she’d met him under false pretenses, or no pretenses at all. Women were funny around Jackson. They were attracted to his money and they were attracted to his good looks, but I didn’t think that there had ever been a woman who lasted long enough to actually be attracted to Jackson. He had incredibly high standards, and he intimidated the shit out of most people.
    I really hoped this would work out for him, and I really hoped we would manage to nail Nick with something, too. No one came between my brother and me without consequences.

Chapter 10: A New Trade
    Jackson
    Wow. What a day. I was punched in the jaw by a homeless man. I saved a beautiful woman from a crate full of crabs. I had an amazing breakfast with the aforementioned damsel in distress. I was attacked by my own brother, who then accused me of corporate theft, before plotting, with the same brother to take down the real crooks. It wasn’t even noon!
    I had been on my way to the social security office when Jason accosted me, and I would need to head back there now. I was pretending to not have a limitless credit card or my iPhone. I really was proud of my efforts so far, and I was going to finish this week out if it killed me. A bet’s a bet, corporate espionage aside.
    One boring wait later, I was the proud owner of a new social security card or a temporary one anyway. The real copy wouldn’t come in the mail for another thirty days.
    I was hungry again, but also out of money again, and what I really wanted to do was take a nap. It had been one hell of a day. I thought back to the park that was across the street from the bar. It seemed like forever ago that I had sat there waiting for the grill to open so that I could apply for a job. It wasn’t a bad place to sit, and I thought it might be a decent place for a nap as well. I curled up on the park bench and closed my eyes.
    When I woke, the light was different in the park. I had slept longer than I thought I would. My body was not accustomed to these odd hours.
    I sat up and brushed an old wrapper from a fast food burger off of my legs. I stared at the crumpled paper for a moment in disbelief. I picked it up and turned it over in my hands. It seemed like an odd coincidence that the wind had carried it onto my sleeping form. There were no overfull trashcans for it to have blown out of. It was almost like it had been thrown. Was it possible that someone would deliberately put trash on another person while they slept? Having never slept on a park bench before, I wasn’t entirely sure. I found a proper trashcan and disposed of the paper, resolving to push it from my mind.
    I still had a half an hour until my shift, so I went to a