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didn’t like putting my friends through that, but it was part of my cover when I went into covert ops with the NSA’s cyber crime response group. Only a handful of people know I’m alive. You’re now one of them, so guard this secret as if your very life depended on it,” Lukas said.
    Collin looked puzzled until Lukas broke into a chuckle. “Geez, dude, you had me scared there for a minute,” Collin said as he exhaled.
    “Well, it is true. People need to think I’m dead.”
    The next six hours were spent on that boat, in the marina, listening to Lukas tell his story. He warned Collin about the danger he was in because of one of Lukas’ MIT classmates, Pho Nam Penh, and his stated desire to disrupt and eventually end the prosperity and gluttonous lifestyle of western civilization. Lukas and Rob detailed Penh’s strategy and known successes in the execution of his plan. Sad tale after sad tale was told of unsuspecting victims and their sometimes horrific demises.
    Since the funeral, Lukas cautioned, Collin and the $30 million he was soon to be awarded from the insurance company had become a target. The insurance company, Lukas explained, was one of Penh’s legitimate businesses that hid his nefarious, cyber-terror activities. Every large payout made by this Tranquil Pacific Casualty Insurance Group had been followed by a tragedy, misfortune, or peculiar series of events that left the recipients broken down, hospitalized, imprisoned, or dead. All of their money gone. Lukas had been piecing together the clues and working to bring his cagey classmate to justice for years. But Penh and his syndicate had proven elusive.
    Lukas wanted to prevent his dear friend from falling victim to a similar fate and vowed to teach Collin everything he would need to know to run, hide, and out-wit these crafty criminals. A plan for a new life was presented and, with little reason to resist, Collin agreed.
    Just after midnight that same night, Rob Howell’s boat left the Petaluma marina with Collin aboard. He was never to return to his home again.
     
    Collin stood and walked down the aisle of the train, past all the sleeping passengers, trying to push aside the memories that made him ache and wish he could go back to his ordinary existence. This new life that had begun that night on Rob’s boat was not the life he wanted to live. Nevertheless, he was not going to let someone else alter it for him again. Not if he could help it.

Chapter Four
     
    Munich, Germany
    May 1
     
    It was a breezy, cool morning in Munich, Germany. Collin’s train arrived at 7:15 a.m.  The adrenaline rush produced during his getaway from Hamburg and the hours of reliving unwanted memories had eliminated any chance for sleep. Knowing he was being hunted by the guys with the shades didn’t help, either. Who were they? How did they find him? Why now, after months of running? Had he made a mistake? Left a trail? Been turned in? What was going on?
    These thoughts replaced the menacing and debilitating memories that had run their course throughout the night. As daylight broke, his mind became occupied with his current predicament instead of with sorrow or guilt or loneliness. That was a good thing. But the fatigue was not. More than anything, Collin just wanted to hunker down somewhere safe and comfortable for a night or two. If only he could be invisible.
    Putting his questions aside as he got off the train, he had to focus on getting out of sight and staying there for a while. Getting some sleep would be good, too. The problem was it was too early to check-in to a hotel. Feeling very exposed out in the open, Collin jumped on the first bus that came and rode it downtown. He found a crowded coffee shop with free Wi-Fi and settled into a small booth in the back corner with a view of the front door and easy access to the back door. For two hours he worked on his laptop and scanned every face that walked through the door.
    Lukas replied to Collin’s instant messages,