Dead To Me

by Anton Strout

  I felt the pull of hypoglycemia when I came out of the vision but not as badly as I’d expected. Somehow I had managed not to throw too much of my energy into the reading. Maybe it was the booze…I quickly wrote down the address on the piece of paper.

  “Why didn’t you tell me about this back at the office?” I said.

  The Inspectre laughed with all the force that his size held and clapped his arm around me. “What? And have you miss out on the departmental tradition of drowning your sorrows?”

  “We’ve got to move on this,” I said as I stumbled my way out from behind the table and attempted to stand. I was drunker than I thought, and I reached for my chair to steady myself, missing it completely. Connor and the Inspectre caught me and eased me back into my seat.

  “Haven’t you listened to your Inspectre?” Connor said with a laugh. “Evil is lazy. It likes to sleep in, kid. I think this can wait until morning. Besides, we need to strategize.”

  I wasn’t sure if strategize was a euphemism for drink till I couldn’t see straight, but with my mood improved, I was willing to give it a try. I had the feeling that the next few days were going to be a bitch, and I hoped I could store up my liquid courage like a camel getting ready to head out into the desert.

  34

  I found Jane waiting for me at the Lovecraft Café the next morning, and I felt instant relief. The smell of coffee mingled with the sandalwood scent that came off her. After proving herself with last night’s kidnapping of her old boss, my wariness of her was worn down, and I could embrace the idea of liking her more than I should. Sitting in the coffee shop in the crushed velvet splendor of a wing chair with her knees curled under her, Jane looked so comfortable, so right in my environment. Still, there was the old maxim Once a cultist, always a cultist to think about.

  Across from Jane was Mrs. Teasley, cat in lap, doing what she did best—swirling her fingers in gentle circles through a pile of soggy coffee grounds. Jane’s eyes sparkled like the chandeliers in the Lovecraft’s theater as she watched the old seer in action. Jane was in a tight-fitting powder blue T-shirt that read I CAN’T WAIT FOR TOMORROW CUZ I GET BETTER LOOKING EVERDAY .

  “Nice shirt,” I said, rolling my eyes. Jane looked up, startled.

  “I’m shopping at dollar stores now,” she said sheepishly. “I take what I can get.” Then she surprised me by standing up and throwing her arms around my neck. Being this close to my day job, I felt a little awkward and was about to pull away, but it felt like such a sincere gesture I stopped myself.

  Through the hazy remnants of my hangover, I felt less than chivalrous for running out to Eccentric Circles with the Inspectre and Connor under the guise of business/drinking rather than finding out where she’d got to and protecting her.

  “I’m sorry, Jane,” I said. “I didn’t mean to leave you in the lurch like that, especially with Jason Charles headhunting you…”

  “Don’t worry,” she said, surprisingly optimistic. “I survived my first twenty-six years without you to watch over me. The concern’s cute, though.” Having gotten out of the Sectarian Defense League’s offices alive had put her in a good mood. She ruffled my hair like I was her dog.

  “Well, sorry anyway,” I repeated lamely.

  “You never have to apologize for being too kind, Simon,” she said and hugged me again.

  I was on the verge of apologizing for my apology, but just then Mrs. Teasley cleared her throat. I turned, but as usual she wasn’t even looking up from her table.

  “Janey, dearie,” she said with a flourish through the wet coffee grounds.

  Janey, dearie? Since when had they become best pals? While I might still be wary of Jane, it was clear that she had already gotten Mrs. Teasley’s seal of approval in the Department. “I see you getting kissed by a dark-haired young man in the near future.”

  “You mean like this?” she said and grabbed me, once again taking me by surprise.

  Jane wrapped her hands into my hair and kissed me out of nowhere. Nothing like this had happened since the time I dragged her back to my apartment after finding her in the alley, and this time I took a moment to actually enjoy the non-painkiller-induced oddity of it all. But then I pulled away gently, embarrassed to see that this time Mrs. Teasley was staring up at us, smiling.

  “Yes,” the old woman said as she plopped her hands deep into the coffee. “Exactly like that!”

  Her cat swished its bushy gray tail in approval. Or what I imagined was catlike approval anyway.

  I turned to Jane and looked at her with as much seriousness as I could. “Jane—” I started, but she cut me off.

  “Yes, I know,” she said. “You don’t tongue kiss with evil. I get it. You’re like a broken record. What’s it going to take for you to believe I’m on your side now?”

  “There’s more to it than that,” I said.

  I stood there awkwardly, the hiss of the espresso machine filling the silence like a low-flying plane. I wasn’t sure what to say to correct the situation, but it was Mrs. Teasley who jumped in with a different awkward matter altogether.

  “Not having any of your usual troubles with this one?” she asked me sweetly.

  I cocked my head at her.

  “Well, Simon,” she said. I could see the matter-of-factness in her eyes. She dabbed her fingers in the wet pile on her table. “The coffee grounds never lie. They’ve told me that your trysting has never met with much success.” She looked unexpectedly tired just then. “I suspect it’s the same story for all of us with such talents.”

  She fell silent and scritched at her cat.

  I gave what she said a moment to sink in: Was I having my usual trouble with Jane? Maybe Mrs. Teasley was on to something with her question. Perhaps it was time to cut her some slack. She was proving far more observant and asking the right kinds of questions. I hadn’t picked up a single vibe from Jane or anything I had touched of hers.

  I didn’t know why she was exempt from my powers. Maybe I was actually learning to control them. If so, I had Connor to thank for that.

  As if just the mere thought of Connor was enough to summon him, he appeared from between the curtains that separated the coffeehouse from the movie theater. He stiffened at the sight of Jane sitting with Mrs. Teasley, but I shot him a look that said Don’t start. I felt a moment of triumph as he softened, even if ever so slightly, and then he focused on me once again.

  “How’s your head today?” he asked. By the time we had left Eccentric Circles, we were both experiencing trouble walking.

  “You don’t need to shout!” I said as I grabbed my head and pretended to reel. Any hints of tension seemed to dissipate as he laughed.

  “Sorry,” he said in a mock whisper. “You want to go over what I’ve discovered out back or you want me to hit it with you right here?”

  I self-consciously put a hand on Jane’s shoulder and squeezed it. “Right here is fine. If it’s got anything to do with her former employer, I think she needs to be in on it. They’re practically hunting her anyway.”

  “Fine,” he said, but his tension from yesterday came back immediately. I knew he wasn’t happy to have Jane involved, but I think he also knew I wasn’t going to back down this time.

  “Lay it on us,” I said, and sat down next to Jane.

  Connor threw himself on the sofa sitting kitty-corner to us. “You know, having the delivery address for that wooden fish certainly came in handy when I talked to some of the recently living this morning.”

  “Was it Irene? Did you talk to her?” I asked, tensing at the thought. At the mention of Irene’s name, Connor looked briefly at Jane and sighed before turning back to me.

  “I have cases on my plate other than your little…client,” he said. “Anyway, no, I didn’t have contact with Irene. I’ve been communing with a few other spirits crossing over the past few days and I was able to glean a little other side info from it all.”

  He reached in his coat and brought out his Palm Pilot.

  “Fancy,”
I said. “We in a new budget cycle or did you get a raise?”

  “I wish,” he said, looking up. “It’s a loaner.”

  He stylused down the screen until he found what he was looking for. “Here we go! We’ve been noticing a lot more restless souls than usual processing through the Department lately, and most of them are familiar with the address on the manifest. Thing is, kid, they’re all experiencing the same type of memory loss and displacement. They’re either like that ghost in the alley or like Irene.”

  Connor scrolled farther along. I would have bet money he was feeling all Six Degrees of Lieutenant Columbo right now.

  “So what’s the address for?” I asked

  “Hold your damn horses, kid.” He slowed his pace, scrolled back a few screens, and stopped. “Ah, here it is! I had to piece it together from what several of the spirits said, but they thought it belonged to a group called the Salvador Breton Foundation although none of them could remember anything clearer than that. That name mean anything to either of you?”

  Jane shook her head. Mrs. Teasley did so as well, even though she wasn’t really a part of our conversation.

  “Don’t ask me,” she chimed in. “Heavens, it’s rare that I ever deal in specifics anyway, isn’t it, boys?”

  “You, Simon?” Connor asked, ignoring her.

  “The only foundations I’m familiar with are antique houses and artists’ trusts, but this group does sound vaguely familiar.”

  Connor grabbed my by the shoulder and sat me down. “Close your eyes, kid. We’re gonna figure this out my way.”

  “Is this gonna hurt?” I asked, only half joking.

  “Only if you make me slap you,” he said, and covered my eyes with his right hand cupped over them. “I want you to relax. Now listen to the words again. The Salvador Breton Foundation. I want you to visualize them, twirling and spinning, trying to fit into place like jigsaw pieces…”

  I felt silly letting myself be guided through a creative visualization, but if it somehow tied into Irene’s death and our pursuit of her killers, I would give it my best shot.

  “Think about the details so far, kid. The oracle on the subway, Cyrus Mandalay’s shop, the Ghostsniffing operation…”

  “Nothing,” I said, moving to push Connor’s hand away from my eyes, but he held it there still.

  “Now think larger, kid, like the wheels of the cosmos are just churning away, things clicking into place for reasons that are becoming increasingly clear.”

  “This isn’t going to work,” I said. “I’ve tried to fit myself into this puzzle. Why me? Why am I in the midst of it all?”

  “You don’t need to know why,” Connor said, “just accept that you are.”

  I gave in to Connor’s demand, stopped questioning, and gave over to simply thinking free form. I never used to take into account such concepts as “the grand scheme of things.” Working in my current environment and having this power, however, it had become more and more obvious that the grander scheme was something I needed to figure into both my own life and my work.

  A grand scheme meant some sort of planner and that brought to mind the larger question of theology. Was I experiencing, through my power, a direct relation to God or several gods for that matter? Did the divine even factor into it? Was I predestined to be a lowly thief and con artist all those years to put me on the road toward fighting for Good? My criminal past didn’t seem to jibe with living the life of the righteous and good.

  My mind was going off on tangents piecing details together, but I needed to get back to basics in my head, and my thoughts drifted to Irene. I contemplated all the points where our lives intersected, the commonality between us, and like a divine spark, it hit me.

  “I have it!” I said. The three of them turned to me expectantly. “Well, at least I think I know the significance of the name ‘Salvador Breton’ anyway.”

  “Please,” said Connor as he poised his stylus over his Palm. “Enlighten us.”

  “This may not have to do with anything,” I said, “but if any of the finer points of this case are connected, I think that foundation has something to do with the Surrealist movement.”

  Blank stares from all around. Finally, Connor said, “Go on.”

  “You know I have a somewhat shady background in art history so bear with me for a moment if I get all lecturey. When you have my ability, you take an interest in the art world. But Surrealism wasn’t just an art movement; it was a serious way of life for people. To that point, there was a huge blowup, in the thirties I believe, between two of the leading fathers of the movement, Salvador Dalí and André Breton.”

  “I’ve heard of Dalí,” Jane said. “He did all those creepy stilt-legged animals and melting watches, right? I think I’ve seen them at MOMA, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard of this André Breton character.”

  “Not surprising,” I said, feeling quite juiced now that I was in my element. “Outside of the Surrealists, few people knew him, but he’s a poet who was regarded as the ‘pope,’ as it were, of the movement. Eventually he kicked Dalí out of the elite inner circle of Surrealists because he was considered too far right-wing, and if you can believe it, even too extreme for them.”

  “That is saying something,” Connor said.

  “I know,” I said, nodding. “There was a huge falling-out in their circle, and it upset Dalí greatly. His pissy response to it all was, ‘The only difference between me and the Surrealists is that I am a Surrealist.’ The whole movement started as a very literary thing, but eventually their philosophy snowballed until it became more like a religion.”

  “I’m not sure how all this fits into what’s going on here,” Connor said. “It sounds like the foundation may take its name from them, but to what end?”

  “I’ll tell you,” I said, excited by my sudden epiphany. “As an artistic movement, the Surrealists are big on the symbology of the fish. In the twentieth century, it’s a reoccurring motive in their artwork. It we extend that artistic use of it in form and theme into the lifestyle and not just the art, the fish takes on a totemistic nature. Meaning—”

  “There’s a power in that wooden fish,” Connor finished. “Good work, kid. Of all fish that Cyrus hunted out, this was the one that eluded him, probably the only one he really wanted. Why else would he let all the others go up in smoke?”

  I stood up. “I’m not sure, but maybe the F.O.G.ies will have some insight now that we have an idea about the fish. They must have been around when the whole Surrealist movement was going on. I’ll ask the Inspectre.”

  I looked to Jane. “You going to be okay?”

  Jane smiled. “As fine as an ex-cultist hiding from a contract killer can be.”

  “Play nice with the other kids,” I said, “and have Connor get you an iced mochaccino. They’re to die for.”

  I ran back toward the movie theater section, leaving Connor and Jane to themselves. I’d find a way for those two to bond or die trying. I continued farther back to the offices and through the desks and cubicles before hitting the stairs leading up to the Inspectre’s office. Once again, I walked in on Argyle Quimbley just as he was settling down behind his desk with a cup of tea. He looked up when he saw me coming through his door and his face fell. He set his cup down.

  “Easy, son,” he said. “Nothing too loud. The spirit—or should I say spirits—of Eccentric Circles still pervades me…”

  Trying to contain my excitement, I quietly described what Jane, Connor, and I had been discussing. When I was done, the Inspectre remained silent.

  “I thought maybe the Fraternal Order of Goodness might have some insight?”

  “Ah, yes,” the Inspectre finally said. He seemed to be struggling with what to say. “I will certainly pass that information along to the other F.O.G.ies, but I’m afraid I can’t comment on it myself.”

  I looked at him, puzzled. “Sir…?”

  “Until I’m actually in council with the other members of the Fraternal Order, I’m afraid I can’
t discuss our take on the situation just yet.”

  “But you’re part of the D.E.A.!” I said, confused.

  “The Order works outside the confines of the D.E.A.,” he said. Why was the Inspectre stonewalling me?

  “What’s the blasted difference anyway?” I said out of frustration.

  “Ah, well, that is something I can tell you,” the Inspectre said, warming. “Being part of the Department of Extraordinary Affairs is a job —a worthwhile and important job, but a job nonetheless. The Fraternal Order, however, is a way of life, reaching far beyond the confines of what this office can do. Unfortunately that means we keep our own counsel. I’m sorry.”

  The Inspectre seemed sincere and a little sad, but right now I wasn’t having it. People I had come to care about were at stake.

  “Fine,” I said, heading for the door. “I’ll be sure to send a funeral wreath to your next meeting if Jane gets killed in the meantime.”

  “Simon,” the Inspectre said, trying to stop me, but I kept walking. There was work to do, people to protect.

  35

  Apparently, what I said had more of an effect on the Inspectre than I thought. Minutes after I returned to Connor and Jane, rumors of the Inspectre calling the Fraternal Order into secret session were flying. An hour later, those rumors were confirmed when the office erupted in a flurry of activity. After using my information as a springboard, the F.O.G.ies finally agreed to merge their information with the rest of the Department, and since I had pegged the Salvador Breton Foundation as the group we were looking for, piecing together a plan became remarkably easy.

  We overheard from the Enchancellors that F.O.G. had even called Director Wesker into their secret session to find out what he had gathered in his covert ops at the Sectarian Defense League. Luckily, his cover had proven to still be safe. Wesker had learned of an upcoming gala cosponsored by the Sectarian Defense League and the Salvador Breton Foundation. The one thing that both the D.E.A. and F.O.G. agreed on was that something big was up, and with Wesker’s help, invitations were secured.