What a dirty place, Mason announced. I know. Its called high-frequency trading. Buy it a millisecond before the shares or bonds rise a penny, which in the course of a day they all do, and sell it a millisecond later before the shares or bond prices drop a penny. Its like being just ahead of a wave rising and falling. You haveto have expensive and specially designed software and infrastructure. The institutions have that, plus, because theyre licensed brokers, they’re hardwired into the exchanges; it’s called naked access. And it’s not just brokers, but hedge funds and specialty firms. Come on, dont sell yourself short. You seem damn astute to me, more than a lot of the so-called brainiacs I work with who can barely pack a lunch or cross the street safely. I looked around carefully and then bent down so that my forearm rested on the door sill. I grew a confidential look on my face.You wouldnt be a kidnapper, would you? They got out of the car and crossed the street.Dont go peering through the window, Dino said. “Hell spot us from inside. Yes. Hes over the numbers, she said, except there arent any numbers left after the storm. Not like this. He took a sip of his iced tea. Something about this has me confused. Almost immediately after the purse was recovered. Okay, but if word gets around our lives are going to be hell. For some fifteen minutes Mason sat watching and waiting, studying the house with his binoculars, from time to time tlirusting the paddle into the water to hold the canoe against the tide while he awaited developments. The insults were offered routinely and replied to in the same fashion, almost mechanically, without heat or rancor. It was simply what Freddie Koontz had long ago decided should be the proper form of address to go with robust male companionship. If you couldnt match him insult for insult, you were probably a pansy or worse, although it was doubtful that Freddie could think of anything worse. Chapter 24 I wouldnt quite yet, Mason told him. Twelve.