"His wife almost-" He turns to the man staring from the table diagonally across from us. "Sir, go back to your soup. Thank you." Looking back at me, Rogo lowers his voice and leans in. "His wife almost had you killed, jacka.s.s. And even if you can"t prove it, he he may"ve known about it all along. So while I"m sure your buddy Dreidel had that same, dumb code-of-honor thing going-and believe me, my momma taught me to appreciate loyalty-attempted may"ve known about it all along. So while I"m sure your buddy Dreidel had that same, dumb code-of-honor thing going-and believe me, my momma taught me to appreciate loyalty-attempted murder murder is usually a pretty darn good sign that you can part ways guilt-free and stop sending invites to each other"s birthday parties." is usually a pretty darn good sign that you can part ways guilt-free and stop sending invites to each other"s birthday parties."
Slightly up the block, a meter maid driving in an enclosed golf cart marks tires with a piece of chalk on the end of a long metal pole. "Doesn"t matter," I tell Rogo. "I"m not profiting off them."
"Bet Dreidel sells the film rights too (though he"ll probably only get movie of the week)."
"No profit, Rogo. Ever."
"And what"s Lisbeth say?"
"About the book rights or Dreidel"s radio show?"
"About everything."
I stare up the block at the meter maid, who"s writing a ticket for a pale yellow vintage Plymouth Belvedere. Following my glance, Rogo turns and looks over his shoulder.
"I"m only gonna get him off, Richie!" Rogo yells out.
"Only if they"re dumb enough to hire you," the meter maid calmly teases back.
"I think Lisbeth understands where I"m coming from," I tell him.
"She understand anything else?" Rogo asks, still eyeing the yellow Plymouth.
"What"s that mean?"
"You know what it means. You two went through the grinder together-plus you let her write the story as a final gift."
"So?"
"So I know you talk to her every night."
"How d"you know I talk to her?"
"I pick up the phone to see who you"re chatting with." Finally turning back to face me, he adds, "C"mon, what"s the story with our favorite redhead? You in there? You counting freckles? You trying to figure out if they make constellations?"
"Pardon me?"
"Don"t play naive. You digging for clams, or you still on the beach?"
I roll my eyes. "Can you please not be so-?"
"Clamdigger!"
"No. Stop. Of course, I haven"t."
"You swear?"
"I swear."
He leans back in his chair and puts his hands behind his head. "Okay. Good."
I pause and c.o.c.k my head. "Why good good?"
"Nothing," Rogo says.
"Rogo, why good good?"
"I dunno," he says, already playing dumb. "I just figured, y"know, if you"re not swimming in that pool, I might try to dive in and-and maybe just-and maybe take my own little skinny dip."
I can"t help but laugh. "Wait. You? You"re You"re gonna ask Lisbeth out?" gonna ask Lisbeth out?"
"Why, you think I don"t have a chance?"
"Let me be honest with you." I pick the words as carefully as possible. "You don"t have a chance."
"What"re you talking about? I"m short and fat; she"s a little on the plus size. It"s a good match."
"Yeah, that makes complete sense. Maybe you should just go ring shopping right now."
He lowers his chin, and his jaw shifts off-center. "You"re not supposed to root against the rabbit getting the Trix."
"Listen, you do what you want. I"m just warning you-I think she might be seeing someone."
"Lisbeth is? Says who? Her? Or you just making it up?"
"I"m telling you . . . I could hear it in her voice."
"Did she say who it-?" His face falls. "It"s not Dreidel, is it? Oh, I"ll stab needles in my eyes if he-"
"It"s not Dreidel-no way," I tell him.
"You think it"s someone from her work?"
I glance over Rogo"s shoulder, where a brand-new lime-green Mustang cruises up the block, slowing as it approaches. "Kinda from work," I say as it pulls into the fire lane that"s directly across from our table on the patio. The lime-green car bucks to a stop. There"s no mistaking the driver"s red hair.
"Whoa, paninis!" Lisbeth calls out as she leans out the window of her car. "Do they actually serve estrogen there, or did you take your shots before you arrived?"
Rogo looks at her, then me, then back to her. "No . . . But you said-" . . . But you said-"
"All I said was I hadn"t made any constellations," I tell him. "But that doesn"t mean I"m not trying," I add as I reach across the table and pat my hand against his cheek. "At least you got to slam a car door on Dreidel"s hand." Before he can even digest it, I stand from my seat, hop over the railing, and head for the lime-green car.
"Sweet mother of Harry S. Truman," Rogo mutters, already following me over the railing. "Wes, wait wait!"
For once, I don"t look back.
At the opening of his Presidential Library, Manning told a reporter that his favorite comic strip when he was little was Prince Valiant. Prince Valiant. The next day, an op-ed ran pointing out that in said strip, Prince Valiant once had a curse that he"d never be content. The op-ed called it the curse of every President and former President. And it is. But it"s no longer the curse for me. The next day, an op-ed ran pointing out that in said strip, Prince Valiant once had a curse that he"d never be content. The op-ed called it the curse of every President and former President. And it is. But it"s no longer the curse for me.
Crossing around to the pa.s.senger side of Lisbeth"s car, I pull open the door and duck down for a quick h.e.l.lo. "Did I miss the part when paninis became feminine?" I ask her.
"You did the same thing with apple martinis. And Volkswagen Cabriolets," Rogo interrupts, cutting in front of me and sliding into the backseat. "You should read Jane Jane magazine. That"s what magazine. That"s what I I do. do. Oooh Oooh, new-car smell."
"Nice to see you too, Rogo," Lisbeth offers.
Looking side to side in the backseat, Rogo raises an eyebrow. "Wait, how"d you afford this thing? Did you get a book deal too?"
Ignoring him, Lisbeth turns to me. From the expression on her face, I sniff trouble. "Good news, bad news," she says. "You choose."
"Bad news," Rogo and I say simultaneously. I shoot him a look over my shoulder.
"Bad news," I say again to Lisbeth.
She fidgets with the bandage on her hand, which guarantees it"s serious. "Remember that San Francisco Chronicle San Francisco Chronicle job I told you about?" she asks. "Well, they made me an offer-real news too, no more gossip. But they said-not that I"m surprised-they said I need to move to San Francisco." job I told you about?" she asks. "Well, they made me an offer-real news too, no more gossip. But they said-not that I"m surprised-they said I need to move to San Francisco."
"So, away from here?"
"Really away," she says, staring out the front windshield.
"And the good news?" I ask.
She grips the steering wheel, then slowly turns to face me. "Wanna come?"
My cheek leaps into the air. Now I"m the one wearing the butcher"s dog grin.
"Waitaminute," Rogo calls out from the back. "Before we do anything rash, do we know the full picture of their speeding ticket problems out there? Because a man with my particular practice and expertise-"
I turn back to Rogo, and the grin only gets wider. "I"m sure we can look it up."
"And let"s not forget about lax traffic laws and the slipshod judicial system that supports it. If they"re not there? Those two are deal breakers."
"You"re really worried? It"s California. California."
"Plus," Lisbeth adds, "in San Francisco, I bet they have crazy amounts of accidents with all those hills."
"See, now that"s what I like to hear," Rogo says, beaming as the car cruises up the block. "Oooh, do me a favor," he adds. "Pull up to that old Plymouth with the ticket on the windshield? If I"m gonna pay for this move, we need us some new clients." From his wallet, he pulls out a business card and tries to squeeze forward and lean out my open pa.s.senger-side window. "Wes, scootch your seat up?"
"Here, try-here," Lisbeth offers, poking a b.u.t.ton on the dash. With a whir, the convertible roof retracts, revealing the aquamarine-blue sky and making plenty of room for Rogo to reach outside.
With his stomach pressed against the interior side of the car, he leans out from the backseat and wedges one of his business cards in the seam of the Plymouth"s driver"s-side window. "Downwith tickets.com!" he shouts to the few people who"re staring from the sidewalk. "Now go back to your sheltered lives! Go! Flock! Conspicuously consume!"
Lisbeth pumps the gas, the tires bite the pavement, and the car takes off, sending an air pocket of wind whipping against our faces. With the top down, I watch the royal palms that line the street disappear behind us. Effortlessly, the car roars up Royal Park Bridge, where the polished waves of the Intracoastal are so bright they"re almost blinding. As I tip my head back and soak in the sky, the ocean wind knots its fingers through my hair, and the sweet sun bakes against my face.
Nico was wrong. The Book of Fate isn"t already written. It"s written every day.
Some scars never heal.
Then again, some do.
Author"s Note
History has always been filled with exaggerations-and so, a few words about the Freemasons. In this book, the historical details about Freemasonry are based on three years of research. All the historical figures identified as Masons-such as Voltaire, Winston Churchill, Mozart, and certain U.S. Presidents-have been doc.u.mented as Masons. Throughout history, Thomas Jefferson has been rumored to be a Mason, but the evidence today, as acknowledged in the novel, does not support that a.s.sertion. Nevertheless, Jefferson, Washington, and architect Pierre Charles L"Enfant, while designing the city of Washington, D.C., did build the most famous Masonic symbol (the compa.s.s and square) and the five-pointed pentagram into the city grid. There are disagreements over who had the most influence over the final street plan, but I believe the grid speaks for itself. For over two hundred years, those symbols have been hidden in plain sight. It is also true that on October 13, 1792, Maryland"s Masonic Lodge Number 9 did lay the cornerstone of the White House in a Freemason ceremony. The same was true during the laying of the cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol Building, where George Washington himself presided over the Masonic ceremony. Washington"s Masonic trowel was also used at the cornerstone laying of the Washington Monument, the U.S. Supreme Court, the Library of Congress, the National Cathedral, and the Smithsonian. To be clear, those details are what intrigued me and inspired me to pursue further investigation.
Yet these facts in no way mean that the Masons are trying to overthrow the world"s governments, open the devil"s door, or unleash secret satanic plots.
So why pa.r.s.e truth from fantasy-especially in a work of fiction? Does it even matter? Well, in this world where fact so easily dances with fiction-and where, for six novels, I have prided myself on my research-it is important to me, as both author and armchair historian, to make sure I don"t add even more misinformation to whatever small section of the public consciousness I am so thankful to touch.
So I encourage you to read the historical doc.u.ments yourself. Any secret fraternity that had John Wayne, Winston Churchill, Benjamin Franklin, Harry Houdini, five Supreme Court chief justices, fifteen U.S. Presidents, and my Uncle Bernie as members just has to be worth checking out. Plus, you should see what symbols they built into the street plan of Sandusky, Ohio. Really. Go to: www.bradmeltzer.com/fatesecrets.html.
Brad Meltzer Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 2006
Also by Brad Meltzer
The Tenth Justice
Dead Even
The First Counsel
The Millionaires
The Zero Game