“Let’s say I had to restart the game,” Shawn said.

“You had to restart the game?” Gus was doubly glad he’d decided to stay in San Francisco now. He had no desire to relive the terrible events at the petting zoo. The fictional terrible events at the petting zoo, he corrected himself, although he doubted that any government agency actually had the technology to pick up stray thoughts.

“Let’s say,” Shawn said.

“Okay, you’ve been following Cayenne,” Gus said. “So?”

“Let’s say I think he’s going to lead me to Morton, thus shortcutting me through at least two levels of play,” Shawn said.

“Congratulations,” Gus said. If he’d thought of that the last time he’d been in the game, it would have saved him from the encounter with the liquor store owner.

“Only when I followed him, he didn’t lead me to Morton,” Shawn said. “Instead he took me to a part of the city we hadn’t seen before. He went to an office building and disappeared inside.”

“And?” Gus said, wishing he could finish this call so he could reschedule his flight.

“Let’s say I was able to trace the ownership of the building,” Shawn said.

“How?” Gus said.

“It’s a game,” Shawn said. “There are clues built in.”

“Okay, fine,” Gus said. “So who owns the building?”

“Flint Powers,” Shawn said.

Gus tried to remember why that name sounded familiar, at the same time trying to understand why he should care what was happening inside some dumb game. “He’s the other mob’s boss, right?” Gus said. “Morton’s only rival?”

“That’s right,” Shawn said. “What do you think that means?”

“I assume Cayenne didn’t kill Powers,” Gus said. “Because you probably would have told me. So I’ve got to assume the only reason he’s going there is because he’s actually working for the guy.”