Jake turned back toward the window and the river. Beneath the surface flows swift water, Jake thought. Uncertain eddies. Whirlpools. People were no different. Bundenbach had his agenda. Lebovitz had his. Even Milt now.
Jake turned back toward Milt. "Bundenbach is in no position to deal," Jake explained. "He'll be wrapped up in a legal battle for quite a while. Besides, I wouldn't trust him."
Wait a minute. With Bundenbach severely hampered, Teredata could exploit his markets. Come on line with the fastest transputer at a far lower cost than any other super computer. More importantly, the personal transputer would revolutionize the industry. Exactly what Bundenbach was trying to do. Exactly what Lebovitz was trying to do. So, how was Milt any different from the Germans or Hungarians? Shit! Did Milt know what Steve Carlson was up to? Did he actually set up the entire scheme? Or did he just now come up with the idea now that the opportunity presented itself?
"You're thinking it over, Jake?"
"I'll give you one last bit of information and then I'm out of here," Jake said, perniciously. "Lebovitz."
"Lebovitz? What about Lebovitz?"
"Do you know him?"
"No."
"He's the Hungarian Carlson was dealing with indirectly," Jake said.
"What about him?"
"He has most of the transputer information. I'm sure you can work with him. But I won't help you. Lebovitz can supply cheap, skilled labor and the transputer technology. You'll need to provide your chips, engineers, and a little capital and marketing strategy."
"But Jake, I need you to make the deal."
Jake walked slowly toward the door. "Find someone else, Milt. I have a date."
Jake left and closed the door behind him. A part of him wanted to help. He knew Lebovitz. Knew it would be easy to pick up some cash at Milt's expense. But what about the price? The men who had died had paid a price. Who could pay that price without a conscience? And what price would Jake have to pay? Conscience wasn't cheap.
As the elevator closed him in and he drifted toward the ground floor, he reached to the inside pocket of his leather jacket and pulled out an airline ticket. He studied the open ticket to Rome carefully, smiled, and then placed it back in his pocket. He felt his temple where the bullet had grazed him, shook his head, took in a deep breath and let it out slowly.
Jake left the building and climbed into a cab waiting for him.
The cab driver turned to Jake for a destination.
Jake looked at the man and smiled. "The airport."
TREVOR SCOTT BIO
Trevor Scott is the author of the international thrillers Fatal Network, Extreme Faction, The Dolomite Solution, Hypershot, and the mystery, Strong Conviction. He was a weapons expert working the flight deck of aircraft carriers in the Navy, and was a captain in the Air Force, where he was stationed in Germany for three years in a tactical missile unit. He holds a bachelor's in English from the University of Minnesota, and a master's in creative writing from Northern Michigan University. He currently resides in Oregon with his wife and two sons.