"Wait, wait," Eddie said. "You can't take me now!"

Randolph laughed. "You want us to come back later? Yeah, right, we'll do that. In fact, why don't you just call us when you're ready to turn yourself in?" He shoved Eddie toward the car, but Eddie stopped and turned back to Sean.

"Hey! Hey, buddy!" he shouted. "Come here."

Sean glanced at the two agents and they both shrugged. "What do you want?" he asked.

"You gotta help me out. It's really important." He tried to reach into his pants' pocket, but the agents grabbed him. Atkins pulled out a wad of bills secured in a fancy money clip. "Give the guy fifty," Eddie said. "No, make it one hundred."

The agent handed Sean two fifties. "What's this for?" Sean asked.

"I want you to go over to 634 Milholme Street and tell Laurel Rand what happened."

"You'll get a phone call," Sean said. "You call her." He pushed the money back at him.

"No, I can't. By then it will be too late. You gotta do this for me. Tell her I'm real sorry. Tell her I really loved her."

Sean stared down at the money. He should refuse, but every dollar in his pocket was one more dollar toward a real office and maybe even a real secretary. One hundred dollars would pay the electric bill for a few months. Why not take a few minutes and run a simple errand? "All right. You want me to tell her you were arrested?"

Eddie nodded.

"You want me to tell her why?"

"You might as well. Once she learns the truth, she isn't going to want to talk to me again. But tell her I really did love her. She was the one."

"Yeah, Eddie," Agent Randolph muttered. "I'm sure that's what you tell all the ladies. Do you say that before or after you pick their bank accounts clean?"

"I loved them all," Eddie said. "I just have this compulsion. I keep asking them and they keep saying yes. That's their fault, not mine!"