Chapter 572

Conner left Sloane to get the ball rolling with the task force while he headed to a meeting at Collins-Cline Productions. He hopped onto the 101, getting off at Santa Monica Boulevard, delighted by the lack of traffic on both. In less than fifteen minutes, he was pulling up to the Collins-Cline building.

The group of picketers out front had grown since his previous visit. He estimated there were close to forty now, despite the fact that it was a hot Sunday afternoon, milling about in bunches in front of the entrance and the driveway to the underground parking. The demonstrators were mostly women, but there more than a few men sprinkled in the crowd. The majority carried signs. One of the signs, hoisted high by an attractive young blond in a tight red body suit, bore the rather ironic message “Death to the Purveyors of Violence.” Conner wondered where she had come up with the word “purveyors,” and whether she truly believed the missive she carried. Or,