QUOTE : I’m about to shout at the useless bastard when something clocks and my stomach tightens. “God, I’m stupid,” I say. “You told them you’d talked to me about dealing with King Bullet, didn’t you?” “I said that I’d asked you to look into the situation.” I run my fingers over Betty on my forehead. I say, “You’re not sending in your people because if I fix things, it looks good for you. But if something happens to me, I’m just some expendable stooge. And don’t tell me it’s the Council doing it and not you. If you wanted to overrule them, you’d find a way.” When Abbot speaks, his voice has the officious tone of a junior high principal. “They think, and I have to agree, that we need more information before we act.” “Sure. What’s a few more dead civilian nobodies and my donut shop when you have your mansions to look after?” “What donut shop?” he says. “What are you talking about?” “And even if the crazies turn off the power, you can hoodoo your lights and air-conditioning back on like nothing happened.” “Look,” he says, and this time he sounds pissed. “If you had something solid that I could take to the Council. Some way that we could get to King Bullet himself. I know that they’d listen to reason.” “Because they’re always ready to jump in and help the little guy, right?