Jake came to his senses, and spoke, “James, this is too excessive. Do you seriously think you’ll survive even if you have this underground intelligence network? Do you know how many important people want you dead? You’re going to wind up dead, either way.”

“You don’t have to worry about that.”

James stared at him.

“I’ll count to three. If you refuse, it’ll take it as your final decision.”

“One.”

“Two.”

“Three.”

“Okay, I’ll promise you.”

Jake finally gave in as soon as James reached the last num