Page 27 of Speak of the Devil (New Hope 3)

“That was serious. What’s more serious than a Benjamin and a half for a couple of salads and cheap pasta? They’re not messing around here.”

“Stop.”

I scoot my chair back.

“What I was trying to say is if you don’t feel like this is the right deal, you shouldn’t take it.”

“Why would you say that?”

“Just a hunch.”

“Why do you care so much?”

“As a friend, I have an idea of what that formula is worth. Provided it does what it promises.”

“But we aren’t friends, Marcia. Are we?”

She sips her water and then quickly checks her phone before looking up. “You don’t have to be so patronizing, Elliot.”

“I thought that was called honesty.”

“Oh, you want honesty? Well, how about this— some things,” she says, with a tilt of her head. “Some things shouldn’t be sold.”

Small things can have monstrous effects. Chaos theory. It’s said that a hurricane can be initiated by something as small as a distant butterfly flapping its wings several weeks earlier—the butterfly effect. As humans, we like the idea of defining cause and effect. It speaks to our larger expectation that the world should be comprehensible—that everything happens for a reason, and that we can pinpoint all those reasons, however small they may be. But nature itself defies this expectation. The truth is, it’s extremely hard to calculate anything with certainty.

Unfortunately, no one really wants to hear how radically random and unpredictable the world really is.

I know because the officer leaning over my gurney has just repeated his question for the third time. Do you know who might have done this? He peers down at me.

The last thing I remember is walking through the parking garage on my way to my car. I’d had dinner with my business manager, walked Marcia to her car, and had taken the stairs to the sixth floor.

Did I notice anything out of the ordinary?

I shake my head.

He repeats the question again. Asks if I’m sure.

I’m not. I can’t recall much one way or the other.

He rapid-fires from there. Has anyone made threats against me? Is there anything I can think of that would want to make a person do me harm?

No. Maybe. Who knows?

Did I see their face?

No.

Notice any distinguishing characteristics?

No.

Tattoos? Scars?

No. And no.

And finally, if I think of anything, will I call him?

Sure.