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with rain sluicing down in torrents. It wasn’t just the ugliness of the day, Jack Emery thought. It was everything going haywire at the dojo, where he and Bert Navarro were trying to keep things going while Harry Wong trained for the martial-arts trials that would, if he was successful, enable him to capture the gold medal in the field of martial arts.
    It wasn’t that he and Bert weren’t capable of handling and training the classes that flowed into the dojo, compliments of the FBI and the CIA and a few other lettered agencies. They were. That they were exhausted at the end of the day was true. It was also true that there had been no complaints apart from a little whining now and then. Once in a while there was even a compliment tossed their way by the agents’ superiors.
    All in all, both he and Bert were content with their performance and handling of the dojo, along with twice as many classes as Harry had before he went into training mode. Money by way of government flowed into the dojo like clockwork. Chunks of money. Lots of money. The United States government loved Harry Wong.
    And on top of all that, his married life was now rock solid, as was Bert’s relationship with Kathryn. Win! Win!
    Jack felt Bert’s presence before he clapped a hand on his shoulder and said, “Crappy day out there. Doesn’t look like it’s going to let up anytime soon, either. Since Georgetown floods with rains like these, you might want to bunk in with me tonight or hang out here. Your call. But first we have to Clorox these mats and clean up the training room. Jesus, there’s nothing worse than a hundred men’s sweat swirling around.”
    When Jack continued to stare out the window at the driving rain without responding, Bert poked him in the arm.
    â€œEarth to Jack! What’s wrong?”
    Jack whirled around, his tone fierce when he said, “You know damn well what’s wrong, Bert. Didn’t you see Yoko’s face when she came home at lunchtime? How much longer are we going to stand still for this? And don’t tell me you don’t know what this is. It’s been three months, Bert! Three months!”
    Bert yanked at Jack’s arm and pulled him over to a slatted bench. “Listen, Jack, Harry . . . Harry will not appreciate us sticking our noses into his business. We both know that. Yoko . . . well, don’t you think Yoko would at the very least talk to us, ask for our help?”
    â€œIt’s not their way, Bert. You know that. I’ve done a lot of thinking on this, just as you have, and I can’t think of a way to do a sneaky intervention. Harry would see right through anything we tried. Unless we hog-tie him and make him listen.”
    Bert’s eyes almost popped out of his head at Jack’s suggestion. “Hog-tie Harry! That’s never going to happen. What planet are you living on, Jack?”
    â€œOkay, okay. So we drug him by putting something in that shitty green tea he drinks. That way we can hog-tie him. With steel cables.”
    Bert actually pondered Jack’s suggestion for a moment. Then he shook his head. “I think we’re going about this all wrong. Let’s try going through Yoko first. She should be home soon. She can’t be blind to what’s going on. Hell, she knows Harry better than anyone, and she just might have some ideas. It’s worth a try, don’t you think?”
    â€œI’m willing to try anything right now. He’s already wasted three months. What’s really weird is, he has not come into the workout rooms once since he started his training.”
    â€œThat’s because he trusts us, Jack. He knows he can depend on us, so why waste time railing at us when there’s nothing to rail at. Harry’s Harry. We should both be proud that he has that much confidence in us.”
    â€œYeah, I know, but I miss that cranky son of a bitch! Watching him through the windows isn’t