Shattered Sky Read Free

smiled.
    â€œI’ll be damned! Good to see you, Mr. Tessic.”
    Tessic opened his overcoat, revealing a white suit hopelessly out of season for fall. But then, when you were Elon Tessic, you could wear anything you pleased. “Hello, Bobby. My travels bring me your way again.” Tessic looked around. It was three in the afternoon—an off hour. Only a couple of truckers sat in a corner, talking about wives and misery. Either they didn’t know who he was, or they didn’t care. Just as well. In these out-of-the-way places, Tessic often found himself the center of suspicious attention. It wasn’t only his clothes, but the prominent way he held himself, and his Israeli accent, so rich and exotic to the ears of the American heartland. As he had no talent for being inconspicuous, he rarely tried. Still it was nice to go unnoticed from time to time.
    Bobby, however, gave Tessic his full attention, fumbling with spotted hands to get together a place setting.
    â€œMy waitress took sick this morning, so it’s just me and the cook today. I’ll have a booth ready for ya’ lickety-split.”
    Tessic noted yet another colloquialism he did not know; a reminder that his command of English was still less than perfect.“No need, Bobby,” he said. “Do you mind if I just sit at the counter?”
    Bobby looked at him as if it might be a trick question. Tessic laughed and clapped him warmly on the shoulder. “It’s all right. Actually, I prefer it. I dine alone way too often.”
    Bobby shrugged. “Suit yourself,” he said. Tessic slid onto a stool. The old man sounded apologetic. “I was sure you’d be used to more highfalutin black-tie kinds of establishments.”
    â€œHighfalutin bores me. That’s why I come here.”
    Bobby smiled.
    Tessic ran a hand through his salt-and-pepper hair, just a tad too long to be corporate. Like his clothes, it was genteelly defiant. He was a mote in the eye of the system, liked it that way, and as the twelfth richest man in the world, by the reckoning of Fortune magazine, he was one splinter that wouldn’t easily be removed.
    â€œSo will it be the usual, then?” Bobby asked.
    â€œOf course!”
    Bobby went off to his pastry display case. “Lucky I even have it. If I woulda known you was comin’ I coulda baked it up fresh. As it is, I only got a couple of pieces left.” He took out a plate and a pie server, then gently lifted a piece of chess pie onto the plate. Even chilled, the thick filling oozed out over the plate, its chunky surface of nuts and chocolate slowly slipping on the rich nougat like a rock slide. Tessic dug in, took a mouthful, and savored the sweetness. Tessic considered himself a man who could appreciate the finer things in life—and knew they didn’t always come with a hefty price tag. It was this appreciation that balanced him, and kept him at ease in most any situation.
    As Tessic ate, Bobby leaned in closer and whispered. “I got myself a nice piece of Tessitech stock last month.” He said it as if it were a classified secret. “Made me five hundred bucksalready. Guess I oughta thank you for helpin’ me get my granddaughter through college!”
    â€œI didn’t know you had a granddaughter that old.”
    Bobby nodded. “Got accepted to Princeton, and is hell bent on going. We’re working out some financial aid. But if Tessitech stock keeps climbing the way it’s been it might be the only financial aid she needs!”
    â€œSo much faith you have in my company!”
    â€œWell, I figure the world’s going to hell in a handcart. Weapons technology’s got to be a growth industry.”
    Tessic grinned dreamily around a mouthful of pie, then said: “I have challenged a dozen chefs to make a pie this good. None have succeeded.”
    â€œNo one will. Call it my little contribution to humanity.”
    â€œI would very