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testimony.” She gave him an endearing, contemplative glance that made her look even more stunning than before.
    If Jake had not noticed this beautiful woman when she was a freshman in high school, either she was a late bloomer or he had been a complete idiot back then. He was trying his best not to notice her crossed legs right now, along with the crucifix dangling in her ample cleavage.
    The pounding from the trunk got louder.
    â€œWe better let that guy out before he pees his pants,” Jake said. He got out of the back of the car and held the door open for a moment. “Don’t call me. I’ll call you.”
    â€œDo you have my private cell number?” she asked.
    He smiled. “Yeah, no problem.” He slammed the door and walked off down the snowy residential sidewalk, the sound of pounding on the trunk muffled more with each step he took.
    A few blocks down Jake caught a cab back to his hotel and rode the elevator up to the fourth floor. When he got to his room, he hesitated for a couple seconds before sliding his key card into the slot. Something felt wrong. And his senses were rarely wrong. Instinctively he felt for his gun under his left arm, but it wasn’t there. He needed to change that in a hurry.
    He smiled and shook his head, ran his card through the slot, and opened the door. Just as he switched on the light, he simultaneously saw the danger and felt the electrodes strike his chest, sending ten thousand volts of energy shooting through his body, collapsing him to his knees. The second jolt had him flopping around the floor like a fish out of water until he passed out.

6
    When Jake woke up the first thing he noticed was he was not in his hotel room any more. How did he know this? Well, first of all, he was immersed up to his neck in acrid water that smelled more like a combination of jet fuel, human feces, urine, and rotting animals. In this case a dead rat, which floated just a few inches from his mouth.
    He swiveled his head around as far as he could, considering his arms were lashed behind him and his feet were equally bound. He was in some sort of metal tank. The only light in the room came from emergency lights against a far wall, revealing high ceilings with rusted metal rafters. No windows. It was an old warehouse of some kind, Jake guessed.
    Those who had taken him had strapped him to a chair, but he couldn’t tell how solid that was. As far as he could tell, the only item of clothing he still wore was his black jeans and hopefully his underwear. His chest was bare, as were his feet.
    Suddenly a door opened and he could hear muffled voices approach the tank. Then a man’s head, covered by a rubber mask of a devilish creature, appeared above him.
    â€œI see you didn’t drown, Mister Adams,” said a gruff voice from behind the mask.
    A second mask popped over the edge. This one was a princess with blonde hair. But Jake guessed it was not a woman.
    â€œAre you two with the chamber of commerce?” Jake asked. “If so, I’m not sure I like this city.” A small amount of water got into his mouth when he spoke, which he quickly spit out toward the rat.
    â€œI heard you were a comedian,” the ghoul said. “And I must admit that I enjoyed your performance before the House committee. I must have watched it ten times today on the internet.” Just after his last words, his gloved hand smashed down onto Jake’s head and shoved his face under water.
    Out of an implied respect for this potential interrogator, Jake pretended to struggle. In reality he could hold his breath for at least three to five minutes under water, a feat that he had learned again during his training with the Agency. He had first practiced this, though, in the lakes and rivers in Montana during his youth. He struggled more for effect, pretending to choke and on the way to drowning, which forced the man to let his head up.
    Jake spit out some water and noticed the rat