He was good. He didn’t rant. He just spoke calmly and with no more emotion than needed. He was either totally sincere or the best con man in the Land of the Dead. I was almost persuaded he had something. What he said would explain a lot, but it was also exactly what I wanted to hear: that my long slump wasn’t my fault. It was one thing to suspect Hurley, and maybe Copal, too; but Salvador was bringing the whole company into it. It was more than a little fantastic and I was determined to be skeptical.
“What’s your evidence?” I asked.
Salvador surprised me by saying, “That’s where you come in, Manuel. Or should I call you Agent Calavera?”
“Manny suits me fine,” I said. If Salvador had only guesswork, I didn’t think I was interested. “I’m not looking to join any radical organization, Sal. I just want to work off my time and get out of this dump.” I thought I saw Eva shake her head slightly.
“Well,” Salvador sounded amused, “you won’t even be able to get out of this city without my help. Which means, of course, you won’t be able to find that woman and you’ll never get your job back.” I nearly jumped out of my suit. How did he know I was thinking of tracking down Mercedes and using her to expose Hurley’s racket? I wasn’t even sure that’s what I intended until Salvador said what he did. “I think we might be of some use to each other,” he concluded.
I wasn’t the smartest guy who ever died, but I was thinking as fast as I could. Salvador… well, there was something about him. I just didn’t know what. He was calm yet passionate, not dogmatic yet still very sure of himself. He wasn’t the sort you usually run into in the Land of the Dead. There was just something about him I couldn’t place. And then there was Eva… stubborn, skeptical and definitely hard-boiled. What was she doing with this guy?
I folded my arms and tried to project a ‘you have to convince me’ look. “Do you know something I don’t know?” I asked.
“Haven’t you ever wondered,” Salvador asked, “why your clients never seem to qualify for the packages you know they deserve?”
I shrugged. “Yes. My last client in particular, Meche—”
“Well,” he interrupted, “many did qualify, Manuel. Especially her. But, somehow, somebody with access to the files has stolen their just rewards, their sweet hereafters.”
“Their tickets on the Number Nine?” I asked, incredulous.
“Precisamente, amigo,” Salvador answered.
“What would they do with the tickets?” As far as I knew, a Double-N ticket was as individual as the person it was issued to.
“A ticket on the Number Nine is like a leaf of gold, Manuel, especially to one who has died with a less-than-perfect record. Someone here is profiting from those who would buy their way into heaven.”
I shook my head. What Salvador was saying made no sense. “But money’s not important here. We all just want out!”
Salvador seemed amused. “You want to get out, Manuel, and so do I… someday. But for some people, this world is all there is.” I thought of Domino. He seemed to be enjoying himself in the Land of the Dead, confusing his existence here with life. Salvador continued. “They have decided to seek pleasure and happiness here in the Eighth Underworld; and for that, you need money.”
Maybe Sal has a case after all, I thought. I glanced at Eva, wondering when she started to come to Salvador’s point of view.
I looked back at Salvador and asked, “So who’s in on this deal?”
“Don Copal has the access,” he pointed out. “He can open any account and transfer the ticket voucher to another. We believe he would then pass the case on to Domino Hurley, who would cover their tracks.”
“So that menso was getting all the good clients!” I exclaimed despite my resolution to be skeptical.
“You got some, too, Manuel,” Salvador said. “You just didn’t know it. Domino only got a case if the character of the client was obviously so deserving.”
“Like Meche!” I said. The discrepancy between the work order and her file was starting to make sense. I hadn’t messed up; Copal had messed with Meche’s record. “Do you know who’s behind it all?”
Salvador shrugged. “Copal and Hurley couldn’t have done it all on their own without help from downtown.” He sighed and said, “But who ultimately is in charge, how many are involved, and how high in the company the corruption extends… that is something I don’t know. Not yet.”
I sighed, too. Salvador was making a good case. It made sense even if he didn’t have all the answers. In a way, that made his story much more convincing. A con man would probably have an answer for everything.
“What do you want from me?” I asked.
“I am going to build an underground army of souls to fight the injustice I have seen in El Marrow,” Salvador answered. Then he became thoughtful and distant. “Communication will become vital as the Lost Souls’ Alliance spreads out. We’ll need messengers we can trust.”
“You want me to be your messenger?!” I exclaimed.
Salvador started and looked a little confused. “No, Manuel! Our numbers are small and our agents are too valuable to risk in that sort of work. History shows only one messenger to be of use to a cause like ours: carrier pigeons!”
I was getting confused, too. Eva seemed amused. “Should I grab some pigeons off the roof?” I asked.
“No!” Salvador snapped. “I need to raise them from birth, Agent Calavera. I need their eggs.”
I almost laughed. “You spirited me away from Copal because you need pigeon eggs? Have you thought about using messages tied to balloons? I can get you plenty of balloons.”
“Manuel,” Salvador seemed bewildered, “what are you talking about?”
Eva started laughing. “Salvador sometimes gets a little distracted,” she said to me. She then said to Salvador, “You were going to tell Manny what we need from him.”
“Yes. Yes, of course. Forgive me, Manuel. One thing suggests another and I am always planning for the future. But tonight we need you for a very special assignment.” Salvador led me to one corner of the room where a DOD computer sat.
“We salvaged this unit when the company threw it away,” he said, “but we have yet to get it working.”
“This looks like the computer that used to be in my old office,” I said, “but I don’t know anything about fixing computers, Sal.”
“Fortunately I know enough, Manuel, and what I do not know, Eva does. After this unit was taken from Hurley’s office the company removed certain parts, presumably for spares. I have managed to find replacements for all the missing components except for two: the power supply and the network card. Without those the machine is worthless.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if Copal isn’t in any hurry to replace me,” I said. “We could probably take what you need from my computer without it being noticed any time soon.”
“My thinking exactly, Manuel,” Salvador said. “You and Eva will steal what we need tonight in addition to doing final reconnaissance. With your recruitment Eva’s job in that office is finished. When you return, your most important task will begin.”
“Which is?”
“First, we need access to the DOD network. Only an active agent can give us the access we require.”
“They’re going to cancel my account sooner or later, Sal,” I pointed out. “I can’t help you out there forever.”
“Don’t worry, Cal,” Eva said. “We’ve got that part figured out. You just need to get us in the door.”
“OK,” I said. “So what do we do until the office shuts down?”