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forever, I assure you.” He smiled warmly again. “Now then, is there anything we can help you with?”
    “I’m just here on behalf of the Caulborn,” I answered.
    Laras gave me a knowing smile. “Come now, Mr. Corinthos, I consider myself a decent reader of people, and I can tell there’s something you’d like our help with. You have the look of a man who needs help but hates to ask for it.” He raised his hands. “But if you’re not comfortable discussing it now, I can respect that. What questions do the Caulborn have about the Keepers?”
    “I’d like to know why we’ve never heard of you before.”
    “Fair enough. We do business all throughout the universe, with all manner of beings and societies. I’ve always been possessed by a bit of wanderlust though, and so we don’t stay in one place for very long. This particular office has only been open for a few weeks. I spent some time in Massachusetts years ago, remembered it as a beautiful place, and thought that Boston might be a profitable place to set up shop for a while.” He smiled.
    I let my eyes relax, hoping to filter out any illusion Laras might be casting. Nothing. “Has it been?” I asked.
    “Of course,” he replied. “There are always people who have needs, Mr. Corinthos. The Keepers fulfill those needs. Personally, I view us as one of the highest forms of public service.”
    I spent the next half hour grilling Laras on the Keepers. Who they were, where they were from, how many people worked for them, and so on. He was completely forthcoming and cooperative.
    When I’d run out of questions, he gave me another of those warm, genuine smiles. “It has been a pleasure speaking with you this afternoon, Mr. Corinthos,” he stood and shook my hand. “I do hope that you can see your way clear to doing business with us. I am certain that the Keepers can help you with whatever burden you bear.”
    I thanked him and started back to HQ. I figured I’d run some searches on the Keepers and Laras, see if there was anything in the databases. Who knew? Maybe if the Keepers were on the up-and-up, I might be able to enlist their help with my promise to Megan. I was so enthralled with the prospect of being free from that particular obligation that I didn’t realize I was being attacked until a spectral fist exploded through my chest.

Chapter 3
    Client Referral D33274Q – Dragon known as Cather (see Bargain 1987763) sent one Vincent Corinthos to our new location in Boston. Subjected Corinthos to several covert scans; discovered deific powers, accelerated healing, and an odd concentration of tachyon energy surrounding him. It reminds me of the sort of thing the Tempus would put around someone, but why? Regardless, Corinthos is powerful and I believe a touch naïve. In short, he’s exactly the kind of client I want.
     
    —From Keeper Laras’s Transaction Journal
     
    Getting attacked by ghosts isn’t at all like what happened to Bill Murray in Ghostbusters . Oh, there’s plenty of ectoplasm, but what the movies leave out is that the ectoplasm carries an electrical charge that can stop your heart. All those people who were “scared to death” actually had the electrical currents of their central nervous systems disrupted.
    I collapsed to the ground, my body flopping around like a fish out of water. The street around me was surprisingly empty; I didn’t see a single car in motion or pedestrian as I convulsed. Of course, if anyone did see what was going on, they’d probably run as fast as they could in the opposite direction. I fought for breath as my heart fluttered and spasmed. The ghosts, clad like something out of a Pirates of the Caribbean movie, stood over me impassively. “Let no man steal from the captain,” they said in unison. My eyes widened at the phrase from my nightmare. But before I could think too much on it, my heart beat rapidly three times, then went still for too long.
    I’d like to say that I kept a cool head and diagnosed the