Denial of Service 5: End of Line.

by Steve Jordan

  Gail I wasn’t worried about. I was willing to bet she could charm anyone out of their eye-teeth. So I just concentrated on answering their questions and being as cooperative as I could be… even though the coffee they gave me sucked.

  Finally, the door to my interrogation room opened. It was actually more of a small office, whose I had no idea, but they’d kept me in there all night with the exception of a bathroom break. I had been asleep on the couch when the door opened, causing me to jerk awake. “Call Jack Webb!”

  “Who?” came a voice from the hallway. I looked up, squinting in the sunlight slanting through the blinds, and saw a G-man standing there, with Gail next to him. “Rise and shine, kid, you’re free to go.” I pulled myself out of the couch, and came to the door.

  The G-man held a plastic bag out to me, within which was my Toughbook. I took the bag and gave it a quick look. Then I looked at the guy. “No charges?”

  The G-man shook his head. “No charges. We’ll talk to the SD police about your moving violations. No promises, though. Other than that, you’re good.”

  Gail came around the suit and hugged me lightly around the middle, which made me think they had actually managed to intimidate her… but probably not by much. She looked at me and said, “Let’s go home, Mike.”

  “What were you doing all night?” I asked.

  “They kept me in a small office and kept me up most of the night, asking me questions. Guess what?”

  “What?”

  “These guys didn’t know who Kato was, either, until they googled it.”

  “Sad,” I said. “No wonder they didn’t make us until Edward.”

  We had to catch a cab to get to Gail’s car, which had been impounded. Once we had it back, we drove back to Pete’s place. I’d called him on the way, so he’d know we were coming. When we walked in the door, we were amazed to discover a roomful of helium balloons floating all about the apartment!

  Gail and I goggled at the sight. “Oh my God!” Gail laughed, trying to see past the balloons. Then we were both startled by a loud pop from somewhere in the room… after our ordeal, both of us literally jumped and shrank back.

  Then the wall of balloons began to shift about, parting in the air, and revealed my brother Pete approaching us. In his hands was a bottle of champagne, just starting to froth from its uncorking. “The heroes are back!” Pete cried, throwing his arms wide and accepting hugs from both of us. Reilly was right behind him, and also gave us excited hugs.

  “Look at this place!” I said when we all pulled back from each other. “You couldn’t have gotten all these this morning… you must have started just after we left!”

  “Yeah,” Gail laughed. “What would you have done with all this if the plan hadn’t worked?”

  “What else?” Pete said, as Reilly held out glasses for him to fill. “Used them to float over the top of the jail and airlift you out!” He finished filling four glasses, and Reilly passed them out. “But you didn’t get nailed! Bro, you did it! You are dee bomb, buddy!”

  “Well, I had great help,” I said. “From all of you. The best posse I could ever have!” I raised my glass to them, and we all toasted each other. After I took a sip, I slipped a hand around Gail’s waist. “Especially Kato, here! Guys, if you’d seen her driving—”

  “Are you kidding? Of course we did! You guys made CNN!”

  I think Gail and I both turned white as a sheet. “What?” we said in unison.

  “Sure, half a dozen bystanders nailed you guys with their cellphones and video cameras as you led the merry chase through the San Diego streets. The iReports are the hottest thing on TV!”

  Gail and I slowly looked at each other in shock. “My rep,” I moaned.

  “My job,” she echoed.

  “Oh, don’t worry,” Pete said. “They’re also calling you two heroes for exposing a stock-swindling scam that would have cost companies billions, and done serious damage to NASDAQ’s rep if it had succeeded! You hear me? You’re heroes!” We all embraced again, and when Gail and Reilly hugged, they jumped up and down like schoolgirls… an image not lost on Pete and myself. Abruptly Pete recovered his composure from watching the bouncing babes, and snapped his fingers. “Oh, I almost forgot: A call came for you… from NASDAQ! He wants to talk to you about a job in IT security!”

  My eyes could have popped out of my head and bounced across the floor. IT security… for NASDAQ. I let the words roll through my mind like a marquee, seeing the incredible career possibilities. My rep would be more than secure, it would be sealed for good! It would be a new chapter of my life, a new start…

  I suddenly realized everyone was staring expectantly at me. It would be a new start, and an end to my stay in San Diego, and all that implied. An end to my being reunited with my brother. And end to the gorgeous weather, and the gorgeous women, and the free espressos from Reilly, and the gorgeous women, and the… okay, I wasn’t even gonna try to think of anything else to put between another mention of the gorgeous women…

  I looked down at Gail, who was gazing at me, her eyes shining. “Remember what I said,” she told me. “If you want to take that job… I’ll go with you. Wherever it takes us.” She bit her lip. “NASDAQ isn’t actually in Baltimore, is it?”

  I laughed, and shook my head. “Hey, guys, I know exactly where I want to be!”

  Gail went out on a limb. “And where’s that?”

  “I’ll show you.”

  Whereupon I bent down and grabbed Gail around the waist. She squealed as I lifted her off the ground and threw her over my shoulder, but I’m pretty sure she never spilled her drink. I turned to face my brother and his girl, who were beaming back at me. “Pete… Reilly… there’s no place like home.” I patted Gail’s butt significantly with my free hand, then reached out and snagged the champagne bottle from Pete.

  Then I spun around and made for my bedroom, taking note of the fistful of helium balloons Gail managed to grab and pull in with us.

  As the door slammed behind us, Reilly looked after us, puzzled. “What’s Gail gonna do with all those helium balloons?” she asked.

  Pete got a mischievous glint in his eye, and grabbed a handful himself. “C’mon. I’ll show you…”

  Was it good for you? I know it was great for me! Let’s do this again, real soon.

  This fun, funny, exciting, incredibly derivative experimental series has been brought to you lovingly by SteveJordanBooks.com. Thanks to everybody for the encouragement as I let loose! Visit the SJB for original e-books, in multiple formats, at a great low price, and No DRM.