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"You're fucking kidding me?" he practically chokes out

"I wish I were," I respond grimly "But it was him, and on

e of the things I want you to do is look for one of the other suspects that had aof fraternity brothers"

"I'll need her to give

"No need I have aone on the back of my shoulder"

Again, Dennis' head snaps up, but this ti on here?"

"I was in the same fraternity as JT but three years behind hiet that look off your face I' to do with the rape, but clearly at least two of my fraternity brothers were there I want you to try to identify at least one of the others by the wrist tat Sela doesn't re other than he was tan and had dark hair"

And that he raped her ass, but I don't tell him that

"Understood," he says "What else?"

"I want you to dig deep into JT Find out what crap he's involved with outside of the business I know he does drugs and still gets off on spiking wo he's elbow deep in so I can use to ruin him"

"Why don't you just report the rape to the police?" Dennis asks

"Sela's considering it, but she's afraid her ate him Also afraid he won't roll on the others We'd like to see if we can find out the identities of the others first and if there's any other dirt on JT The police are a last resort"

"When do you want h his phonepresumably for his calendar

"The minute you walk out that door And I want you on this exclusively Turn down your other work or farm it out," I say firmly

"That'll cost you big," he warns

I open my middle drawer and pull outthat I share DNA withto do whatever it takes torich, and I'd spend every di a check off, I scratch nature on the bottom line and hand it to him across the desk "There's a blank check Fill in the amount"

My move doesn't seem to surprise Dennis, but he takes the check from me and tucks it into his pocket

Standing up froet a picture of that tattoo"

Pulling iveshots before he says, "Got it Give et my desk cleared and I'm all yours until we find e need"

"Good deal," I tell hi ives it a firm shake

I've got Dennis digging deep, a week away froirl ants to hop around Europe with me For the first time in days, I feel like I can breathe

I gently tap , which is perched in a white porcelain egg cup When it was set before me, I didn't have a clue what to do with it I looked across the table at Beck, who eyed his just as suspiciously The waitress, however, was not immune to our helpless looks and had clearly encountered her share of ignorant Ah the top quarter of the shell and twist it off so he could get to the egg inside

We're sitting at a covetedtable in the Cafe Schwarzenberg, one of the first true Viennese coffeehouses, which was built in 1861 We ht from Zurich to Vienna, which precipitated a four-hour delay whereby we had to hang out in the airport, only to learn e arrived at the Grand Hotel Wein early thisthat our roo at the hotel and our rooiven to one of his security detail We were assured they would ready another rooested we have so, which was just down the block off the Karntner Ring I was skeptical about the sheik story, but just as ereour way out the front double doors, ere astounded to see about twenty reporters spring up from chairs all around the lobby and scurry toward the bank of elevators Sure enough, a man dressed in full Lawrence of Arabia style stepped out surrounded by five bodyguards dressed in black suits, black sunglasses, and wire h the crowd and Beck took e The sheik walked right out the door and into an awaiting nondescript black car, with two identical cars behind that carried his bodyguards

With a sharp whack against , which causes a piece of shell to shoot across the table, I blow off the top of ive a disgruntled sigh as Beck laughs atcup away Instead, I pull a croissant off the side plate and break off a piece

And oh GodI' more delicious has ever been in er piece betweenon it slowly so I can savor

"What do you think we should do today?" Beck asks as he takes the tiny egg spoon and pulls out some of the white flesh covered in warm yolk from the inside of the shell

"I', and then punctuate it with a yawn "But I'et out and explore Maybe just walk around the city a bit Nap in the afternoon so we can get our inner clocks adjusted"