Ah, crap. Lambone isn’t the only one who lost a lead. I did too. Why did Beretta have to go and disappear like that? I could have sworn he was getting set to confront his tail. Ah, well… This loss of control is actually one of the things I like about this kind of story telling. It keeps things off kilter, just like life does.

I know – unpredictable things, these characters, aren’t they? Sorry if I pulled the rug from under you there.

It does occur to me that these characters are going to have to talk to one another at some stage: remind me what you’d decided to do about that? I would, of course, hate to transgress the rules by dropping dialogue into the mouth of another author’s creation.

As you’ll see in my sequel, the time to talk has come. As I see it, there are three options: (1) you write the dialog and post it; (2) you write the dialog and note it to me for my comments; and (3) we develop the dialog together and you publish the result. Pick whichever you think best.

I suggest option (1) – then if there is anything amiss, the character’s owner can note the author. I think we should all have enough of a handle on each other’s voices to keep things authentic. I’m sure the other guys will let us know if there is any objection.

Fun side story, and I like this diversion that frustrates, sets up, and he still winds up at the Topaz. Now we just have to figure out how to loop this chain back into the other one, cause I totally didn’t see this part of the story.