I dreamt of eyes watching me. Probing yellow eyes. Bloodshot eyes. They swirled around me and merged into one and I woke up.

My first impression was too much white. I closed my eyes and opened them again. Better. White ceiling. White curtain. I deduced I was in a hospital bed. I closed my eyes.

I reluctantly woke again when someone was shaking my shoulder.  I looked into the ugly mug of Detective Paul Barto.

"You are lucky you called me, Johnny. The doc says we got to you in time. There is no permanent damage. Coupla months and you'll be as good as new. Sid and his boys... not so much. They are going to need somebody to feed them for the rest of their lives. No loss there. They did kill two guards in that robbery.

"Too bad we had to burn all that money. A million bucks up in smoke. HazMat said there was no way they could decontaminate it. By the way, the army would dearly love to know where you got that nerve agent." He stopped talking, waiting for me to respond. They teach you that in Detective School.

"Not me." I croaked. I took a sip of water and tried again. "Sid must have put it there. Probably cracked the vial when they ran me down. I was bringing the money to you. For the reward."

I could tell Barto didn't believe me. Eventually he gave up. I knew he would. He did suggest I change jobs. Something a little less stressful than a recovery agent. And the funny thing was they gave me the reward for cracking the case. Even though they had to burn the loot. Ten percent of a million is a hundred thousand. Not bad for a days work. That and the nine hundred grand I swapped for paper when I packed the bag should let me retire for quite a while.

                                                                 This is probably The End