October 14, 2004

Jesus Christ, Jeremy! Neil was obviously perturbed. I need you in the office, and I need you here now.

Okay, calm down. I m on my way. Jeremy held the phone closer to his ear. It was difficult to hear Neil s voice above the cars driving by on the street next to him. He stood up from his table on the patio of the small eatery he was at and motioned to the waiter that he would be right back. Opening the door to the inside of the restaurant, he headed to the men s room. Tell me what s going on. I need to pay my lunch tab, and I ll be right in.

They struck early, that s what. Jeremy could tell that Neil was stressed to the extreme. You know I can t give you any more details than that on an unsecured line. Get in here. Please.

All right, I m coming in now. Jeremy walked back out of the men s room and went back to his table. He motioned to a waiter who was standing at the register near the door. Excuse me, waiter. I need to get my check so I can pay; I ve got to run. Can I also get the rest of this boxed up?

Absolutely, sir, came the reply. I ll be right back with your check. The waiter took the half-eaten plate from in front of the young man and made his way to the door. The man returned a couple minutes later with...