Here’s the latest excerpt from the chronicles of Max…

How was Anna involved in this mystery? He racked his brain for what seemed like the thousandth time. Churches, Italy, Japan, dome, samurai, sister, buddies, sacrifice, betrayal, Kokopelli, @Brunellesci, @AveMaria, plane ticket, time to go to work… What did it all mean? He was the single point that connected them all so far, but someone else knew everything as well. What did they want from him? Why were all these references to his past coming up now? There was only one way to find out, he had to use the ticket. He had to go to Florence and trust the explanation would become clear there. That @Brunellesci would meet him on the dome. It’s the only way he could find out more about this mystery, he made up his mind and headed home to start packing.

As he was driving down Interstate 10, past downtown Los Angeles, his mind kept drifting through the possibilities. He was abruptly disturbed from his reverie by something ramming into the back of his Evo. “Holy crap”, he thought. He looked in his rear view mirror to see a black Mercury sedan pulling back with two men in dark suits and sunglasses in the front seat. The car paused briefly, then began to accelerate towards his rear bumper again. He quickly downshifted and punched the gas and his Evo leapt forward, pulling away from the sedan. Traffic was unusually light and he wove his way through the cars, trying to get away from the Mercury, but it kept pace with him. As he swerved to the right to go around a slow Honda, the sedan put on a burst of speed and pulled out to the left, into the service lane, passing slower cars in the fast lane. The Merc was gaining ground on him and finally pulled back into the lane alongside his Evo. He glanced to the left in time to see the Merc’s window roll down and the tip of a gun pointed at him. Just as the gun erupted, belching bullets in his direction, he slammed on his brakes causing the sedan to pass him and the bullets miss.

Max quickly reached into his glove box to retrieve the Glock. He then slipped his Evo into the blind spot of the Merc, reached out the window with the gun, and opened fire on the men in the sedan. The Glock barked as bullets spewed from it’s mouth, peppering the Mercury sedan’s windows and doors with holes. He thought he must have gotten lucky with one of the shots since the sedan immediately pulled away and slowed down dramatically. He tossed the Glock on the passenger seat and sped off down the freeway, heart and mind racing, keeping an eye on his rear-view mirror to make sure no more mysterious sedans snuck up on him.