Fired Up

heavy silence.
    “Let me get this straight,” Fallon said. His voice was an ominous rumble emanating from a dark cavern. “Are you telling me that you’ve got the lamp, that you’re in Vegas and that someone just tried to kill you?”
    “You’re good at a lot of things, Fallon, but playing the innocent isn’t one of them.”
    “Pay attention, Winters, I’ve got good news and bad news.” Urgency thickened the bearlike voice. “Good news is that I didn’t send anyone after you. I know you’re paranoid when it comes to this particular subject, but I’m telling you that I have not been tracking you.”
    “No lies, Jones. That was part of the bargain, remember? Right up there with your guarantee that you wouldn’t go after anyone connected to me. That includes my employees. Chloe Harper is working for me. She’s a civilian as far as you’re concerned.”
    “I gave you my word,” Fallon said. “I’ve kept it.”
    Jack exhaled slowly. “I was afraid you were going to say that.”
    “Believe it or not, I’ve actually got better things to do with my time these days than assign a team to keep tabs on you. I haven’t got that kind of manpower to spare, even if I wanted to waste it on you. Those two guys you just described weren’t my people.”
    Some of the adrenaline was fading. Jack discovered that he was able to apply his strat-talent to something other than getting Chloe out of the motel. The first jolting thought that hit him was that Fallon sounded worried and not because his agents had screwed up.
    “Okay, Fallon, for the sake of argument, say I believe you. What’s the bad news?”
    “I don’t know who just tried to take you out, but I can think of one group that might have an interest in the lamp and also the resources to find you: Nightshade.”
    “I’ve heard about your latest conspiracy theory. But according to the scuttlebutt this Nightshade operation already has a version of the founder’s formula. Why would they come after the lamp? And why now, after all this time? How could they even know about it? The Winterses have kept that secret a lot better than the Joneses have kept the secret of the formula.”
    “I don’t have the answers to your questions,” Fallon admitted.
    “Now you’ve got my full and undivided attention. You’re the man who always has the answers.”
    “I sure as hell don’t have any right now.” There was an uncharacteristic weariness in Fallon’s voice. “You said the guy waiting in your room was a hunter?”
    “We didn’t have much of a conversation, but I can tell you he moved like a hunter. He was also bulked up on steroids.”
    “Don’t take this wrong,” Fallon said. “I’m glad you and Chloe are okay. But how did you do it? Hunters are fast.”
    “I’m a strat, remember? I’ve got a few tricks of my own.”
    “Huh.”
    Fallon wasn’t buying the explanation.
    “I got lucky,” Jack said. Lying came easily when you were a strat. Just part of the talent. “There was a struggle. The guy panicked and ran off, probably afraid of drawing attention. The second man was waiting in the alley out back with a Harley. No license.”
    “Nightshade,” Fallon said. “Got to be. Listen up, Jack. You and Chloe need to ditch your phones, computers, credit cards and anything else of an electronic nature. Nightshade may be using one or all of them to track you. You both need some new ID. And I’m not talking about the papers you’ve been carrying around for the past year. Burn ’em.”
    “You knew I had some fake ID? Then you have been watching me.”
    “No, but I know you, Jack. We think alike in some ways. If I’d been in your shoes all these years I’d sure as hell have had some emergency ID stashed for just this kind of situation.”
    The black-tinted glass doors of the casino slid open with a soft hiss. Cold, stale air rushed out. Jack followed Chloe into the neon-sparked darkness.
    “We’re in the middle of a desert, Fallon, and you’re telling me I can’t use computers or phones,” he said. “Just how do you expect me to come up with two new sets of ID?”
    “You’re in Vegas. You can buy anything in that town. But if you want top-of-the-line work I suggest you ask Chloe to introduce you to her Uncle Edward and her Cousin Dex.”
    Jack came to a halt near a row of gleaming, flashing, blinking slots. He took off his sunglasses and looked at Chloe. “You know that Chloe’s uncle here in Vegas does fake IDs?”
    Chloe’s eyes