Dead to Me

17

When I got home from the sales trip, it was after dark, but not too late. I had been successful to the tune of two months’ maintenance. I found Irene asleep in the guest room as I had left her earlier this morning and I didn’t dare disturb her. Connor had talked about how her spirit might slowly start to degrade and turn into something like the one from the alley, but I figured the less I forced her to interact, the less energy she expended—and that might slow the degradation. I caught a few hours’ sleep before waking up and sneaking the surveillance equipment I had calibrated the other night out of the apartment while Irene slept on, and I headed for Jane’s address, which Connor had e-mailed to me.

Hours later, as I prowled the rooftops and set up a parabolic mike directly across from Jane’s Chelsea apartment, I felt skeevy and voyeuristic. The Inspectre had assured me it was a necessary evil in the fight against, well, evil. But as I settled into an evening of spying on her, I found myself…liking it. Spying on Jane gave me a much better understanding of the woman. By the dull glow of my laptop’s screen, I worked on my report for the Department, detailing every move that she made. Jane was a much more cheerful person when she was home alone, and I guessed that it was due to being free and clear of her responsibilities to the evil Mr. Faisal Bane. Well, not quite free and clear. Throughout the night, she bristled as she fielded several calls from her boss regarding his scheduling needs. I was impressed that the parabolic mike picked up his voice on the phone. The confused expressions that flitted across her face as she spoke on the phone made it clear that she didn’t understand half of what her powerful boss was up to. Not that she was dumb, but I doubted she truly grasped the evil extent of what she had gotten herself into.

She didn’t question any of his demands. As the S.D.L. had probably made clear to her, certain things—highly evil things, I had no doubt—were on a “need to know” basis. I bet the less you knew at the Sectarian Defense League, the longer your lifespan was.

It wasn’t until nine that she made an outgoing call of her own. Take-out. When she asked for her sweet and sour sauce on the side, the same as I did, I smiled. Thirty minutes later her food arrived (she was a heavy tipper, I noted), but before she had a chance to put it down, her cell phone went off yet again. This time, as I positioned the mike, I caught her cursing under her breath.

I adjusted the mike and their voices came in loud and clear.

“What’s up, boss?” she said.

“Good evening, Jane. I trust you’re enjoying your time off tonight?”

Jane looked at the unopened bag of Chinese food in her hand.

“Oh yeah,” she said with mock enthusiasm. “It’s a regular party at my place, sir.”

“I’m afraid your party will have to wait,” he said. “I’ve got some errands I need done.”

He really didn’t get the whole sarcasm thing. Perhaps it had something to do with that dark, brooding European sensibility of his. Or maybe he just didn’t get idioms.

I knew that a lot of people would be bothered if their time off was constantly interrupted, but after my dinner with Jane, I knew she was probably making the best of the situation in her head already. I bet she was thinking, Doesn’t Chinese reheat just fine?

I watched through high-tech optical headgear as she walked over to the fridge and tossed the bag in next to four others. Thanks to the power of the electronic eyes, I could even make out the other packages in there: one Mexican, one Italian, and two other Chinese.

“Where do you need me, sir?” She slammed the refrigerator door shut.

“Do you have something black to wear?”

“Of course,” she said as she crossed her kitchen.

Over dinner, she had actually said that day one of her Human Resources training, the Sectarians had sent her out with a corporate credit card to pick up a variety of outfits…all of them in black. The corporate equivalent of hairnets, paper hats, and smocks for the forces of Darkness, I guessed.

“Good, good,” Faisal said. “Wear something you can be flexible in.”

“Flexible, sir?” she said, puzzled. “Like a leotard?”

My mind wandered as the image of her in clingy clothing filled it. She was working for evil, but even evil could be hot, right?

Faisal chuckled on the other end of the line. “No no, my dear. Flexible as in the ‘I’m going to be climbing, spying, and gee, I hope I don’t get caught’ kind of flexible.”

“Oh, that kind.”

“Yes, that kind.”

“I’m sure I have something,” Jane said, and headed out of her living room into the darkness of the next room over. I switched the goggles over to night vision and suddenly had a perfect view of her bedroom lit in a wash of monochromatic green. The goggles read body heat and I couldn’t help but notice the red-blue swirls it picked up and the curves of her figure. Torn between gentlemanly respect and a sense of duty, I forced myself to keep watching. She headed straight to a chest of drawers. It was already open and clothes hung out of it in disarray. Jane started pawing through them. “May I inquire as to my mission?”

“You may indeed. I need you to check out those two men from the incident at our offices the other afternoon. I need you to tell me if one of them isn’t talking to someone.”

Jane’s face scrunched up, confused, and I found I was making the same face underneath the goggles. Isn’t talking to someone…?

She continued to rummage through her chest of drawers. “I’m sorry?”

“I beg your pardon,” corrected Faisal. “I need you to tell me if one of them is talking to someone who isn’t.”

Jane held up a shirt and stretched it across her body. Slimming, a bit tight, but if she was caught spying, she’d look dynamite in it. Perfect choice.

“I’m afraid I don’t follow you, Mr. Bane.”

“Then follow this!” he barked, causing me to reach for the volume on the headphones.

This was the Faisal I had expected. Jane nearly dropped the phone. She stopped fussing with the shirt and gave Faisal her full attention. “Thanks to that careless object retrieval you scheduled, one of my pet projects has been compromised, Jane. Some very important enemies are becoming all too aware of the Sectarian Defense League’s goings-on and I’m blaming this wholly on you.”

“Sir, the agent I sent to Ms. Blatt’s on the retrieval—”

“Was still your agent, Jane. You do take responsibility for people under your command, I assume?”

Jane was getting nervous. She started pacing and fell silent.

What could she say? I knew she was way out of her league, probably had been from day one. Right that moment, though, she had to think fast to please her boss. Her newfound career with the S.D.L. was on the line. How she handled Faisal would affect whether she lived or died, even if she wasn’t fully aware of the severity of her situation.

She seemed so small and insecure just then. I wanted to help her out, even if she was playing for Team Evil. I wished I could send thought waves to her. Keep in mind where your bread is buttered and you’ll know to please him above all else to survive.

As if in response, Jane’s face calmed and she said, “Yes, of course I’m responsible for what my people do, sir.”

“Good,” he said, softening. Monochrome Jane relaxed even further. “That’s what I like to hear. Now when I said ‘I need you to find if one of them is talking to someone who isn’t,’ I meant just that. It is tragic that the Department of Extraordinary Affairs knows about our existence now, but their bursting into our offices was not a total waste of my precious time. There was something one of them said that made me think. They implied they were working with someone I personally know to be out of the picture. Do you follow?”

“I think so, sir.”

“Excellent. You take care of this for me, Jane, and you’ll make me a very happy man. And if you find that this person who isn’t is still around, I expect you to correct the situation. Do you understand or should I use more monosyllabic words?”

Jane sighed and began to search through a sock drawer. She pushed the socks aside and pulled a gun out from underneath them.

“I’ll do my best, sir.” She held it by two fingers like it was a dead fish and then checked the safety before sliding the gun neatly into the back of her belt.

“See that you do,” Faisal said. “I’ll expect a full report on my desk in the morning.”

Jane threw the phone onto the bed and wrestled her way into the black top she had picked out. This time I watched unabashed. She pulled her blond hair back into a manageable ponytail, and I tried to figure out how a relatively sweet girl had come to toting a gun. She must have marveled at all the changes in her life over the past few months, the feeling of importance that came with newfound power and security. I was pretty sure that no temp job had ever let her have a gun before. She probably chalked up carrying a piece as part of her “benefits package.”

She walked back into her living room and began looking through a stack of folders she had spread out on the coffee table earlier in the evening. I was startled when she picked one of them up and flipped it open to a photograph of me standing in the Sectarians’ reception area. I was a little flattered that I was the one whom she meant to spy on. And obviously Irene was the “someone who isn’t” that Faisal was looking for.

Jane wasn’t a killer…was she? I knew she was after Irene, but would she kill me if I got in the way? I didn’t know her well enough after our two encounters, but it had felt like there was a tiny bit of chemistry between us the other night during dinner. Would that prevent her from sending me to the big dirt nap in the sky? Asinine questions—especially those regarding my attraction to a cultist—would have to wait. I had to get back to my place before she did.

I hastily packed my equipment while watching Jane pack hers. I was thrilled to see that she wasn’t in possession of a parabolic mike, which meant she wouldn’t be able to listen in on my apartment the way I had on hers. That was some relief.

I took one last look. Jane was so sinisterly cute, and everything felt more confusing than ever.

I just prayed she wouldn’t have to use her “benefits package” on me.