Page 38 of Artificial Moon

I exhale. “Looks like I don’t have much of a choice. Can you send me a screengrab of the yacht he was on?”

“I sure can.”

I’m about to give her my phone number but, surprise, surprise, she already has it, and a picture is waiting for me.

Norm isn’t the only tech genius.

He might have literally fallen off the FBI’s radar...

But I have my ways.

Chapter Nineteen

With the FBI gone, I find myself still at Andrew’s palatial condo.

I’d removed the memory of me and Kingsley appearing and disappearing on the security footage, and also commanded one of their tech guys to delete the footage, as well. I trusted Agent Lindsey Aeon with our secrets. Heck, what were a few more?

“Sam, again, I’m sorry,” Andrew was saying. “I had to give them something.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I say. Tammy and Anthony are playing a 4D video game in Andrew’s living room, ‘oohing’ and ‘ahhing.’ In the 4D version, both my kids can seemingly join the battle, which appears projected above the floor before them. Yeah, pretty cool. Guess that’s what a billion bucks buys you. Meanwhile, Paxton is with her Aunt Mary Lou, slumming it with a Nintendo.

“So what’s the game plan, Sammy?” asks Allison.

“I can teleport to the yacht,” I say, the memory of it in the marina security footage still fresh in my memory. “Once on board, I’ll find Norm, subdue him, and bring him...” I look at Andrew, “...back here or back to your Fullerton office?”

“Ideally, straight into surgery, Sam. I’ll show you a picture of the surgical room, if that helps?”

“Yes, thank you.”

“Sam,” says Kingsley. “He might have that whole damn yacht booby-trapped by now, and once you arrive—kablooie!—the whole thing explodes, including my little nugget.”

“Nugget?” I say, raising an eyebrow.

“Thought I would try it out.”

“Me likey,” I say.

“Oh, goodie.”

“Gag,” says Tammy.

“He’s right, Sam,” says Allison. “This could be another trap. We can’t put it beyond him. For all we know, he’s already abandoned the ship and is currently racing back to shore on that powerboat of his.”

“But,” I say, “would he believe I can teleport to a moving object? In this case, a yacht?”

“He could just weigh anchor,” says Allison. “Andcanyou teleport to a moving object?”

“I can,” I say. “I think.”

“He would have considered all options,” says Andrew. “And we don’t know what he concluded. He’s probably all too aware that you saw footage of the stolen yacht and could find him. Next, like Allison suggested, he would likely cut the engine to guarantee your arrival. And yeah, there’s a high likelihood he’s waiting for you with some surprises. But, I think it’s less likely that he could have acquired enough explosives to cause the kind of damage Kingsley is suggesting. Maybe enough to hamper the yacht, but not blow it to smithereens.”

“So, if there is a trap, it may not be fatal,” says Allie.

“Unless he has a small army of archers on board, each with their own silver-tipped arrows,” says Anthony randomly from the living room.

“I wouldn’t put it past him,” I mumble.

“You got a suit of armor in this place?” asks Allison.

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