As Evil Does

by P. S. Power

  There was, interestingly enough, no answer. Nothing happened when she tried for Eve, either. That wasn’t really too surprising. They were both adults and both of them were able to go to different realities at will. That they might just be working, or even taking a vacation together was possible. Troy was married to Avery Rome though, and while they were dating Barbara the Vampire as well, Eve wasn’t totally outside of a person he might spend time with.

  The only issue there was that Troy, Trickster or not, was far more vanilla in what he was willing to do as far as having multiple people in his life than say, Keeley was.

  Which meant that, if they weren’t in massive trouble, the only other reason for them to both be gone at the same time, if it was connected at all, would be that they were doing work in a different location. Instead of worrying, since they were both top end talents, power wise, she simply dialed a different number.

  Calling her buddy, Avery.

  After two rings the phone picked up.

  “Avery Rome, um, good morning.” She sounded a bit hesitant. The girl often did, when she wasn’t reading from a script. It was just part of her real personality.

  “Hey, Avery. It’s Keeley. I was just trying to call Troy, but he seems to be gone for the time being? Off working in a different reality?” She waited, the question being more or less a test. It was possible that Avery would lie to her, after all, if her husband needed that kind of cover for some reason. As a Trickster, it might come up.

  “Right. He and Eve are off in the IPB reality, right now. They needed help with a week long conference there. Their President basically demanded that they do the work on it for security reasons. I’d have gone myself, but I have work here. Is there… Something that I can help you with?”

  Keeley doubted that. Her hunch that Troy had influenced her in regards to Karen was just that. A raw guess, based on a feeling. When Tricksters were involved, that could be a misdirect. Even for one of her people. She’d heard that, back in the day, not only had some of the Tricksters been considered gods, they all had been.

  True, the same was true of her own people, but it wouldn’t do to underestimate that sort of being.

  Still, Avery was the man’s wife.

  “Possibly? I think I’m supposed to do something for Karen Lester. I’m not certain what that is. I might do a better job if I wasn’t thrashing around in the dark like this. I don’t suppose he mentioned what that might be to you?”

  There was silence for a moment, then a soft noise.

  “Um… Not really. You might try calling on Riley? He’s a Trickster too and might know what needs to be done. Troy did mention that their powers had all of his people on the same page that way. I mean they see the same thing. Sometimes they vary in how they get things done, like anyone would.”

  Keeley nodded, since that more or less made sense.

  “That’s the plan then. Thanks, Ave. Oh…We should get together and hang out, soon. Call it… Next Saturday? If I’m not being hunted by the government still, by then. I shouldn’t be, but you know how they can be.” It was a throw away line, but got a laugh, anyway.

  Which was a soft thing. Also, a bit out of place.

  “I do know. Very dedicated people, at times. I hope that works out for you. I… do you need anything, that way? I could… Hide you, if you want?” The words were serious. Cute too. After all, the idea that Keeley Thomson would need help hiding was adorable.

  “I should be good, but I’ll keep that in mind. So, Saturday, unless plans change. For now… I need to get in touch with the Fun Zone, I think.”

  Really, she knew it. Along with the number for the place. At least once she looked up the right person’s memories. That took a few seconds. Mainly because she didn’t have anything useful from any Trickster. Nothing at all that way, she noticed. There were spots where the data had been, she thought. That was… Annoying, really.

  There was however a young Human woman who worked at the Fun Zone, apprenticed to Riley the Trickster. She didn’t have his abilities, but she was capable and used to saving the world on occasions. That and keeping the storefront and the arcade games clean and functioning.

  Tarra. The Human.

  Who was the one that answered the phone, on the other end, when Keeley used the number she found inside the young woman’s mind. She was twenty. A friend of Avery’s from high school.

  “Fun Zone, how may I help you today?” The words were smooth and professional sounding.

  “Hi, Tarra. This is Keeley Thomson. I’m a friend of Avery Rome’s?” It was good to give people something to work off of. In general, at least.

  “Oh, hi! I’ve heard of you, I think. Eve is a friend of yours too, isn’t she? You’re the Wise One?”

  Keeley smiled at the use of the new name for her people. It was good to find it catching on, even if in limited ways.

  “A Wise One, not the, but that’s me. I was wondering if Riley is around? I need to pick his brain on some things, if I can.”

  There was no hesitation at all then.

  “Sure thing. Riley, phone for you. Keeley Thomson.” From the sound of things, the handpiece was handed over with a tossing motion.

  “Keeley! My one true love!” The voice was rich and deep.

  She played back, getting the idea.

  “Riley, dearest!” They both chuckled then. She didn’t hesitate after that.

  “Okay. I think that Troy wanted me to do something, but I need clarification and he’s out of the world right now, making him hard for me to reach from work. Can I run the situation past you? I don’t know if you have rules against that kind of thing, or what, so I get it if the answer is no.”

  Instead of hanging up or even telling her that it wasn’t inside what he was allowed to do, there was just a question.

  “What situation?”

  She nodded then, not knowing if it would work at all.

  “Karen Lester. She works down at Yoghurt World. I can set her up at a new job, get her an Alede Mentor, place her in battle camp and extra training… But if she does that, her time is going to be kind of pressed for a long time. I don’t even know if this is actually needed or if I’m just having trouble letting go of my compulsive need to be in charge of everyone in the world.”

  There was no response for a while, then, when the man spoke, it was almost as if he was reading something.

  “Let me… Okay. She needs in on the training. The part with the mentor is crucial as well. You have Judy Swan for that already, don’t you? If not, make that happen. They need to become friends. It will impact western society later, in a good way. The jobs… Really, all of that is more or less unimportant. As long as Karen can keep herself in rent money, she’ll be fine that way. If you’re worried about stepping on some undead toes, get with Bey on the topic. You need to be keeping in touch with him, anyway. He needs to talk to someone right now. Losing a child is… hard.”

  There was a strange sound in his voice at the end. As if he knew what he was speaking of, first hand.

  “Do you need to talk about things? I have time for you, too.” She did, of course. All day, every day, if it was needed.

  “Ah. Not really. Old things, long dealt with. What can be done about it already has. Anyway, there are some things coming up for Karen, yes. Decently important but tangential to anything world ending. You should hang up now. Your ten o’clock is about to magically appear in… Three, two…”

  When the word one would have been spoken, Cynthia Remark, looking attractively made up, not at all old, being only thirty something and happy, holding a script in her right hand and a purse in her left, appeared in the door.

  Keeley smiled and waved a bit, as she put her phone away. The other woman looked at it, since it wasn’t the business phone, clearly. That probably meant it was a personal call, while the woman was supposed to be working.

  She ignored that part of things and spoke to the actress using a chipper, but professional tone.

  “Ms. Remark! So nice to
meet you in person. I’m Linda. We spoke on the phone, yesterday?” She got up and moved around the desk, her right hand going out. It was a bit of a power move, since women didn’t shake hands as a rule. Not when they were alone. It didn’t throw Cindy at all, which was good to see.

  She was already getting into her role as a DHS division head.

  “Linda Demeny? It’s so nice to meet you as well. Is the audition still open, do you think?” She glanced, a bit nervously, at Don’s closed office door.

  “It is. We have the cams set up in the other room. I’ll be working those, I think. Not that we won’t use the classic static shot for it. I should call in, so that Mr. Holmstrum can pretend to be talking to someone on the phone. Otherwise you won’t think he’s busy and impressive enough, even if most of the rest of the industry is still asleep this time of day.”

  That got a laugh. One that sounded real, even if it was acting on the other woman’s part. She was nervous, but it didn't show, outwardly.

  “I hear you on that one, Linda. I can call you that?”

  She smiled then. After all, no one called the secretary by their last name.

  “Of course. Oh… I’m going to have Steve Moore come by. I ran the idea of you two dating past Donald earlier, for PR reasons. He thinks its workable. Plus, Steve’s an actual catch. We haven’t mentioned anything to him yet, since he’s pretty work focused. If it’s an issue for you, I don’t have to make the call. This isn’t a casting couch thing. Just a good public relations one, if you want to go for it.” She wanted to let that one sink home, since the other woman wouldn’t treat Steve as well if she thought that her job was contingent on making him happy.

  Oh, on the surface it might work that way, but down deep it wouldn’t. He deserved to be treated kindly, at the very least.

  Cynthia simply nodded, then straightened her clothing a bit. It was a green dress that showed she still had most of her figure. She needed to drop some weight for the camera, and do a little bit of extra exercise, before the show started. It was literally ten pounds and an extra hour or two a week. She was very close to being ready for a production as it was.

  Hitting the intercom, Linda called out.

  “Mr. Holmstrum, Cynthia Remark is here for her ten o’clock.” It was five till ten, but the man didn’t keep her waiting. He also didn’t pretend to be on the phone, which was interesting. He normally did.

  Instead he walked out into the front area, his arms out wide, as if for a hug. It worked, the woman doing it for real, instead of a make up protecting half thing, like some did in Hollywood.

  “Donald! I was just speaking with Linda here about your associate, Steve? She swears that it isn’t about me putting out.”

  Linda cleared her throat.

  “Actually, I said it wasn’t a casting couch thing. If you can get with Steve, you clearly should put out. Otherwise you’re wasting the opportunity.”

  The words got Don to nod, smiling.

  “True. He’s amazing. I figure that in ten years he’ll have half the town in his pocket. I mean that, too. Being seen with him could be good for the image right now. He’s going high profile, already. He did the work on the new L.C. Marks feature. It’s a romantic comedy. Joan is in that.”

  The woman stood back, looked at him closely, then didn't comment on the fact that he barely looked like his old self. He was trim, looked no older than forty, and had gone up in the looks department from a medium three to a medium eight. It was impressive enough that she blinked a bit, but her lips stayed closed on the topic. At least in regards to the man.

  “I’d heard that she had some work done. I think the word was that she’s in her mid-twenties and looks like a perfect ten?”

  That wasn’t false, really. Donald simply winked at her.

  “I know this gal, a real sweetie. Keeley Thomson. She does this, well I’d say it was magical, but it’s actually magic, so that sounds wrong. She can make anyone look like anything, I think. It isn’t wrong saying that Joan got an upgrade that way. We chatted about you yesterday, in fact. I don’t think you need work though, right now, seeing you. You’re gorgeous. Really, we probably need to age you up for this role. The sell I want on this part is a bit more mature. Not a mom role or a forty year old grandmother. Going forward, the industry needs to have parts for women past the age of thirty. If we miss that boat, we’re going to have trouble, business wise.”

  Linda didn’t nod, just moving toward the office.

  “You two should go get settled. I’m going to see if I can lure Steve Moore this way. I’ll be a few minutes, so I can brief him on the need of winning you over, Ms. Remark. Ask him to dinner, if he doesn’t do that with you, first. Really, you should do the asking… Otherwise it will seem unprofessional.”

  That was all true, but no one so much as glanced at her as she spoke about the topic. They just headed to the office, leaving the rest to her. Which was as it should be. Like most people of value in the world, she did her best work without someone standing over her shoulder. At least she assumed that was the case. The truth was that it probably didn’t matter all that much for her.

  She’d do great work, regardless.

  Especially in this case, given that Steve Moore was a slave of hers. Even if he didn’t know why it was happening, if she suggested something to him, he was going to love the idea.

  Dialing his number, the one to his office, she waited. Not long, however.

  He answered the phone himself, since it was the one on his desk, even if he had his own secretary already.

  “Steve Moore.” His voice was even and cultured sounding.

  “This is Linda, down the hall. Donald Holmstrum’s temporary secretary? Would you be available to sit in on a reading? Cynthia Remark. She’s going for the lead in The Department. We’re trying something a little different and could use your input on it.” She paused then, going onward only after a whole breath. “The truth is that we’re also setting you two up. Using the guise of a PR move. Not that it will hurt either of you that way, being seen together. She seems nice and is already interested in meeting you, so that part works.”

  The man blew some air out then.

  “I… Don’t know. I mean, I’d love to meet her, but is that proper, do you think? If she’s working with the company already, it could seem… Off.”

  She understood what he meant. There was too great a chance that someone would take it the wrong way, if they dated. Except that would only hold if Cynthia wasn’t into the idea. She was smart enough to understand the PR aspects though and would most likely get the rest of it, after talking to Steve for a while. He was incredible, after all.

  “No worries there. That’s already been taken care of.” She pulsed a bit of intent down the line, already growing bored with the conversation.

  Instantly, Steve chuckled.

  “All right. I’ll be right there. Thanks, Linda.”

  When the man said he’d be right over, he meant it. Not twenty seconds later, he moved into the office, moving quickly enough, even if it was less than a run.

  He came at her, his hand out, to shake.

  “Linda? I’m Steve Moore.”

  They shook, with her letting it seem awkward and a bit weak, being an older woman as she currently was. He smiled anyway, and stood back.

  “They’re in there?” He waved at the door, seeming a little nervous about it.

  She grinned. It was out of place, but she didn’t care, really. As it was, she had to use a bit of magic to get her mind back to the job at hand. She was, naturally, growing bored with the game she was playing. It wasn’t all that interesting. Not compared to her real job, at Division Six.

  “That’s right. Let’s go in, so I can make certain everything is all set up?”

  She didn’t wait, just opening the door, hearing the two inside, chatting. Don was behind his desk, reading lines from the script. Cynthia was reciting her part from memory. It would look better on the tape, of course.

  Don sounded decent
, for his part.

  “Seven murders, in less than thirty-two hours! This isn’t a spree killer.”

  The actress, seeming different already, looked up, her head tilting a bit to the left. Just enough to show she was engaged, without it being cutesy.

  “You’re thinking it’s terror related? That’s unusual. Most of the time terrorists go in for the big kill. They’re looking to make a splash, in order to spread fear.” If Don was doing a good job reading his part, the woman made it seem like she was simply a DHS field director.

  “I know. This is still doing that. People are starting to panic. If this keeps up, we’re going to see an exodus from the city. The economic disruption alone would be…”

  She pretended to pick up a phone then. It was on an imaginary desk.

  “Understood, Agent Groanig. I want hourly updates on everything you can get on this. We need to stop these people. Now.”

  Both of them looked up then, the scene over.

  Linda nodded.

  “Mr. Moore is sitting in on this. That was… Well, you two did well. The writing needs work. It’s like the last two sentences were left off the end of the scene.”

  Steve seemed to agree with that.

  “You know, let’s start the cameras and have you do that again. Then we’ll try some improvisation. We can send over more than one scene, for this. I’d love to see what you can do that way, Ms. Remark.”

  She smiled at him, dropping her act.

  “Call me Cynthia, please.” She actually managed to make the words flirtatious, without it sounding forced. Linda had to keep herself from smiling about it, simply moving to make sure the cameras would catch everything.

  Chapter eight

  Cynthia was actually a decent actress. Then, that was one of the good things about Donald Holmstrum’s sex addiction. By some miracle, the man was particularly attracted to pretty women who also had talent. It was largely that one factor that had allowed his name to be attached to hundreds of high-profile, largely successful, endeavors over the years.