Both had watched in abject horror.The meal was good, but, neither could nor would remember it. Conversation drew to the television station even though... both knew that was “against the rules.”“Dessert, Mr. Grant?” Mary had made chocolate pudding, cooked. She’d finished clearing the table as he’d taken anchor.“No.”He’d only been in her bedroom once before; to rally Ted as his wedding grew imminent.He caught sight of her as she slid out the bathroom door, the light catching her in a direct flash.. They suspected that the plan was for Smedly to buy the H&T and sell it to the TG, making a nice profit from the deal. If the TG owned the H&T right-of-way, they could charge as much as they wanted to for freight to use the shortcut.Smedly could claim to be innocent of any wrong doing in the H&T affair, since all he was doing was buying a defunct railroad and trying to sell it at a profit. That was something any businessman would do. It looked like the only way to nail Smedly was to find enough. "An exception is allowed if the biological parents and the child refuse the test," I informed her."Who would do that?" she asked horrified. I turned to stare at her."But even your parents have to be reasonable about some things, Michael!" No, Sarah, they don't," I sighed. "They thought that the Institute was just another government conspiracy. They still do." Everyone gets tested!" she spat.I didn't have anything to say to that; I had been dealing with the repercussions of my parents' political. In a Subzero the size of my last apartment I found an unexpired tub ofTrader Joe's Hummus and some whole wheat crackers. I wearily found myway back to the guest room and lay down next to the snoring JC. Isipped my Scotch and watched a silent soccer match on Telemundo. Istill don't really get the game, although I had gotten one of the stars.The MacCallan dissolved the haze of jet lag, and brought a moment oflucidity before the new fog of intoxication replaced it. I hadeffectuated my illegal.