Why now? Why not yesterday before Kat had reentered Kevin’s world? Kevin thought hard, very hard for a moment, and could see no other explanation than Gunderman and his data. Marcus had to be after the disks.

Kev wondered briefly just what the hell was on those disks but dropped it. It didn’t matter, at least not right now. Think this through carefully, Kev. Your life depends upon it.

There was another factor, he suddenly realized. Chris. He’d appeared essentially out of nowhere. He’d also suggested that Kevin get the disks to the physics office, rather than leave them in the lab. Made a point of it. Then there was that door that wasn’t there – but Kevin had seen a keyhole for a moment. The door was hidden, magically Kevin supposed, but the keyhole had been visible for a brief time, anyway? Why?

Kevin estimated the time and decided it would have had to remain visible for at least a minute, possibly two, after Chris had locked the door. The key hole had stayed visible just long enough for Kev to spot it, which implied that he was supposed to spot it.

Assume a link between a supernatural event the night before and this event now. That implied that Chris was somehow involved with this as well. For a moment, Kevin began to get paranoid, wondering if the whole world was in on this little drama but it passed quickly. No, his line of reasoning made sense, even if it was shaky.

“What’s on the disks? Why do you want them?” Kevin asked softly. What he planned now was going to be tricky.

Marcus’ expression froze briefly and then his cheerful mask reasserted itself. “Bright boy. Very smart.”

“And what’s in it for me?” Kevin added, now even more softly. “I’m more inclined to cooperate and smooth the way for you if I get something in the bargain.”

Marcus stood up and faced him squarely. “Not that’s an interesting thought.” He appeared relaxed but Kevin didn’t buy it. “Kat doesn’t know you as well as she thought she did.”

“I haven’t seen Kat in six months. And if you’ve done your homework, you also know she dropped me.” Kevin replied, meeting the other’s gaze intently. On impulse, he added, “I like things to balance. Don’t you?”

Marcus nodded minutely. He appeared to be weighing alternatives. After a moment longer, he nodded minutely, a brief up and down motion. “How well disposed are you to filthy lucre?”

“How substantially filthy are we talking about here?”

“Oh, say six figures. I think we could go that high, if we get what we want.”

Not acting alone, then, Kevin thought. “I’m quite well disposed. So what do I have to do?”

“Well, I want to retrieve some information that you had, or at least had at one time.”

Kevin sucked in his breath sharply. He hoped the effort wasn’t a waste of time. No need for him to figure out just how much I’ve put together, now is there? “The disks.”

“Well, maybe. I take it the hard drive is kaput.”

“It’s toast. I jury rigged it to get whatever I could off of it, but I was scrambling data as fast as I was retrieving it. I don’t know if I got everything off of it that I should have.”

Marcus looked thoughtful. “That might not be a problem.” He snapped his fingers and an electric arc blazed briefly between his thumb and index finger. “Magic can do quite a bit that science can’t, if you catch my drift.”

“Unburn things? Find a 10 meg hard drive in a landfill? That sort of thing?” Kevin looked nearly as skeptical as he felt.