Once more, the drama begins, James thought as he watched the displays on his office monitors. Arguing couples, men lusting after women, children trying to sneak in to gamble, fortunes won and lost and all for the profit of his corporation and the few investors he hadn't bought out for one reason or another.

He wondered where that quote was from and decided it was either Arthur C. Clarke or Frank Herbert. Apathy gave him a reason not to look it up as he looked at his watch and waited for Andrea to call. Since the Blacks were having a family day doing whatever, Andrea, Tammy and Sofia had gone to the spas to be pampered.

He watched one of the security people take a person who was using a light wand down then flipped to another camera. This one was watching a Blackjack table with some very nice cleavage on it. James flipped to the next camera and gave up after a few minutes. He flipped them all off and stood, looking out the window at the vehicles driving by. No matter what he did, the corporation would continue with him or without him. He gave it no true purpose except for his whims that, while out there, always panned out for the best.

There was a knock at his door and he spoke. “Come.”

He heard the door rasp open and footsteps followed by a wheeled cart muffled by the thick carpet then a voice, “Sir, Mr. Legasse sent this up.”

James turned around and smiled slightly and asked, “What is it?”

The man removed the lid and said, “Caribbean Lobster Stew with Spicy Fritters.”

James nodded and said, “Thank you.”

The cook set the tray on James' desk then lifted a bottle of wine, poured a glass then set it on another silver tray he had placed on the table. He left the room and James sat down to eat. James turned the screens on, this time setting them to news stations. He left them all muted except the BBC news channel. He liked the voice of Marta Simone.

“Today, sixteen men died in Bucharest when remnants of the Romanian Red Workers Faction bombed a church. Those who took responsibility claimed they were 'striking a blow for socialism.'” James muted it.

He sighed and finished his meal then pushed the tray out of his way. He dialed for someone to come get the empties then stood and looked out the window again.

James pulled a cigar out of his desk and lit it as he sat back down. He stubbed it out after a few puffs and sighed. Boredom had set in. He stood and left the office then walked down to the counting room. He'd never actually been there. Along one wall, a large Plexiglass box was bolted in place, hundreds of thousands of dollars in it. He pointed to it and asked, “Fakes?”

One of the nearby people nodded and said, “Good afternoon, sir. Can I help you?”

James shrugged. “I'm bored to tears and since I've never been down here, I decided it was a good time. Picking up the drop boxes soon?”

The man looked at a clock on the wall and said, “Ten minutes.”

James nodded and sat on a chair out of the way and waited.

The money arrived and they began sorting and running the money through the counters. When counterfeits were found, they tested each bill and set aside the fakes then redid the count. Thick stacks of fifties, hundreds, twenties and smaller bills were placed in bands, loose leftovers placed in a large secure box, locked by two people. One of the men left while the second placed his key in another locked box. James nodded slightly then said, “Have a good day,” and left. Outside, he debated what to do. He looked at the menu displaying what was going on in the casino then walked out of the staff area. One of his men followed him out and stepped close enough to quietly ask, “Your destination, sir?”

“Double Oh. Britney Spears is holding a private party. I feel like crashing it.”

His man grinned and stepped back, exactly three paces behind and in step. The staff standing in front of the door stepped aside for him immediately, one opening the door. Britney's security tried to stop him until the staff glared at the large black man as James spoke softly to him. “You touch me and your little princess ends up on the street literally thrown out.”

He walked to the bar and ordered a drink then looked around. No one important or worth while to talk to. James finished his drink and walked out, bored still. Threatening people, making movies, other things he did; almost everything bored him now. Even writing on occasion bored him to tears.

As he walked back through the casino, ignoring people that tried to catch his attention, he wondered if retiring might help shake things up. He shrugged and continued walking. Over the years he had started to become proficient with programming but he still wasn't useful for the games other than the ideas, stories and money.

As he walked back into the staff area, he heard padding feet moving fast. James turned and smiled as Sofia leapt at him. He caught her up and gave her a hug then asked, “Have fun?”

He set her down as she nodded then she showed him her fingernails. They had been done in the French Tip style and James looked up at Andrea who shrugged and mouthed, I was out of the room.

“They're very pretty honey but you know how I feel about you wearing makeup and the like.”

She nodded and said, “But it's just so pretty, daddy. And it's just a bit of gloss.”

He smiled and said, “Okay.”

Andrea coughed and said, “Sofia, you might want to tell him now.”

She looked around and her face started to turn red as she whispered, “Andrea says I'm going to need a bra soon.”

James' eyes widened as Andrea nodded. He sighed and slumped against the wall. “Oh god. I'm going to have to deal with her wanting to date soon. Avery, tell the people on Sofia's detail that the orders are shoot to kill any boy that goes near her.”

Andrea raised an eyebrow as Sofia giggled and Avery grinned widely. “Understood, your Grace.”

He smiled after a moment and said, “I'm so glad you two are back. I've been so bored all day.”

He put his arm around Andrea's shoulder as he took Sofia's hand in his. She asked, “Can we go shooting soon?”

James nodded and said, “In a day or two.”

Back in his office, Sofia sat on the sofa with Andrea, both reading as James finished the last bit of paperwork his lethargy and self loathing had put off. Finally finished, he asked, “What do you want to eat?”

“Can we have pancakes for dinner?” Sofia asked, looking at her nails.

Andrea shrugged when he looked at her and he said, “Okay.”

He finished the paperwork and picked up his phone. Sellers' secretary answered, “Yes? Right away, Mr. Blake. Yes, sir.”

James hung up and said, “Okay. Let's go home. Sofia, you can help me make the pancakes.”

She nodded and stood, brushing off her skirt as Andrea stood and did the same with her clothing.

As they walked down to the parking area, Sofia asked, “What's a Brazilian Bikini Wax?”

James nearly missed a step then looked over at Andrea. She blushed and he said, “It's to remove hair so it isn't seen under a bikini. Where did you hear that?”

“They asked Andrea if she wanted one.”

Andrea went even redder as James gave her the evil eye then laughed. “Don't worry about it, honey. Now, carob or regular pancakes?”

“Carob, daddy.”

“Sound good to you, love?”

Andrea nodded and asked, “You won't be adding cow brains or anything like that, will you?”

James grinned and said, “Once I try and introduce you to traditional foods and you freak. I bet you wouldn't even try Haggis next spring.”

“Next spring?”

“Yeah. We're going to Scotland during her spring vacation.”

Sofia cheered as Andrea asked, “Why?”

James opened the gate to his private parking area and said, “We haven't been there in a long time and I want to go. Don't you?”

She thought about it as he opened her door for her and nodded. “Yeah. I do.”

James checked to see that her belt was done up and then started the Ferrari. The tachometer swung up as it idled then James put it in reverse and backed out. The limo with his men followed him a block or two back. James stopped at a grocery store just outside the entrance to the private estate his house was in and they went shopping for the ingredients they would need.

Back at the house, Sofia changed into a tee and some jeans while Andrea sat at the counter watching him measure out dry and wet ingredients then set them all out in easy reach. When Sofia came in, she was clutching a stool to stand on and place it near her father. On it, she was only a few inches short of his height and giggled when he bit her nose then said, “Got your nose. Whatcha gonna do?”

Andrea laughed when Sofia tickled him then he said, “Now, sift the flour through that then sift in the other dry ingredients.”

By the time they were done, the room was covered in flour from the flour fight and Andrea was tasked with watching the pancakes while James washed his hair. When he came out, Andrea had just finished cracking the eggs onto the grill and was laying out the bacon when he licked her from her ear down to her chin.

She smiled at his reflection then said, “Here. I hate cooking.”

“Because you're horrible. I never thought I would ever meet anyone who burnt water but then I met you.”

Andrea punched his arm then sat back down where she had been sitting before. Sofia came back into the room, drying her hair with a towel and asked, “It's all gone?” motioning at her hair.

Andrea nodded and kissed her crown then said, “Tomorrow we'll go shopping, okay?”

Sofia nodded and James asked, “Shopping? Again?”

“Her undergarments, dummy.”

James blushed. “Oh yeah.”

Sofia giggled at her father blushing then he said, “Time to eat.”

He carried the plates of eggs, bacon, and carob pancakes to the table as Sofia carried the silverware while Andrea set out the plates.

Sofia slathered her pancakes with freshly whipped and lightly sweetened cream while Andrea buttered hers and James did both.

When they finished eating, Sofia and Andrea played board games while James went for a jog. He hadn't done any running and only minimal working out since they had come to Vegas.

One of the neighbors was out jogging and took her headphones off as James pulled up aside her. He nodded and said, “Hello.”

She puffed out an out of breath hello and introduced herself. James smiled and said, “I'm James Blake. I own the Bond, the Montenegro and the Roman. I live in 1337.”

She nodded and they made small talk for a few seconds before James accelerated and left her behind.

The pedometer on his belt started beeping and James looked at it, gasping. He had run four and a half miles. He turned around and started running back to the house as two of his men followed along behind in a rented Dodge Intrepid.

James leaned against the frame of the house and tried to breathe deeply. He'd run nearly six miles, fifty percent more than he normally ran every other day.

When he walked back into the house, Andrea looked at his sweat stained shirt and smiled. “Nice run?”

He nodded and said, “I'm gonna swim then come back in. where's Sofia?”
“Putting on her new pajamas then we're gonna watch a movie. Joining us?”

“Why? Are you coming apart?” he grinned as she picked up a pillow from the sofa and launched it at him.

She laughed as he tossed it back at her and walked to the bedroom. He came out a few minutes later wearing a pair of shorts and walked outside then leapt in the water. He swam underwater, occasionally coming up for air as he tried to increase his lung capacity.

When he came up for air the final time, Same was standing at the end of the pool where he was. He looked up and smiled. “Nice underwear.”

She smiled and said, “Thanks. I got the stuff you wanted me to. Andrea put it in your room.”

He pulled himself out of the pool and took the towel she handed him, saying, “Thanks.”

In her right hand, she had a paper and said, “New book review is out too. They aren't very nice about it.”

James shrugged. “It's a one off and I couldn't help but write it. So, come over for a threesome?”

Sam smiled and said, “Sorry, no time. Just dropping off your stuff.”

He nodded and she poked him in the chest, said, “Nice pecs,” then left.

James read the review as he walked into the house.

Overly violent and aurally disturbing, this tale of two friends on the opposite side of the law reminisces many other novels that have gone this route before but with less violence and more sympathy. The main character's skills as a former Special Forces officer and his views on politics and religion mirror information garnered from interviews on the author about his own life. His Sociopathic tendencies and high intelligence parallels many serial killers in other novels, most notable Hannibal Lecter and Alex Delarge as well as Don Logan played by Ben Kingsley, one of the author and actor's and favorite performers, in the movie Sexy Beast though do not parallel real people of this type who have less than controlled personalities.

Halfway through the novel, the former Special Forces and now detective tortures a former friend for information and kills him then is the one to “discover” the body and bring the information to the man's mother.

Other instances shows the detective's callousness and lack of remorse at torturing and killing others when he needs information to stop other from causing the same damage he visits on those he sees as less than proper examples of contributing citizens.

The end, unlike many other novels of the genre is the one redeeming aspect of the book. My recommendations for reading Blood Brothers are just for hardcore fans of James Blake.

James shrugged and agreed with most of it. The whole idea behind the novella had been something he had never been able to escape. After he'd written it, his publishers had leapt on it and it had almost been printed before James had even edited it.

Sofia smiled at him then went back to watching the two girls on the screen. He looked at it for a few moments then went to his bedroom to change. He opened the bag Sam had brought and nodded. The bag was filled with trade paperbacks of comics he'd missed out on. James grinned and pulled one out then walked back into the sitting room and dropped down next to Andrea. She placed the blanket over him also and leaned against his shoulder as he read.

When the movie ended, Sofia went to brush her teeth while Andrea and James decided who got to do the dishes. James won two games of Rock-Paper-Scissors and Andrea sighed as she went to wash up as James relaxed on the couch and read the newly retconned Batman.

Sofia kissed her father on the head and asked, “What's that?”

“Batman. A bit violent. Ready for a bedtime story?”

She nodded and James followed her into her bedroom. Halfway through the story, Amy walked in sleepily and smiled at them. “Hi.”

She walked into the bathroom after she had scooped up her pajamas then came out a few minutes later then climbed into her bed. “Night.”

James finished the story and kissed Sofia's forehead then left the room. Black was helping Andrea finish the kitchen off as Judi bundled all the dirty clothing off into the wash room.

“This is your day off, still. Why are you working?”

“Better to do it now,” said Black, “than do it tomorrow.”

James nodded and tossed Black the New York Times Literary Review section. Black caught it and looked it over. “Strange. I thought it was quite good. A very good blend of you and Anthony Hopkin's character in Hannibal.”

“Gee, thanks. I always wanted to be lumped in with a serial cannibal.”

Black grinned and said, “They didn't do much research on you. No mention of your time in Afghanistan and Iraq.”

James shrugged and said, “Good news to me. All they need to do is drag out one iota of-” he stopped talking in English and switched to Russian, a language he and Black were both fluent in. “One of the interrogations of prisoners then executions could ruin my life possibly.”

“War is...” James stopped and sighed then lapsed back into English. “The most persistent sound which reverberates through men's history is the beating of war drums.”

Black nodded and said, “It is an unfortunate fact that we can secure peace only by preparing for war, Kennedy.”

James nodded and spoke in Latin, ending the conversation as he walked away. “Sic vis pacem, parabellum.”

Andrea asked as James walked away, “What does that mean? It's printed on a banner in his office.”

“'If you want peace, prepare for war.' His Grace is ever prepared and despises the fact that there's almost no way he won't be called back to Active Duty even with the promise they gave him.”

James looked in on Sofia and whispered. “I've fought and destroyed in the hopes your world would be better than mine but politicians have failed us all. They act as if they know all while they're only elected officials, fools who can charm and look pretty for the voters. 'I'm gonna buy a gun and start a war, if you can tell me something worth fighting for.'”

James closed the door and walked to his room and laid down, lacing his fingers behind his head as he looked at his reflection in the mirror above him. He saw a different person than he had been eleven years ago when he got out of the military for the first time. Money hadn't changed him all that much. What had really changed him was his writing. His once violently pro-war, pro-violence and everything else views had slowly been changed into a mix of liberalism, conservatism, republicanism and a dozen other isms that scared him when he thought about it.

Andrea sat down on the bed and asked, “Are you alright?”

He nodded and asked, “Did I ever tell you about the first time I ever intentionally hurt someone? Physically, that is.”

She shook her head and waited. He saw the reflection and started talking. “I was a few days away from my seventeenth birthday. I had walked into a club with my friends. Easy enough, I was a big guy back then. Looked a lot older than I was but you know that. I was sitting at a table, drinking a vodka tonic when this girl sat down beside me, looking nervous. She started coming on pretty strong and with all I had had to drink, I just thought it was my natural charm until some dude came over and started talking shit. Well, to make a stupid scene short, a few minutes later, me, my friends, him and his friends were all out back. The bastard drew a gun and I moved forward fast, playing the hero. I heard the gun go off twice before I could slam him into the wall and scoop up the gun. When I turned around, he had hit one of my friends and the girl.

“The gun was heavy in my hand as his friends scattered. I brought the cheap piece of shit up to his head and was about to pull the trigger when he pissed his pants. I looked down and the bastard had pissed on me too.

“I started hitting him in the face with the gun. Soon, my hands were covered in blood and the gun slipped from it. I kept hitting him with my fists until someone dragged me off the guy. The cops had arrived and they pulled me off and handcuffed me. Spent the night in jail but was let go on my own recognizance. The trial on me for attempted murder was short. My family couldn't afford a fantastic lawyer but an old friend of the family footed the bill and another friend of the family, a lawyer, accepted me as a client for a reduced fee.

“Like I said before, the trial was short. I ended up with a commuted sentence of time served and had to pay his medical bills. I was charged with negligence and underage drinking. My nearly beating to death of a known pusher and pimp was looked upon as a good thin by most people and the jury saw it that way too.

“The charge of attempted second degree manslaughter and the charge of Assault in the third degree they found me not guilty on and they accepted my plea of temporary insanity due to extenuating circumstances.”

Andrea pushed his hair off his forehead and whispered, “What happened to your friend?”

“He married this great girl and they moved to Germany. He teaches English and she teaches art there. He was hit in the thigh. Just a small dent in his leg. The girl ended up okay also. Don't know what happened to her though. Really, I could care less. It's her fault. She should have gone to someone else.”

Andrea kissed his forehead and laid down next to him, resting her hand on his shoulder. Her finger traced the small scar on his chin and he grabbed her hand, then kissed each fingertip.

He fell asleep soon, Andrea's head on his chest as she listened to his heartbeat slow.

The next morning, James woke and found a note from Andrea. Went shopping. Much love.

He smiled and went to take a shower. James walked outside and began practicing, using his sword, hands and feet against a railroad tie he had had put up. Three hours later, he walked into the house a few minutes after noon. Judi set a sandwich in front of him and James ate slowly as he maintained the blade of his sword.

When he saw done, James slid it back into its scabbard and set it against the door then pulled out his gun and ejected the magazine. The round in the barrel was next and he began disassembling the weapon to clean it.

When he was done, James slid the spare magazine in, pulled back the slide and dropped the magazine. The extra round topped it off and he safed it then slid it into the holster. James unloaded his first magazine then disassembled it and checked the spring in it. He looked in the book and used a caliper to check its overall dimensions then nodded. The spare round didn't seem to have done any damage to the spring.

He reassembled it then slid the rounds in and tapped the last bullet before he slid it in. Hand loaded rounds, James added 9.6 grams instead of the proscribed 9.5 and instead of copper coated lead cores or other similar projectiles, he used custom frangible rounds with a core of a dozen mini-flechettes made of steel. When the round impacted, it would tear through anything, doing much more damage in a smaller amount of time than a hollowpoint. Illegal as anything James could think of for a civilian, he was sure he could win or at least get a stalemate if he ever had to go to trial over the rounds.

He stepped outside and took a thin layer of steel, approximately as strong as armor plating used in a vest and set it on the dune behind the house. He walked back a dozen paces and stood on the edge then fired. The report was loud and the sound of the round hitting the steel happened so close as to be simultaneously. His men rushed to the back then stood down when they saw him walking towards the steel plate. An imprint of where the round impacted then a small grouping of eight or nine holes where they tore through. James nodded and slid the weapon into his holster.

His men went to the nearby houses to inform them that it was an accidental discharge on James' orders then he went back to the house. James sat on the couch and then jumped onto the forums for his sites. He replied to a dozen private messages then went to another forum. As he logged on, a thread was started, surprised he'd returned. James smiled and sat back, replying every few minutes. By the time the girls returned at dinner time, the welcome back thread had reached over two thousand replies. He said goodbye and promised his next interval between logging on wouldn't be as long as it had been this time.

Sofia pulled a training bra out of the bag and showed it to him as Andrea bit her lip not to laugh at his expression. “It's, err, quite cute, honey.”

Sofia nodded and she and Amy walked off, giggling a moment later.

He looked at Andrea and said, “Silk? I thought you were just going to get her a training bra.”

“That's about all they come in now. There was one cotton one there but it was puke green and didn't suit her color and the rest were all made of man-made fibers and looked almost as bad. The silk ones were the only ones that looked like something a little girl should wear. Half of the other ones looked like some of my Wonderbras and a few were sheer.”

James nodded and asked, “Um, shit. Why's she have to grow up so soon?”

Andrea smiled and sat down next to him then placed his hand on her stomach. “There's another little one for you to baby in here soon.”

He smiled at that and then called out to Black, “Everyone got their shit together for Sofia's birthday?”

Though her birthday was actually during the school year, they had always had a big party for her in the late summer and a private dinner on her real birthday with just her and her father.

“Yes sir. Your mother and grandmother will be here on the thirtieth and your brother arrives on the second. Your in-laws will be here on the first and the rooms at the hotels are reserved as well as small lines of credit for them.”

James nodded and slid his hand under her shirt to touch her skin. He traced a small heart and then kissed her cheek.

He bit her hear and asked, “You still want to go to a strip club?”

She nodded as Black said, “Dinner is ready, sir.”

The girls came when they were called and once Judi and Black were done serving, they sat down to join them. When they finished dinner, the girls sat down to play a game as James brought his laptop out and sat down on the couch. Andrea was walking over to join him then saw what he was working on. The document's name was Blake, Sofia L. - .

James closed it when she sat down and she asked, “What was that?”

He put his finger over her mouth and said, “Later.”

He kissed her palm then opened another file and began typing away, occasionally looking up at the girls playing their game.

“Time for bed, girls,” Judi said and they looked up at James. He nodded and they went to shower and change for bed. When they were out of the room, Andrea asked again, “What was that?”

James held up his finger as he typed one more sentence one-handed then said, “Just information I put together about her, profiling her like a movie profiler would for kicks. All that bullshit in movies about profilers? His mommy mistreating him and his puppy dying when he was ten is bullshit. That doesn't help you find a killer. Reading clues and understanding his pattern is what finds them.”

He checked his battery strength then said, “Want to go out tonight?”

She shook her head and asked, “Really? So what about that show Profiler?”

“Total BS. Is it your turn to read tonight?” he asked.

She nodded and stood to see if the girls were ready. Before she could get to their door, both came out and Sofia went to hug and kiss James then Andrea while Amy went to hug her parents. They followed Andrea back in as James picked up the remote and turned on the news.

Andrea came out and sat down beside him then asked, “You okay?”

He nodded and turned down the television then continued typing. He flipped to Sofia's profile and Andrea gasped, “That's her IQ? Actual, tested?”

James nodded and grinned. “She takes after me. And that's an IQ test for someone in their early teens, not a preteen.”

Andrea sighed. “She scored twenty points higher than me.”

James nuzzled her neck and said, “That means you score is much lower than mine.”

She pulled away and narrowed her eyes at him. “What's your score?”

He just smiled and asked her, “How do you think I was able to move ahead so easily in the Corps in less than two years?”

“Tell me.”

“Your score is one twenty six?”

She nodded and James said, “Mine is one eighty seven.”

Andrea's eyes widened. “You're serious?”

James opened a PDF copy of his 201 file and Andrea turned it so she could see better. “It says one hundred eighty seven. Your IQ is almost two hundred.” her voice was filled with incredulity.”Why aren't you doing something greater than sitting at a desk?”

“Because I did something great already. I had Sofia.”

That made her smile slightly and she opened her mouth but was interrupted. “Sir, we're going to bed now unless you need something.”

“We're good. Don't wear him out, Judi. He's making me my favorite omelet tomorrow.” He turned and looked at Judi who was bright red while Black had trouble suppressing a grin that was trying to break out on his face.

Once they were in their room, Andrea asked, “Seriously, why aren't you working in a physics lab?”

“Because I have no aptitude for it. I'm not that kind of dreamer. I'm an aural artist. I describe with words and I'll keep doing that. It's what I'm best at.”

She smiled at that and whispered, “Well, you might be better at other things.”

He smiled and she stuck her feet in his lap, speaking louder. “Like rubbing my feet. Help a pregnant lady out.”

James stuck his tongue out at her and started rubbing.

His laptop started beeping and James stopped what he was doing. He turned the laptop so she couldn't see and opened the email. He replied then turned off his laptop and went back to rubbing.

An hour later, Andrea was on her knees and pleasuring him with her mouth. He wound his hand in her hair and barely resisted the urge to thrust into her mouth. He remembered the last time he had and she hadn't spoken to him for almost a week.

She pulled off and let him shoot all over her face, she used her hands to wipe it off then lick them clean, ignoring the smears of makeup that ended up in her snack. She smiled at him then stood and pulled down her jeans and underwear. “My turn.”

James smiled.

James nodded at his mother and grandmother then kissed Andrea's cheek. “I'll be home about seven or so,” he said. “Sofia and Amy are playing outside.” he whispered in Andrea's ear, “Don't tell them about... you know.”

She nodded and watched him walk out the front door. He got into the limo that had dropped off the women and was followed in by one of his men. It pulled off and Andrea shut the door.

James sighed and started to speak but was interrupted by his cell ringing. He lifted it after looking at the caller ID and said, “Hi Marla.”

His eyes widened after a minute and he asked, “You're serious? My god. Fax it to my office in Vegas and... shit, I'm going to be... oh my god, this is great. Okay Marla. Yeah, take a week. Tell Michelle to take one too.”

He hung up and his security man spoke. “Sir?”

“I'm, um, I just got my first directing job. You know that trilogy I finished a few months ago? The one based on the comic?”

He nodded and James said, “They want me to direct it. I have complete creative control and DC is bending over backwards to help me out with this.”

“How much will you make, your Grace?”

“Base pay per film is thirty three million and some change. They're paying me a hundred million to direct all three movies.” He grinned eagerly and hit the intercom. “We need to go to the nearest comic book store first.”

When they arrived, James shook the hands of the owners and signed a few of the movie stills and adaptation novels he had written then he spent over three thousand dollars on Superman trade paperbacks and others to get caught up on the looks and design of the suit. When the owner asked why so many books, James answered, “All my trade paperbacks are at home and I just had an urge to read some.”

On the way to the casino, James opened up the 'Death and Return of Superman' TPB and made notes on his PDA until they arrived. In his office, he used the secure line to contact his people and said, “People, we need to open up a new side company. Remember how some of you worked on the James Bond movie? Well, it looks like we're going to go into digital editing of movies full time. Social, I need you to spec out the requirements and server software then bust out the hardware credit card and make Newegg very happy. I want you and Warfiend as well as Heart to work on interviews for the people who will work for the company. When I'm back in September, I want this company to be ready to go and working on games in the meantime as freelance for both studios. Any word from the Cali office?”

Social went into it as James listened. Forty minutes later, James went back to working on real things instead of the movie he was going to start on in eight months.

Andrea sighed and watched Sofia's great-grandmother and grandmother making cookies with the kids. She had refused to use the sweeteners James preferred and instead, had used processed white and brown sugar.

James thanked the girl who had brought him his dinner and drink then went back to working, signing contracts and documents that had been shipped to him and needed to go out the next morning. A foot high stack was still waiting even thought the done stacks totaled almost two feet.

He took a break to eat and watched some footage from the Falcon's training camp on ESPN2 then went back to signing. When he finished, James stood and left the room, making his way to Blades on the main floor. He sat down at his usual table and nodded as the Sommelier served him Chianti. A few minutes later, another waiter brought out his meal and he nodded again. As he ate, he read a file and used a pen to make a few marks. His security man sat at another table, drinking water from a crystal goblet and watching the room. When James was done eating, the waiter handed him a Styrofoam container and the two left the restaurant. Inside the limo, James handed it to Trevor and said, “Eat.”

His man chuckled and said, “Thanks.”

When they arrived at the house, James yawned as he walked in, muttering, “I hate bloody paperwork.”

Sofia hugged him and said, “Guess who bought the house next to ours in London?”

He shrugged and she narrowed her eyes, annoyed he wasn't as excited as she was. “It was Julia Roberts, daddy.”

“Uh huh. How come no 'Hi, daddy,' or 'love you, daddy?'”

She smiled and said, “Hi, daddy.”

He bent down and kissed her forehead then asked, “You have dinner already?”

She nodded and he asked, “Where's Amy?”

“Bath. She got paint in her hair.”

He nodded and yawned. “How about a movie tonight? Or are your grandma And great-grandma still here?”

She shook her head. “They went back to their hotel rooms. What movie?”

“How about a Disney movie?”

She smiled and nodded. The past few years, her tastes had grown from the garbage she had watched and she enjoyed the classics her father still watched. He ran his fingers through her hair and said, “I'm gonna get something to eat then we'll watch it. Where's Andrea?”

“Taking a nap.”

He walked to the bedroom as Sofia walked towards hers. Inside, James dumped his new comic books on the dresser and then leaned over to kiss Andrea's cheek. She shifted and murmured, “Stop it. My dad will be home soon.”

James smirked and walked off. He didn't really care if she was dreaming about him or someone else. A dream was a dream. It may have had significance but more often than not, a dream was just a dream.

He walked into the bathroom and dropped his trousers then sat down on the toilet. Ten minutes of near grunting, he wiped himself, stood and washed his hands then walked back out to the bedroom. He changed into a pair of white jeans then pulled on a black tee with a binary code on the back spelling out, 'I am your TechnoGod,' repeatedly.

James shook Andrea's shoulder until she awoke and said, “Hey babe. How you feel?”

“Okay. I just got tired a bit earlier. What time is it?” she rubbed her eyes.

“About seven thirty. We're gonna watch Alice In Wonderland. Care to join us?”

She nodded and slid her legs off the bed then stood. He helped her stand then walked out of the room as she followed. James snatched up the Death of Superman TPB and set it on the coffee table. He nodded at Black and asked Judi, “What was for dinner?”

“Lasagna. Would you like some heated up?”

James shook his head and took it out of the fridge. He took one of the baguettes they hadn't eaten at dinner, sliced it open like a sandwich then began stuffing lasagna in it after he carved out some of the bread. He covered those small bits with a misting of Olive Oil then stuck it all in the oven. “We're gonna watch Alice In Wonderland. Join us?”

“Disney version?” Black asked.

He nodded and Judi said, “Alright.”

When it was done warming up, James set it all on a plate after he cut it up to be smaller as Judi and Black finished making popcorn and setting out the cookies that had been made earlier onto a plate. They joined Andrea and the girls in the sitting room and James went to slide the DVD in.

He sat back down and wrapped his arm around Andrea and then set his dinner in his lap. Andrea picked at the croutons he had made as Black closed the curtains and turned off the bright lights, leaving two of the mood lights on.

Andrea nudged him to lift his plate then put a blanket over their laps. Sofia pulled the one off the back of the couch and the girls shared it as the movie began, a large bowl of lightly salted popcorn between them.

Two buses pulled up in front of an amusement park and dozens of boys and girls Sofia and Amy's ages piled out. Their parents came out also and James nodded, shaking the hands of all of them and exchanging a few words with the ones he knew best. The boys and girls streamed into the amusement park as James men manned the openings and the adults ended up sitting around the food stands, a few heading off to go on rides but most relaxing with a cold drink.

James spent most of his time on his phone except the few times when Sofia wanted him to go on a ride with her. Andrea abstained and stayed in the shade under doctor's orders, occasionally going on the tamer rides with Sofia when James was busy.

James smiled and switched to Russian, doubtful anyone nearby would be able to understand him.

“Social, you break this, you die, okay?”

“Got it boss. So what movie is this?”

“Did you get the permission from the state to build on the site?”

“Yep. To your specs. The warehouse will be done by February. Did you hear the Falcons might make it to the Superbowl again if Stanton doesn't blow out his leg?”

“Yeah. How about the studio for digital editing and computer graphics?”

“A million well spent and I got myself a new set of video cards and water cooling equipment.” James could hear the smile in Social's voice.

James sighed and asked, “Did you order my new video cards?”

“No need. Nvidia sent us one hundred reference cards. These cards are sweet. I'm writing the drivers for you now, actually.”

James laughed and asked, “And what are you going to tell them when they want them back?”

“Nah. It's cool. They said we could have all of them. They're hoping our next games will be Nvidia optimized.”

“Okay. What about my car? Have you checked on it?”

“It looks great. Want me to send you some digital stills?”

James nodded and said goodbye, surprised Social hadn't tried to find out what movie he'd be directing again

James slid his phone into his pocket then sat down next to Andrea. “Ever been fucked on a roller coaster?” She smiled and kissed his cheek then changed the subject. “Can you get me some corn dogs? I'm starved.”

He nodded and came back with a dozen, a paper plate covered with honey mustard and ketchup and a large lemonade for them to share.

Andrea surprised him and hate almost eight of them before he'd even finished two. He grinned and said, “Better slow down or people are gonna think one of two things; you're a Bulimic or pregnant.”

She laughed and mopped up the last of the mustard with one of the corn dogs and pulled it off the stick with her teeth. She finished it off and gave him a mustardy kiss then said, “Gonna use the bathroom. Be right back.”

He nodded and continued working on the last two.

Saturday morning, Andrea was watching the news as James walked in from the pool, toweling off his hair. He started to say good morning but she shushed him. “They're about to announce what the lottery stopped at.

James sighed and walked into the kitchen and took the mug of milk Judi handed him. He walked back in and sat down by Andrea.

“The monthly lottery is now at its greatest total ever; one billion, thirteen thousand and five hundred thirty seven dollars. The winner will be able to take over six hundred and seventy million dollars if they choose to go for the all out amount instead of the twenty year payout.”

James kissed her shoulder and said, “Babe, why are you obsessing? If you want a billion, I can get you a billion. If you do certain things for me,” in a lecherous tone.

She smiled at that and said, “I know. It's just intriguing. It's like when you want to win backstage tickets to a concert even though you have front row tickets already and know that if you wear a slutty top, you can get backstage easy.”

James laughed then turned his head when he heard the girls coming out. They waved at James and Andrea then walked into the kitchen to eat their breakfast before going to a horse show with Andrea and Judi.

James and Black spent the day washing and waxing his cars until the girls got home from the show. Dinner arrived a few minutes later and they all sat down to eat, then sat down to play Monopoly again.

It was nearly ten when Sam walked in the front door, her eyes almost wild as she held a small slip of paper in her trembling hands.

James looked up at her surprised and she said, “Y-y-you won.”

“Won what?” he asked. He had completely forgotten about the lottery.

“You won the Union Lottery, James.”

Andrea was clutching his arm hard as Sofia and Amy looked back and forth between James and Sam.

“Won what, daddy?”

He waved his hand at her to be quiet and asked, “You're serious?”

Andrea asked, “He won? I didn't?”

James looked at Andrea who stuck her tongue out at him. Sam handed him a burnt DVD and the slip.

James slid it in and watched the news report with the lottery numbers. Andrea sat in his lap as the recording of the news played. James didn't need to see the things to see he had chosen the exact ten numbers and the wild number. All of them meant something important to him. The slip dropped from his nerveless fingers and Sofia picked it up for him.

“Here daddy. What did you win?”

“A, uh, a lot of money, honey,” he said, stopping the DVD.

He sighed and said, “bed time, Sofia.”

She looked at the clock and was about to protest then decided against it. Judi sent Amy to bed also as James murmured, “Holy crap.”

Andrea grinned and asked, “So, what are you going to do with it?”

James snapped out of it. “This is going to be a PR bonanza. I'll give a large amount to charity, use some of it to set up a school and trust fund for,” he patted her stomach, “and use the rest to help expand ColeBlak.”

James nodded to the cameras and shook the hand of the presenter then accepted the check. Reporters began calling out questions and James answered, “The money, or most of it will go to charities. AIDS research, cancer research, all the other charities my company funds or gives to will receive a hefty amount. A small amount will be used to fund a dozen more parks and also more will go into other things I see as excellent charities. About ninety percent, my people think. We're still working on it. The remainder will go into my corporation to help build more homes for low income people.”

He nodded at another reporter and answered that question until a reporter from E! asked about his latest project. James turned and stepped into his limo, the interview over.

Sofia and Amy waved at him one last time then turned and walked into the school with their friends. He slid into the back seat of the limo after he waved at the Suburban with her guards in it then said, “The office.”

The limo pulled away and James read the papers that had been sent to his home the evening before. He straightened his tie when the limo stopped at the front of the building then stepped out, carrying his briefcase. He left his equipment at home unless he was traveling.

Arrayed outside the front, a dozen people were sitting, ostensibly waiting for the release of his next game. James looked them over and said, “Go home. It won't make us work any faster if you get sick and press aren't allowed within one mile of my property.” New Anti-Stalkerazzi laws had finally been passed allowing people to live their lives somewhat more privately than they had before.

Inside, one of his men asked, “Do you want me to remove them?”

James shrugged and nodded at the receptionist. “When Miss Terrell gets here, tell her to come to my office.”

She nodded and James walked off. While Andrea was almost no longer an employee, she still needed to hire her replacement. Her assistant wasn't ready for the position yet.

Social was in Marlas office when he walked in and he nodded at Marla. She smiled and he said, “Have a good summer?”

“No boss to make any horrible demands of me, so yeah.”

James laughed and said, “Come on in, Soc.”

Social rolled in after him and handed him a folder. Inside were half a dozen eight by ten glossy printouts. James looked at the first one. Doomsday's head and upper torso were seen, a torn Superman costume wrapped in his huge hands as he ripped it apart. Each sheet had various images along those lines until James came to the last two. This one was almost the same design that had covered Superman #75. His cape, ripped and torn hung off of a piece of rebar sticking out of concrete. One read, 'Doomsday just made you his bitch, Superman,' and the other read, 'Doomsday made Superman his bitch.'”

James nodded, “These are all good but we need a custom look like these last ones. Although the catch phrase has to go. He kills Doomsday before he dies himself.”

Social nodded and said, “Heart did these. I'll have her redo them. Should I add these to the site?” James already had a site up for info about the movie.

“Put the 'Doomsday just made you his bitch, Superman' as wallpapers and send Heart in here. I have an idea for the magazine ads.”

Social nodded and said, “Nice to have you back. Being in charge was getting boring.”

James grinned and propped his feet up on his desk then turned on his stereo. Marla came in after a few minutes and gave him a hug then said, “I met this really great guy and I think it's going to go really well.”

James smiled and said, “That's great.”

She nodded and her smile faltered, “So, uh, I was kinda thinking we shouldn't...”

James hugged her again and said, “Don't worry. Now that Andrea and I are engaged, we're working on the monogamy thing.”

Heart knocked on his door and called through it, “Boss?”

Marla kissed him on the cheek and rubbed off the lipstick then walked out. James watched her bottom sway then looked at Heart as Marla let her in. James gestured at the chair across from his and started telling her his idea.

Heart's eyes widened then she grinned. “Let's hope this doesn't blow up in your face like it did Romero's.”

James bared his teeth in a feral grin and she left the office.

He went over the scripts again and shook his head. The adaptations had been a joke. When he had sent them off to DC and Warner, he had never expected to hear anything positive back.

Near the end of the day, he met with EnerDyne Gold and listened to their progress on their latest game. When he was done with them, James checked in on 2019.

Andrea turned the corner and smiled at Marla. “James busy?”

“Kind of. Let me see if he can see you.”

She picked up the phone and as she waited for James to answer, teased, “Do you want me to call you Mrs. Blake now?”

Andrea blushed and shook her head. “Andrea will be fine.”

Marla chuckled then said, “James, Andrea is here to see you. Okay.”

“He'll see you in a minute. He's in a meeting with his head artists and some of the people from the editing studio.”

Andrea nodded and asked, “So I heard you have a boyfriend now?”

This time Marla blushed and nodded. “He's really sweet and six years younger than me.”

They sat chatting for another few minutes until half a dozen people left James' office. Marla nodded and Andrea walked in. Warfiend, Heart and Jenny, her screen name was Blood Reaper, all sat in front of James desk, dozens of story board charts on a nearby tripod. Jenny was putting them away and Heart hefted the portfolio. They waved at Andrea as they left and she crossed around to James' side of the desk. She sat on the edge of it and asked, “Movie stuff?”

He nodded and asked, “Want to go car shopping today?”

She nodded and said, “I'm having lunch with some friends though, first.”

He nodded again and she asked, “Sofia's been acting kind of spoiled lately, don't you think?”

He sighed and nodded once more. “It's your fault. Well, kind of. With you shopping and stuff all the time, she's started wearing name brand crap all the time now.”

Andrea glared at him then realized he was right. “So what are you going to do?”

“Not sure. I do have an idea but I need to talk to Judi and Black about it. Amy's been acting spoiled, also.”

Andrea slid off the desk and sat on his lap then kissed his cheek. “Love you.”

“You too. Where you having lunch?”

“The Gold Club. My membership just became full instead of junior.”

James grinned. “I've only been there twice. Once to get my membership and the second time lunch with Erin. Anyway, have fun. Need to get back to work.”

Andrea stood and straightened her dress then leaned over for a kiss. She left the office and James went back to rewrites of the second and third scripts. He had already finished rewrites of the first.

He left the office and stood outside, waiting for Andrea. She arrived and he slid into the passenger's seat of her 2005 Chevy Cobalt and she said, “So, what should I get? Luxury sedan or SUV?”

“I don't care. What about a Saab?” he suggested, liking the safety factor.

She shrugged and headed towards the nearest dealership. They spent almost an hour there and she decided on their new turbo charged convertible as a possibility then the two went to the next dealership, this time with James driving.

Andrea tried a half dozen vehicles at the Lexus dealership then the two went to the Audi dealership. She checked the facts she had punched into her PDA about the Saab then drove the Audi again.

“I think I want the new S4 but I only budgeted for a fifty thousand dollar car.”

James laughed out loud. “Babe, you really think I'm going to let you buy the car? I'll buy it.”

“But I can buy it myself,” Andrea argued.

“Why worry? I can afford it.”

“fine. You can buy me the car but that means I'm buying you something nice.”

He smiled and nodded at the man who had went to get them coffee. “We'll take the '09 S4.”

The man smiled and nodded, polite but not as much as a sycophant as some of the people James had dealt with when buying cars. They sat down to do the paperwork and the dealer asked, “What options would you like?”

Before Andrea could answer, James asked, “Did you want my people to customize it?”

“Actually, yeah. I kinda wanted to have a riced out car like your Cobalt.”

“Cool,” James said. “Make it the basic model, then.” he began the check as the man nodded, figuring out if any of their vehicles was a base model or if they would have to order one.

“You're in luck, sir, miss. We have a silver almost base model on the grounds right now. It has the Audi Telemetrics system installed but it can be removed easily enough.”

Andrea asked James, “Can they keep that in?”

He nodded and finished the check after he got the amount. “I'll have one of my people come collect it.”

Andrea took the keys and they left. When they returned to the ColeBlak main buildings, Andrea had already written down the colors she didn't like on cars. They gave the list to the people at the import shop and Andrea sat down to discuss what she wanted in the way of external graphics.

When they were done, the two headed for home.

When the girls saw them they waved. James waved at Sofia and Amy and asked, “You two finish your homework?”

“We have to watch Nova tonight, daddy.”

“Okay,” he said as the girls finished picking flowers. “What's it about?”

“Stem cell research.”

James nodded and walked into the house with Andrea. She went up to their room as James turned on the television and picked up the wireless keyboard. He checked the load on the servers then opened his email. Andrea came back down and looked up at the screen. “Whoa. Intense. Who's that from?”

“Jacob. He's going to be back in the states just as we start filming.”

“How long is that going to take?”

“About a year or so. We're filming it all at once.”

He opened the file Jacob had sent and grinned as Andrea squealed and turned away. James closed it and sent it to his computer.

“That was so gross. What was that?”

Picture from his dad's Colonoscopy.”

“My god. Why did he send you that?”

“As a joke. C'mere.”

She sat down beside him as he shut down his email, she asked, “Uh huh. To change the subject, how long will my car take?”

“Two or three weeks if parts come in and nothing else comes up.”

Andrea nodded and cuddled against him until he said, “I need to go workout.”

“Oh, okay. I'll join you.”

James nodded and the two walked down to the gym. As James practiced moves, Andrea spent her time on the cycle, rowboat, and treadmill machines until he picked up a Bokken. He set it by his training totem and rocked his head from side to side then began hitting it, working different forms into one kata. Twenty minutes into it, James swept the stand and almost screamed from the pain. He dropped to the ground and clutched his ankle. Andrea leapt from the treadmill and said, “James, are you okay? Should I call Todd?”

He winced and nodded. “Yeah.”

She helped him stand and the two headed down the hall towards the sitting room as Andrea yelled for Judi. Black came out and said, “Your Grace, what's wrong?”

“I think he broke his foot when he kicked his wood thingy.”

Black pulled his phone off his belt and hit the speed dial. Twenty minutes later, Todd walked in with a black bag in his hand. “So, smacked your leg hard?”

James nodded and took a sip of the brandy Black had brought him. Todd manipulated and twisted James' ankle then said, “We need to get you to the clinic or the hospital for an x-ray. Let me check and see if any of my nurses are still there.”

He made the call and the they walked outside, James using a cane to take weight off his right leg. Sofia hugged him then the two girls went inside for dinner as Andrea followed Todd and James in his Land Rover.

James hobbled in and muttered something. Todd grinned and asked, “What?”

“I said, 'I can't believe I fucking swept it when the form called for a backhanded claw strike.'”

James nodded at one of the nurses as she held out a lead apron for him. James let it hang from his shoulders as Todd and the nurse left the room. An almost silent buzz and then they came back in. The nurse, Michel was stitched on her scrubs, helped him to an exam room.

Todd came in and smiled. “Looks like you're gonna have another cast.”

James sighed. “Damnit.”

Todd sat down and said, “C'mon. You'll have to wear it for about six weeks or so.”

Michel came in with plaster and gauze and Todd began wrapping his ankle.

James hobbled into his office and nodded at Marla. She smiled and said, “Mister Flug will be on the phone to you in an hour. How much longer?”

“Another week at least. I think he's doing this on purpose. Did Andrea call?”

“Yeah. She's in New York right now shopping.”

James nodded and went into his office then sat down behind his desk. He did the paperwork that he hadn't finished in the morning and then picked up the phone.

“Flug, how are things going in Europe. Really? Alright then, go ahead.” He listened as the man went over James' business interests in Europe.

James canceled the connection an hour later then stood and hobbled his way to the elevator. He pushed the key for the first floor and then walked to the cafeteria. His lunch and mocha cappuccino was waiting for him and James thanked them then sat down and started eating.

Sofia smiled at Marla and asked, “Is my dad in?”

“He's actually in the cafeteria eating his lunch.”

“Oh, okay. Can I leave my backpack here?”

“Sure.”

Sofia left her backpack on one of the chairs and her bodyguard nodded at Marla then followed her charge down to the stairwell. Sofia hopped down the stairs and he had to run down them to catch up.

Sofia smiled at her father then sat down by him. “Hi daddy.”

He leaned over to kiss her cheek and asked, “What are you doing here?”

“No one was at home except the security and so Amy and I came here. She should be here soon.”

Amy came in at just that moment and came over. “Hi uncle James.”

He smiled and gave her a hug then asked, “You two hungry?”

They nodded and James said, “Go find something that isn't too sugary, okay?”

Both girls nodded and walked over to the cafeteria line to look as James motioned the guard that had come in with the girls. “You look perturbed.”

“Someone was sighted near the school. They think it's Melvin Rourke.”

“Rourke?” James said, then his eyes widened. “He's out of prison?”

“Escaped last night during a transfer.”

“Is everyone carrying?”

The girls came back carrying small sushi trays and began eating as James and the bodyguard switched to Russian.

“Everyone is carrying. Most are loaded with hollow points or the same rounds you've been using.”

James nodded. “Shoot to kill.”

The man nodded, gave a short nod of the head and moved towards the door with James' apparent dismissal.

Sofia looked up from her meal and asked, “What were you talking about?”

“Well, he said you were the prettiest little girl but I said Amy was the prettiest little girl.”

Amy blushed as Sofia narrowed her eyes at her father then giggled. “Meanie.”

Marla came down and handed James a package that had just arrived. James looked at it surprised then smiled and ripped it open. Both girls stopped eating to look at it and Sofia asked, “What's that?” Neither girl could see it from where they were sitting.

“Something from my grandma. She's moving up here to one of the smaller condos this summer. ”

He set the small box on the table and flipped open the lid. Inside, a ruby set in a gold ring fluoresced when light hit it. Sofia looked at it. “Pretty.”

He nodded. “This was the Stanley engagement ring for over three hundred years.”

Sofia's eyes widened. “Really?”

James nodded and pulled a small chain out of his pocket. He opened the envelope it was in and pulled it out then strung the ring with the chain. He set it around her neck and said, “Don't lose it. Someday, if you ever decide to get married, maybe I'll sell it to the person you marry.”

Sofia looked at it and hugged him then James stood, using his cane to help support himself as he did so. “Meet me in the office and we can take the limo home when you're done.”

They nodded and Amy scooted over so she could see the ring better as James limped away. When he sat down in his office, he went to E-Bay and checked his current bids. He had been outbid on all except the one he really wanted. A cane with a six ounce nugget of gold that had come out of the ground in the shape of a cane head. James grinned when he won and did all the rigmarole. Once that was done, James called the seller and was surprised he was in Savannah.

“Would it be alright if I came by tonight to pick it up? I can either pay cash or certified check.”

“Cash is fine but a certified check would be more prudent.”
James smiled at that and wrote down the man's address. “I'll see you in a little bit then.”

The girls came in a few minutes later and he asked, “If it's okay with your parents Amy, you want to come on a helicopter ride with me? You too Sofia?”

Both girls nodded and asked, “Where you going?”

“Pick up something.”
James told Sofia, “Dial Black for me.”

She picked up her backpack and did as he said as they walked down the hallway to the elevator. James nodded at the few people they passed then they were downstairs, James carefully getting into the limo.

James dialed another number as he activated the intercom. “To the bank.”

The line was connected and James said, “I need to go to Savannah. File the flight plan now. We'll leave as soon as we get there.”

Sofia handed her father her phone and he said, “Black? I have to head down to Savannah. Is it alright if Amy tags along? Okay. See you tonight. Let Andrea know we'll be late.”

James hobbled out of the limo and smiled at the three people who asked for his autograph. He quickly signed and posed for a picture then walked into the bank. One of the bank associates came up to him immediately and said, “Good to see you again, sir. How may I help you today?”

“I need a certified check for six thousand three hundred seven dollars drawn on my expense account.”

James hobbled after the man and declined the offered cup of coffee. He winced as he sat down and signed the slips the man brought out. Sofia and Amy waited quietly until a woman brought out the check for him. James signed one last sheet and then slid the check into his wallet.

As they walked out to the limo, Sofia asked, “Can we get a drink from over there?” she was pointing at a Starbucks.

He nodded and two of his men broke off from where they were standing by the limo to follow the girls in to the coffee shop. He called after them, “No coffee.”

They waved and continued on as James slid into the limo and fixed himself a drink. When they came back, Sofia was carrying a hot chocolate while Amy had a bottle of Snapple. He nodded at them both and said, “We can go now, Mann.”

Sofia knocked on the smoked glass partition. Mann rolled it down and she said, “Hi Mister Mann.”

He grinned and said, “Hello Miss Sofia, Miss Amy. Good day at school?”

She nodded as Amy said yes and he rolled up the window so he could concentrate on driving.

James asked, “How much homework do you have?”

“Just a bit,” both said.

“Need any help with it?”

Sofia nodded. “On my computer homework. What's an AGP?”

“Accelerated Graphics Port. They were phased out when PCI Express came into the scene.”

Both girls scribbled it down and then Amy asked, “What's BIOS stand for?”

“Basic Input Output System. Without it, the computer wouldn't know what all the things plugged into it do or what they're for.”

They kept asking questions about computer components and James answered them all except for what CPE stood for. He wasn't sure but he thought it might have had to do with companies that rent and have others maintain their hardware. All of his people went through training every two months to be able to maintain their servers themselves.

Sofia and Amy got out of the limo and walked towards the helicopter as James got out and stretched then followed. Two of the men from the chase BMW followed them to the helo as the limo and BMW moved to the empty hangar that normally house the helicopter and airplane when they weren't being used.

James closed his eyes as the helo lifted off and headed southwest.

The helo set down at a private airport where a rented limo was waiting. James and the girls with one of the men got in while the other stayed with the helo as it refueled.

James handed the slip of paper to the driver and got in with the girls.

The limo arrived at his destination and James walked to the door. When it opened, a young girl looked up at him with wide eyes then yelled, “Daddy, James Bond is at the door.”

James grinned as he waited, the girl just looking at him.

“Sir? I won the auction for the cane,” he told the man who arrived.

“Oh, yes. Please come in.”

The man scooted his daughter aside as James walked in. He sat down in the chair the man pointed at and pulled his wallet out of his breast pocket. He brought the cane in and James examined it then took the check out of his wallet. “Here you go.”

The man nodded and asked, “Oh, um... could you sign my copy of Life Is Eternal?”

James nodded and the man brought over a DVD. As he was signing it, a girl who was about fourteen or fifteen came in, complaining about her school and asking why there was a limo out front. Her eyes widened as her mouth closed when she saw James. Her face went pale and she darted up the stairs, her cheeks starting to turn red.

Her father laughed and said, “She has a bit of a crush on you.”

James smiled and stood. “Thank you. You have a nice day.”

James carried his old cane as he used the new one. Halfway to the limo, the teen came out and asked, “Can I have your autograph?”

James smiled and nodded then signed the tee she was wearing. She hugged him and then he walked to the limo. Sofia took the canes for him and he slid into it. “Back to the airport.”

“Can we stop at that pizza place?”

“Which one?” he asked.

She pointed at the car that their limo was next to at the moment. On the side, an advertisement for a local gourmet pizza place was advertised. James nodded and said, “Sure.” He hit the intercom switch and said, “Patrice's Pizza Café, please.”

The driver said, “Yes sir.”

half a dozen minutes later they were in downtown Savannah. Another ten and they were at the pizza place. As the girls ordered slices of pepperoni, sun-dried tomatoes and artichoke hearts with glasses of milk, James ordered a glass of white wine and a slice of clam and white sauce pizza with oregano and sun dried tomatoes.

When they finished eating, James paid and the three went back to the limo.

Andrea lifted her head up and looked at Sofia. “Morning, SoSo. What's up?”

Sofia smiled and said, “Aunt Lily wants to know if you want to have lunch with her.”

“Oh. Is she on the phone?”

Sofia handed Andrea her cell and sat on the edge of the bed as Andrea spoke with Lily. When she was done, Andrea handed it back and said, “Going back to sleep now.”

Sofia grinned and left the bedroom. Her father was out working on one of his car projects while she and Amy worked on their history homework in the library.

Amy turned her laptop towards Sofia when she walked in and asked, “How does that look?”

“Ask dad. He knows a lot about war history.”

Amy nodded and printed it out as Sofia finished typing up her report. Amy waited for Sofia then the two walked out with the rough drafts of their six page reports. They handed James the reports and he used a blue pen to edit and remove lines as they waited. Sofia's was marked up a bit more than Amy's as he handed them back and said, “Redo it and I'll look at it again.”

They nodded and left as James went back to building the engine for his new pickup project. The chassis sat next to him, wheelie bars attached to it and engine mounts centered three inches in front of the rear tires. The front engine bay had been turned into the area for the battery, fuel, nitrous, and other nonessential items and had been chopped and channeled as well as the cab.

Andrea came down near noon and went straight to the kitchen looking for crackers and Squirt. She sighed and said, “I hate morning sickness.”

Judi smiled and said, “Know the sex yet?”

She shook her head. “James wants to be surprised and I agree.”

Andrea went back up stairs and got dressed then caught up with the girls as they walked out to where James was working. He kissed Andrea's cheek and read the rewrites from the girls. He marked half a dozen spots on Amy's sheets, four on Sofia's and said, “Use a thesaurus to remove some of the words that show up more than three times like good and well. Excellent, superb, fine, other adjectives like that can be used.”

“Okay daddy.”

“Okay Uncle James.”

The two girls headed back to the house and James said, “Your car's done.”

Andrea smiled. “Can we go pick it up?”

He nodded. “In a minute. I need to finish this up.”

He checked the torque on his bolts then started wiping the grease off his hands. When he was done, James stepped out of the coverall Dale Earnhardt Jr and his team had given him the year before when he had visited their shop.

James made sure all of his tools were put away as Andrea said, “I'm meeting Lily for lunch. Want to come?”

“Where?”

“Not sure yet. We were thinking about your table at the Ritz-Carlton though.”

He nodded. “Sure, if you want me to come. I need to check the work at the warehouses for filming first though.”

She looked at her watch. “We have time. We weren't planning on meeting until three.”

“Late lunch.”

“She doesn't get off until two.”

“Okay. Let's go. I'll just grab my gloves and check on the girls.”

Andrea nodded and asked, “What car do we take?”

“The new project. I need them to reprogram the display module. My unit is damaged.”

She pulled her keys out of her pocket and walked over to it as James waited for her to pull it out. When she had done so, James lowered the workbay doors then walked to the house. When he came back out, Andrea was sitting in the running car on the passenger's side watching a DVD. He leaned over and got a kiss then pulled away.

When they arrived at the ColeBlak campus, they went to warehouse buildings that were in the middle of being constructed. Andrea toured them with him and she asked, “When do you start filming?”

“When this is done being built, we start casting then we start filming. It should take about six months to a year. We're filming the whole trilogy at once.”

“I thought there were only two parts, the death and return.”

“The return will be two movies. So much happens, it just makes more sense. That was a bitch to write though. Took me weeks to just decide how it should be split up.”

“So are you going to use these warehouses just for Superman?”

“No. when it's done, I have half a dozen scripts that people want to direct and then I'm thinking about having the two shows of mine moved here for filming except CSH. It needs to stay in Cali. They have to stay near a desert like setting.”

James sat down in the fake office of Perry White's and said, “Come here, baby. I need some dictation done.”

She smiled and looked around. “No one will see us?”

He shook his head. “Nope. None of the workers are here and I'm the only authorized person.”

She sat on on his lap and started kissing him as he undid the buttons on her shirt. James pulled her thong to the side when she murmured, “Get it in me now. I need it.”

He pulled his jeans down and she slid onto him. As she rocked back and forth, James kissed and bit her shoulders until she came. He started working on her neck then until he came and then said, “Love you.”

“Love you too.”

James nipped her neck again and continued thrusting until he went soft. She stood up and fixed her underwear and skirt then looked at her watch. “Oh. It's almost two.”

James looked at his own and nodded as he pulled his jeans up and leaned over for a kiss.

She finished buttoning her blouse and the two walked out then crossed over to where the vehicles were built. Andrea pointed towards a warehouse marked with a Large F2002 on it and asked, “What's that?”

James grinned. “That's my collection of 2002 Camaros and Firebirds. Soon, we're going to open up a special dealership. They're in the middle of finishing the designs of the new body panels and the new engines. All of them are being turned into road hugging super car killers. When they're done, each car will have been hand built up from the chassis with aluminum bodies, seven hundred horse power engines and all wheel drive setups.”

She blinked then asked, “Can I have one?”

He grinned and replied, “Actually, I kinda have them setting aside six. One for you, one for me, one for Sofia, one for Amy, one for Stacy and one for a race car I plan to build soon.”

“How many are there in there?”

“Almost seven hundred.”

Her eyes widened. “how much did that cost? And does Chevy know?”

“A lot and yeah, they gave me the deal to do it.”

James opened the rear door to the import shop and nodded at one of the customers watching his car being worked on. A little girl was standing near one of the tool chests, her finger in her mouth when she saw James. “Unca James.”

James smiled and scooped her up. “Hey princess. Where's your dad?”

She shrugged and then hugged him. “I lost a tooth, see?” she opened her mouth wide for him.

He grinned and said, “Anna, this is my fiancé, Miss Andrea. Love, this is Jhim's daughter, Anna.”

“Hi.”

Anna smiled at her then said, “Daddy.”

James turned and smiled at Jhim then set Anna down. “What's up?”

“Meilin had to go to her sister's and I have to drop Anna off at her grandparents' when I'm done here.”

“We won't keep you then. Her car is done?” he asked.

“Oh yeah.” he led the way towards a car covered with a black dustcloth.

Jhim let go of his daughter's hand then whipped off the cloth. Underneath, Andrea's car, now a dark pink with red, white and light pink graphics and custom built fiberglass body panels sat waiting. Jhim clicked the key fob and the lights came on then the LEDs hidden all over the body ran in the test sequence that had been programmed into their controller. Underneath the car, bright pink light reflected off the mostly clean floor. Jhim clicked another command on the key fob and Andrea grinned as James scowled and Jhim giggled. They had stitched Andrea's name on the driver's seat but they had also stitched James' on the passenger's seat with 'Passenger:' in front of his name.

The dash had had the stock unit from Audi transplanted to the arm rest while a DVD player and seven inch screen had taken its place. The trunk was filled with speakers and the roll cage was as unobtrusive as possible. If Andrea wanted to take her car on the track, a custom helmet and coverall had been included, matching the paint job of the car.

“Cool,” one customer said as Andrea got into her seat. James sighed and slid into the passenger's seat when he finished talking to Jhim about what his car needed.

“Oh, one last thing.”

Jhim peeled off some of the paint on the side and James hung his head. They had put 007 on the sides and wing of the car.

“Cute, Jhim.”

“I know. Later, man. We'll get the display fixed. Hey, did you know the Falcons look like they're gonna make it to the Superbowl this year?”

“Call Marla. She'll get you some good tickets to a home game.” He pulled out his PDA and sent a message to Marla to do it.

Andrea started her car and grinned as it rumbled mightily. It had already passed emissions and she put it into gear. Its once stock power plant was now pushing almost 470 horsepower and its stock tires had been replaced with 19 inch seven spoke rims wrapped in Nitto rubber half hiding fifteen inch slotted and drilled rotors mated with brakes that would make a three thousand horsepower car sit up and beg. James still hadn't found better tires yet.

She pulled up in front of the Ritz-Carlton and a very surprised then even more polite pair of valets helped them out. James used his cane still and they walked in, stopping just inside as they waited for Lily. She walked in a few minutes later and kissed James briefly on the lips then exchanged cheek kisses with Andrea. They sat down at James' usual table and ordered as they all chatted, Andrea rubbing her foot up and down James' leg.

Lily had to leave early and James and Andrea ate their desert then walked outside. This time, James drove, keeping up the tinted windows so no one saw him. Andrea giggled once and said, “Come on, James. You know pink is your color.”

He grinned and said, “The only pink that looks good on me is your pink.”

She blushed at that then leaned over and kissed his cheek.

When they got home, Andrea let Sofia and Amy drive her car for a few minutes each then parked it with the rest and walked into the house and went to take a bath while James went to work out with the girls.