Repairman Jack [03]-Conspiracies Read Online Free PDF Page A

their addresses too? What's Repairman Jack going to do? Pay them a little visit?"
    "Well, no. I just—"
    "If I knew their names, I'd probably be dead. I don't want to know their names. Someone else should know their names and stop them. They've been pulling the world's economic strings for centuries but no one ever does anything. No one hunts them down and calls them to account. Why is that, Jack? Tell me: Is it ignorance or apathy?"
    "I don't know and couldn't care less," Jack said with a shrug.
    Abe opened his mouth, then closed it and stared at him.
    Jack fought the grin that threatened to break free. Goading Abe was precious fun.
    Finally Abe turned to Parabellum. "You see what I put up with from this man? I try to enlighten him as to the true nature of things, and what does he do? Wise he cracks."
    "As if you really believe all that," Jack said, grinning.
    Abe stared at him, saying nothing.
    Jack felt his smile fading. "You don't really believe in an international financial cabal, do you?"
    "I should tell you? But one thing you should know is that a good conspiracy theory is a mechaieh . And also great fun. But this group you mentioned, this Bouillabaisse—"
    "SESOUP."
    "Whatever. I'll bet it's not fun for them. I'll bet it's very serious business for them: UFOs and other stuff far from the mainstream."
    "UFOs are mainstream?"
    "They've been mainstreamed. That's why sightings are up: believing is seeing, if you should get my drift. But when you start talking with members of Zuppa De Peche—"
    "SESOUP."
    "Whatever—I bet you'll run into meshuggeners so far from the mainstream they're not even wet."
    "I can hardly wait." Jack glanced at his watch. "Look, I've got to be heading out to the Island. Can I borrow your truck?"
    "What's the matter with Ralph?"
    "Sold him."
    "No!" Abe seemed genuinely shocked. "But you loved that car."
    "I know." Jack had hated parting with his 1963 white Corvair convertible. "But I didn't have much choice. Ralph's become a real collector's item. Everywhere I took him people stopped and asked me about him, wanted to buy him. Don't need that kind of attention."
    "Too bad. All right, since you're in mourning, take the truck, but remember: she only likes high test."
    "That old V6?"
    Abe shrugged. "I shouldn't spoil my women?" He extracted the truck keys from his pocket and handed them to Jack as the bell on the shop's front jangled. A customer entered: a tanned, muscular guy with short blond hair.
    "Looks like a weekend warrior," Jack said.
    Abe returned Parabellum to his cage. "I'll get rid of him."
    "Don't bother. I've got to go."
    With obvious reluctance, Abe slid off the stool and left his sanctum behind the counter. He sounded bored as he approached the customer.
    "What overpriced recreational nonsense can I sell you today?"
    Jack headed for the door, holding up the truck keys as he passed Abe.
    Abe waved, then turned back to his customer. "Water skis? You want to spend your free time sliding on top of water? What on earth for? It's dangerous. And besides, you could hit a fish. Imagine the headache you'd cause the poor thing. A migraine should be half so bad ... "

5

    The Incorporated Village of Shoreham sits on the north shore of Long Island a bit west of Rocky Point. All Jack knew about Shoreham was that it was the home of a multibillion-dollar nuclear power plant that had never ignited its reactor—one of the greatest boondoggles in the state's long history of boondoggles.
    And no doubt the subject of a number of conspiracy theories, Jack figured.
    After asking at a 7-Eleven along 25A, he found Lewis Ehler's street. Briarwood Road led north, twisting and turning into the hills bordering the Long Island Sound. Poorly paved and bouncy, but he guessed the residents liked it that way because the houses were big and well kept. All the lots were wooded, and the homes to his right perched on a rise overlooking the water. Between the houses and through the trees, Jack caught glimpses of the Sound.