“Speak for yourself,” he snorted, but he knew I was right. Bill thrived on city life. Take him away from the metropolitan buzz and he’d shrivel up and die.

We were silent awhile, thinking about the lure of the simple country life. Then Bill spoiled it all. “How’s The Cardinal?”

“You know I don’t see much of him,” I muttered.

“It’s not too late to get out,” he said. “There’s plenty of security jobs going. A man with your experience could make a—”

“Bill, don’t.”

He cocked an eyebrow at me. “Conscience pricking you, Al?”

“We’ve been through this before. I like what I do. I’m not gonna quit.”

“What if you’re asked to kill a man one day?”

I sighed and stared into the cool night water.

“Maybe you’ve already been asked,” Bill said softly.

I maintained my silence.

“Have you killed for that monster, Al?”

I looked over at him. “You really want to know?”

Bill chewed his lower lip, studied my face and shook his head. “No. Guess I don’t.”

Bill was a cop. I worked for a gangster. Our friendship eased along nicely so long as we didn’t discuss work. He’d only raised the subject now because it had been a long weekend and he was irritable.

I checked my watch. “Monday morning beckons. We’ll have to be on our way soon if you want to beat the rush.”

“I should have taken the day off like you.” Bill sounded regretful. He reeled in his line and began dismantling his rod. Stood and gazed off at the city, then said, “Fog’s up.”

I squinted and saw banks of thick green fog billowing over the roofs of the city like a dome. The city was famous for its mysterious green fog, which blew up at random and made a mockery of meteorology.

“Great,” I groaned. “That adds a couple of hours to our journey.”

“Roads are fairly quiet this time,” Bill said. “Shouldn’t delay us too long. Want me to drive?”