Foster uncovers an alien experiment with ties to the mob. - - -

""City of Fountains"" is a nickname for Kansas City, Missouri, a town whose headlines have screamed of a gangland war that left over 30 dead.

It's no mystery why the Gua would seek out organized crime. Drugs, gambling, prostitution – all things that could weaken mankind's resolve. But why did Nostradamus point to this gang war?

The quatrain suggested I form an alliance with ""the steed,"" a man I suspected to be Sammy ""The Horse"" Kozak, head of a Kansas City crime family for over 10 years.

I'm wanted for capital murder, so mixing with mobsters might be insane – Eddie sure thought so. But checking Sammy out could lead me to the Gua, and that's an offer I can't refuse…

Took the name Nick Flynn and checked out the '88s Club, Sammy's totally nude strip bar and a front for his operations. Met a brick-wall bartender named Pete, told him I was looking for Sammy. My cover – ""Loma Cinquemani"" had sent me up from the Miami families wi

Quatrain 11, Century 9. ""Nobles gather on a midsummer's eve / and the Raven grasps the curse of legacy. / Look to the traitor's haven / as the beast prepares for Apocalypse.""

When Jordan got an invitation to a midsummer bash at a mansion owned by her late parents, Eddie linked the party to the words of Nostradamus. Did this ""curse of legacy"" refer to the Radcliffe family? Could the traitor possibly be Jordan's father, a man she both loved and respected? Jordan wouldn't rest until she knew the truth.

Neither would I. If ""the beast"" was Mabus, then I wanted to do my part to find out how the Radcliffes fit into his preparations for the Apocalypse and I wanted to stop him. We knew of a secret vault within the mansion, so while Jordan made a grand entrance to join the rich and famous, I was breaking in upstairs to crack a safe.

Some things never changed.

Had to be tough for Jordan. Once the Gua enter your life it changes forever. I'd lived it, and so had she. But Jordan was good at putting