Shattered Sky Read Free Page A

much like the recipe.”
    â€œSo would half the country.”
    â€œIf half the country comes in here, business must be good!”
    Bobby sighed. “Business comes and goes. Mostly goes. I thought I’d start seeing some military men come in once they took over that plant and all. But it’s only been you. The others rarely come in or out of the plant. And when they do, they speed past this place like it don’t exist.” Bobby paused, and pretended to clean a glass, but his attention never left Tessic. “Y’ever gonna tell me what goes on in there?”
    Tessic grinned. “Is that the price of your recipe?”
    â€œI suppose we could swap national secrets, huh?”
    â€œSecrets are secrets, eh? The government can buy my silence, but they can’t buy your recipe. I, on the other hand, would like to do just that.” He reached into the pocket of his overcoat, and produced a checkbook. Bobby waved it away.
    â€œHell, no! I was gonna give it to you anyway. You don’t have to pay me.”
    â€œI insist.” Tessic scribbled in the checkbook. “You can put it toward your granddaughter’s tuition.” He folded the check and slipped it into Bobby’s apron pocket.
    â€œAw hell. Well, then that piece you just had is on the house.” He took a napkin, writing down the recipe from memory. “It don’t take a brain surgeon to make.” When he finished he handed it to Tessic. “You ain’t gonna sell it to Sara Lee, now, are you?”
    â€œI give you my word.”
    Tessic stood, straightening his overcoat.
    â€œI suppose you won’t need to come here anymore, now that you got the recipe.”
    â€œAnd miss your company?” Tessic pulled open the door. “Rest assured, you’ll see me again.”
    Tessic left and drove off in his silver Jag. In the diner, Bobby cleaned up Tessic’s plate and then almost as an afterthought slipped the check from his pocket, suspecting that Tessic had given him a digit or two more than the recipe commanded. But the number that stared back at him was so laden with zeros it almost seemed to gain weight in his hand. It was enough to send all his grandchildren to Princeton. His wind stolen from him, he sucked a deep breath, and leaned on the counter to steady himself.
    â€œHey, Pops,” called one of the truckers at the far booth, “you gonna fill up this coffee or what?”
    â€œYeah, yeah, be right there.” He looked at Tessic’s check again, blinking as if the number might disappear. The man’s crazy! he thought. I can’t accept this.
    But as he went back to pour coffee for the griping truckers, he realized yes, I most certainly can.
    H ALF A MILE AWAY , Tessic’s sound system blasted Vivaldi as he was waved through the guard gate of the plant. He was theonly civilian granted unrestricted access. One of the perks of having friends in high places, and a vested interest in the facility. With the gate closing behind him and the winding, forested road to the plant up ahead, Tessic changed his personal audio soundtrack to the Rolling Stones, to remind him that, at fifty-six, he wasn’t quite as old as he sometimes felt. He looked at the recipe-scribbled napkin that lay on the seat next to him and smiled. No recipe was worth what he had paid, but then, a mitzvah was not measured in dollars and cents. Besides, altruism was the best kind of business investment.
    He shifted into a higher gear, singing along to “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” feeling quite pleased with himself as he sped down his own particular path of enlightenment.

2. MADDY
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    T RANSCRIPTION EXCERPT, DAY 193. 13:45 HOURS
    â€œThey drug me when they take me out now. Problem is I metabolize the stuff so fast, they gotta give me elephant doses. Can’t be healthy.”
    â€œOpen wide. I can’t see your mouth through the hole.”
    â€œI feel like a slot