Read Tek Net for Free Online

omniscient?”
    â€œOkay, so tell us where Jill is,” requested Gomez.
    â€œWell, maybe not a hundred percent omniscient just yet,” conceded the Cosmos chief. “But inching ever closer.”
    â€œWhy exactly,” asked Jake, “are you taking such an interest in this particular mess?”
    â€œI could say because I used to know poor Jill and I’m concerned for her welfare,” answered Bascom. “But that’s only part of it. However, when I found out what you fellas were poking into, it struck me that the agency ought to be able to parlay this into at least one substantial fee.”
    â€œWe were thinking along those same lines,” said Gomez. “You have connections with several sneaky and sly government intelligence agencies—the kind that the President and his spokespeople are always denying exist. They’d pay for information on a new and unsuspected Tek plot.”
    â€œVery good, Sid,” said Bascom. “Apparently you’re not quite as dumb as your behavior earlier tonight led me to believe.”
    Jake eyed him. “You’ve already set up a deal with somebody back in DC, haven’t you, Walt?”
    â€œHey, amigo ,” complained his partner. “Before you hombres start toting up how much we’re going to make on this caper—how about defending me against this slur on my IQ?”
    Jake grinned and ignored him. “Well, Walt?”
    â€œYep, I’ve been in contact with a chap in Washington. He runs a very secret and powerful intelligence agency.” He rubbed his hands together, producing a dry, rasping sound. “They’re going to pay us a really impressively large fee. If, that is, we provide them with some solid stuff before they can dig it up themselves.”
    â€œ Muy bien ,” observed Gomez. “But suppose it turns out that Jill was actually just carried off by a jilted boyfriend?”
    â€œWell, in that event we’ll still collect a hefty sum from Ernst Reinman. I contacted him a couple hours ago and persuaded him that Cosmos could find his missing wife long before the police,” Bascom informed them. “It’s possible Reinman is dipping into the Starvation Center coffers, by the way, since he sure didn’t balk at the hefty price I quoted him.”
    â€œYou mean,” asked Gomez, frowning, “we’ll also be working for Jill’s present husband?”
    Bascom said, “Exactly, and I had to do a terrific selling job to convince him you were qualified to work on this one, Sid. He doesn’t think much of you—either as a sleuth or a human being.”
    â€œ Ai , my former esposa told him considerable falsehoods about me.” He sighed. “You would think, though, that once he encountered me in the flesh and face to face, he’d have sensed my saintly aura.”
    Yawning once, Jake rose up. “We’ve got some further leads to follow up on,” he said. “I think, however, that I’d like to grab a few hours’ sleep before continuing.”
    â€œSleep as long as you like,” said Bascom. “Just so you report back here by tomorrow afternoon with a hell of a lot more information than you’ve come up with so far.”
    The faceless man said, “It would be a real good idea, Cardigan, to forget all about Jill Bernardino.”
    Jake sat up in bed, grabbing his stungun off the night table.
    The man, whose head was a blur of pink and orange dots, had appeared unbidden on the vidphone across the early-morning room. “Nobody wants to die,” he added in a rumbling doctored voice. “Think about it, asshole.”
    â€œWho you working for?” asked Jake.
    The screen went black.
    Leaving his bed, Jake moved to the phone. Resting the gun on his bare knee, he punched out a number on the keyboard.
    Seconds later a smiling copper-plated robot showed up on the screen. “Cosmos Detective Agency/Security