Salvador answered. “I will tell you in detail the facts and theories I have collected and developed so far, and we will then discuss the future. I must get the projector. Excuse me.”
“Just so long as I don’t have to look at your last vacation,” I called out after him. Then I said to Eva. “Won’t Copal wonder where you are?”
“Don and Domino are locked up in Don’s office with some bigwig from downtown, some fatty in a fez. What they think when they come out doesn’t interest me.”
“Hmm,” Salvador said mostly to himself as he set up his projector. “Who is the fat man, I wonder, and how does he fit into this sinister puzzle?”
Salvador walked me through everything he had learned and had come to suspect over the years. It was quite a story, but a lot of the pieces didn’t fit, and Salvador admitted it. He hoped that the missing pieces could somehow be dug up from the DOD network. However well these people were covering their tracks, he thought, there had to be traces of their activities, something that would identify and incriminate them. Beyond that, Salvador hoped to build a organization of people who could ferret out and destroy the corruption. He believed the DOD was either unable or unwilling to do the job itself. So, as Salvador saw it, the situation demanded a revolution.
Eventually it was time to get moving. It was well past midnight and El Marrow was quiet. Big as it was, the city didn’t have much of a night life. Eva got us into the building with her pass key and we got to our floor using the service elevator. We saw no one, but were cautious, not even speaking until we got into my office. It looked like a war zone.
“Look at this!” I said, kicking aside papers that had been dumped out of my file cabinets.
“They wanted to know what you knew,” Eva said. “I’m sure they didn’t find much.”
“Yeah,” I said, “I’ve been in the dark about a lot of things.” Eva got to work on the computer. “So how long have you been a spy?” I asked.
“Salvador recruited me about a year ago. I couldn’t resist him. He’s just so… noble.”
“Noble, huh? Well, that explains why I never got anywhere.”
“Don’t kick yourself around, Manny. You know I’m very fond of you.”
I shrugged, then thought of something. “A year ago? Then I guess all that stuff about asking questions about Copal…”
“Sal knew we needed an active agent for the cause. I thought you were the best candidate but… cripes on toast, darling, were you ever dense!”
“Yeah, well, I screwed up my life and decided to be a good little boy in death.”
“Not a bad resolution, Cal. Only they stopped playing by the rules. They used you to make the scam work, but you wouldn’t see it.”
“Yeah,” I growled, “I was a Grade A chump. I just couldn’t put the pieces together. Am I that stupid?”
“You bet, sweetie. But, seriously, how were you to know? You’ve had slumps before. I tried to make you see this wasn’t one of them, but I couldn’t just tell you without blowing my cover. If it makes you feel any better, Cal, when Salvador wanted to find a new boy, I stuck with you. And you paid off. They started getting greedy and you got angry. You struck back and they got worried, worried enough to want to take you for a ride.”
“And now they’ll pay.”
“Sure they will, but first we’ve got to get the goods on them.” Eva removed the network card, put it in a little anti-static bag, and then tucked it into a pocket.
“Why did you take up with Salvador, anyway? You can’t just say it’s because he’s noble. Getting mixed up with him is pretty dangerous. Why not work off your time?”
“There’s more at stake here than my own fate, darling. If Sal’s right, a lot of good people are being cheated out of the destinies they’ve earned. You believe in the system, Cal. Do you think that’s right?”
“Like hell I do!” I said. “I’m pretty burned up about this whole thing. OK, so I admit that up ’til now it’s been because I’ve been jerked around, but the thought of Double-N tickets being stolen from people who deserve them makes me sick.”
“Me, too, sweetie; and that’s why I’m with Sal. The system has to work for everybody or it doesn’t work at all. But,” she went on, “it’s kind of your doing that I’m involved in this.”
“Really?” I asked. “How’s that?”
“Remember that first day, Cal? When you told me that the Land of the Dead could make you nuts? Well, I don’t usually listen to people when they shoot off their faces like that, but I did then. There was something about how you said it that made me see you knew what you were talking about. You’d gone through something awful, I thought, something I didn’t want to get anywhere near. I couldn’t sleep that night, so I went for a walk and took a really good look at El Marrow. I saw buildings and cars and people, just like back home. But the people were dead, and I was dead, and things just didn’t fit that way.” She had gotten the power supply out and gave it to me to carry, then she started to close up the computer. “It’s funny, you know, but just when I was thinking how the appearance of normality in the Land of the Dead could trip some people up, I saw someone trying to steal a car. It was so ludicrous. So when I met Salvador, his suspicions and my attitude kind of dovetailed.” Eva paused and then said, “Come on, we’re done here. Let’s check out Domino’s office.”
“OK, but we won’t find much,” I said. Eva got us in with her key. “You won’t find any paper in here,” I added.
“I know,” Eva said. “I want to take a look at his computer.”
“Do you know his screen-saver password?” I asked, making for the mini-bar and pouring some of Domino’s scotch.
“I have a few ideas,” Eva said.
“Try ‘Arrogant Fraud’,” I suggested. Eva just gave me a dirty look and starting trying passwords. I shrugged and looked around the office, sipping my drink. I scratched my skull. There was something odd about the room, but I couldn’t make out just what. I watched Eva run through her guesses at the computer and slowly realized what was bothering me. It was the rock-thing trophy or whatever on Domino’s desk. It was glowing. Pretty brightly, too. I picked it up to get a closer look at it. “Try ‘Hector’,” I said.
“What?” Eva asked, sounding startled.
“Look at this,” I held out the rock-thing. “The inscription says ‘Congratulations, Domino, on your new job! ——Hector’.”
“Now you’re using your noodle, sweetheart,” she said and then shook her head. “It’s not ‘Hector’, though.” She sighed. “Any more ideas?”
“‘Eva’?”
“Too short,” she said. “Six characters, minimum.”
“Oh. Well, maybe we’d have better luck in Copal’s office.”
“OK,” she said.
We moved to the door, but Eva suddenly stiffened and grabbed my arm. “Listen!” she whispered. I could hear movement in the corridor. It seemed to be coming nearer. “C’mon!” she hissed and pulled me toward the windows. She quickly opened one and climbed out onto the ledge. “Quick!” she hissed again. I sighed and joined her. ‘Maybe I’ll make that jump after all,’ I thought. Eva closed the window and we hugged the wall as we edged our way toward the alley side of the building.
As we passed Copal’s office the lights went on. Fortunately the drapes were drawn and when there was no sign that they were going to open, we continued on. When we got past and turned into the alley, I wondered out loud, “Copal putting in a late night?”
“Don’t ask me, Cal,” Eva answered. “I only worked there. Come on… the fire escape’s just a little further.”