excerpt

“What he wants to get his hands on is explosives,” Talal whispers. “Ibrahim
wants us to find them for him.”
“My uncle wants us to find explosives for Bevan? What for; what does he
need explosives for?”
“Listen, and listen carefully. I swore to Allah, that I would keep you out of the
loop when it comes to this subject. The old man forced me to give him my word
of honor I would keep you as far away from this as possible; please, leave this to
us. We’ll find what we need to find and we’ll pass it on to the Admiral. You keep
yourself out of it, do you hear me?”
“What the hell does the Admiral need to do with explosives?”
“Don’t worry about it; don’t even go there. What he does with them is his
business, as your uncle told me.”
“It’s something obviously Ibrahim approves of; where are you going to find
explosives?”
“I’ll get Ahmed to get them; he knows people from school—rednecks, you
know, anarchists of some sort, who want their fame. This thing has to be done and
we’ll carry it through; you keep out of it. Don’t forget, you’re about to inherit a huge
fortune, a dynasty of wealth. The old man wants you clear of any unfortunate
complications; you know very well what he and I mean. Things that can be done by
others you leave to others and you had better get used to that idea from now on.

Saturday morning in San Francisco and the weather is chilly with a light breeze
coming from the north, the Canadian connection, many call it, that turns the
temperature colder than average. The heat is turned on in the houses and the
annual time change has taken place, thus making the daylight hours shorter.
Evelyn Smith has been up for a while when Bevan comes down from the
bedroom. The coffee still smells freshly brewed. She toasts a couple of slices of
bread and places jam on the table for her brother; William is already up and
outside in his garden checking on his vegetables. He still has a few things
growing in the garden such as celery, beets, Swiss chard, leeks, garlic, carrots,
and plenty of greens for salads. The summer vegetables are over for the year,
but his tomatoes and cucumbers have been just phenomenal, he says. They had
a very good crop and gave away quite a few things. Usually, they donate their
leftover vegetables to the local food bank, which is very appreciative of fresh,
organic produce.
William comes in with a couple of grocery bags full of greens as Bevan and
Evelyn are enjoying coffee and chitchat.
“Good morning, William,”

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