by Jana Janeway
“Of course it is,” Jessica muttered with irritated sarcasm, asking in the very same tone, “How about the time of day? Am I allowed to know what time it is?”
Jeramey made a show of checking his watch, smirking. “A little after two.” He recoiled when Marcy promptly smacked him. “What?” he asked her, annoyed with the way in which she expressed her disapproval.
“You’re not helping,” she grumbled at him.
“I wasn’t trying to be helpful!” he told her, partly with humor, partly with agitation. “I was trying to be funny!”
“Yeah, well, you failed.” She sighed in exasperation before handing the briefcase she was carrying to Craddock. “And we have business to attend to here.”
He reached out, relieving her of the fake leather case. “You said we were going to be relocating together?”
“Yes,” Marcy answered, in agent mode once again. “It’s a small desert town in Southern California. Large piece of land with two houses on the property. The main house, and a sort of mother-in-law cottage in the back.”
“What if Craddock had decided that he didn’t want me around?” Bibi shifted her weight from one foot to the other, regretting having asked the question as soon as it was out of her mouth.
Marcy stared back at her for a moment, her expression firm. “Let’s just say, you should be grateful he didn’t decide that.”
Bibi nodded solemnly in understanding.
“So how’s that gonna work, exactly?” Josiah asked, attempting to move past the potentially volatile subject. “Two of us in one house, two in the other?”
“Yeah.” Jeramey’s casual, easy-going demeanor was in complete contrast to Marcy’s rigidness. “Craddock and Jessica will be in the main house. You two,” he gestured back and forth between Josiah and Bibi, “will be in the other.”
“Wait. . .” Josiah’s eyes grew wide, darting to Bibi’s and lingering for a second or two before returning to Jeramey’s. “As husband and wife?”
“It’s only temporary,” Marcy said, to assuage Josiah’s obvious unease with the arrangement. “A year at most. Just until the dust settles.”
“Then we get all new names, or what?” As soon as Jessica posed the question, she wondered if they would even answer it. Maybe that, too, was considered classified information.
“They will.” Marcy only glanced at Bibi and Josiah. “Unless something drastic happens,” she pointed at the briefcase still in Craddock’s hand, “these will be your identities for a while.”
Jessica’s worried scowl deepened. “Something drastic, like, the Purists finding us?”
“Yes.” Marcy’s tone and expression remained impassive. “If they find you, your names will be changed again, and you will need to be moved to a new location.”
“I understand all that, but what are the chances that they’ll find us?”
“We’ve taken every precaution, Jessica,” Marcy told her, “but there is always the chance.”
“Always?” Jessica screeched. “You mean we may never be free of this shit?”
Dropping her head, Marcy sighed heavily; lifting it again, she offered her former coworker a small smile. “Let’s take a little walk, okay?”
Suspicious, Jessica’s eyes narrowed. “Why?”
Implying that the requested alone time wouldn’t be the negative ordeal Jessica was assuming it would be, she shook her head, then stepped up to her and put her arm around her shoulder. “Just c’mon.” She directed her away from Craddock. “We’re just going to have a nice little chat.”
Somehow, Jessica doubted that, but she allowed her to guide her away from the rest of the group anyway, despite her concerns. Wiping the frown off his face when she glanced back at him, Craddock offered her a strained smile and a gentle, encouraging nod. He waited until she and Marcy were both out of earshot before turning towards Jeramey.
“What’s this all about?” Craddock set the briefcase down at his feet before crossing his arms, indignant.
Shrugging, Jeramey pulled his cigarettes out of his coat pocket. “I think she just wants to make sure she’s okay. They were kinda like friends, ya’know, back at the restaurant.” He slipped a stick out of the pack and placed it between his lips before sparking it with his lighter and taking a long drag. The way Craddock watched him, almost longingly, prompted him to smirk and extended the pack towards him. “You want one?”
Considering it, Craddock gave an upnod and reached for the pack, accepting the lighter a second later. He paused for only a moment, glancing over at Jessica in the distance before lighting it.
****
“So,” Marcy asked, her arm still around Jessica, “you and Craddock are officially a couple now, huh?”
A smile crept onto Jessica’s face unknowingly. “I think so.” The uncertainty in her tone was in direct contrast to the expression she wore.
Marcy laughed. “I’m getting mixed signals from you, Jess. You’re not sure?”
“Well, we are,” Jessica explained, “but. . . it’s just. . . I barely know him! He barely knows me! Yet, I feel like I do! Know him, I mean. I’ve never felt a connection to anyone like I feel with him. And it’s great! But it’s also damn confusing.”
“Chimie?” She smirked when Jessica nodded. “It’s a gift, Jess, and a blessing in disguise. Can you imagine, pretending to be married to someone, probably for years, feeling trapped? Knowing you can’t date someone else? Having to keep up pretenses outside your home, all the while inside wanting to get as far away from the person as you can?”
“I don’t think that would’ve been the case. Craddock’s a great guy. Even if we weren’t in love, I would still be okay being around him.”
Marcy grinned in response. “In love?” When Jessica gasped in shock, only then realizing what she had just said, her grin turned into laughter. “Put your eyes back in your head, child,” she joked, dropping her arm from around her. “You look horrified at the thought of it!”
“It scares the shit out of me, Marcy,” Jessica confided in her. “I mean, it should feel great, but, it’s just. . .”
“Just?” Marcy asked when she trailed off, hoping to get her to continue with whatever she was about to say.
“On top of all this shit going on, I have just never done well with that.”
“Well with what? Love?”
Jessica nodded. “I’ve screwed up relationships in the past, because I jumped the gun on that.”
“Oh, right,” Marcy drawled, remembering. “The Tim fiasco.”
“Yeah. I just don’t want a repeat of that.”
“Well, if memory serves, Tim was a bit of an ass, and a commitment-phobe. Craddock’s—”
“Different, I know,” Jessica cut her off, “but at the time, Tim seemed ready for that step, too. Turns out, he wasn’t.”
“So, in a nutshell,” Marcy offered in summary, “you think the Chimie is clouding Craddock’s mind, and that, in time, freaking may occur, and he’ll bail, and you’ll get hurt.”
“In a nutshell,” Jessica muttered, repeating her words in confirmation.
“I don’t think you have to worry about that with Craddock. He seems pretty ready to commit.”
“Now, maybe, but what about down the line? Plus, you heard how he panicked when babies were mentioned.”
“Yeah, well, being in a relationship and being a parent are two very different things.”
“Yeah.” Shrugging, she dropped her gaze and scowled at the ground.
“Jess, look,” Marcy said, preparing to dispense advice helpfully, “Chimie gives you a unique advantage, right? You can feel how they feel! Sometimes, how they even think! Has he given you any indication, up till now, that this is just a fling?”
“No.” Jessica answered instantly, and then a slight smile began forming. “Just the opposite, actually. I think he’s looking at this as a for-life commitment.”
“Okay! There’ya go! And how do you feel?”
“I think I feel the same way.”
&nbs
p; Marcy arched an eyebrow, challenging her. “Think?”
There seemed to be no getting around it. She wanted to know the answer, anyway. “Can someone who’s feeling Chimie fall out of love?”
“The intensity eases in time, but it never completely goes away. Can you imagine, now that you’ve felt it, ever giving it up?”
“No. It’s like a drug. I’m completely addicted.”
Laughing, Marcy nudged her shoulder with her own. “I know what you mean!”
Jessica was happily surprised; she had been dying to know for sure. “You and Jeramey?”
Marcy grinned. “Why do you think I put up with him?”
“He’s good in bed?” she joked, grinning back.
“Well, he is, but that’s not why I put up with him.”
“You complement each other,” Jessica offered, sharing her opinion. “Weirdly, but you do.”
“Thanks, I think.” Marcy dropped the sarcasm, turning serious. “Could I request a favor of you?”
Surprised by the sudden change in the tone of the conversation, Jessica scowled, wondering what was about to be asked of her. “I guess.”
“Please stop asking Craddock about the Registry, and future situations.” Marcy rushed on when it seemed that Jessica was about to interrupt. “With the way he feels about you, he’s going to end up telling you, and he shouldn’t. Not yet, anyway.”
Jessica’s previous good mood all but shattered. “Shouldn’t?”
“Jessica, please, I know you’re frustrated, and I get that! I really do! But things need to unfold in a certain order, okay?”
“You’re asking if it’s okay like I have a choice! I may not know much, but I have it figured out, alright? If Craddock tells me, we’re on our own! Which means we’re all dead people.”
“Well, no. . .” Marcy hesitated, considering her next words carefully. “You would still be safe, just under a different set of circumstances.”
Her jaw literally dropped open, in such shock that she needed a moment to regain her composure. She knew exactly what Marcy wasn’t saying. “So, if he tells me whatever it is he isn’t supposed to tell me, the Registry will drop them like a hot potato, and pretty much imprison me!”
“Don’t be upset, Jessica, please. . .”
“How can I not be?” she snapped. “You’re basically telling me I have two choices here! Stay in the dark about how my life is going to unfold, or sentence my friends to certain death!”
“You won’t be in the dark for long. It’s just. . . the Registry has a certain order to things. They get butt-hurt if that order is messed with.”
Jessica sighed, relenting. “I don’t want to cause trouble, so I’ll do you this favor. For their sakes,” she gestured behind her, towards Craddock, Bibi, and Josiah, “but I, in return, want you to do something for me.”
“And what’s that?” Marcy asked, willing to meet her demands, within reason.
“Don’t tell Lilith about what Bibi did. And if the Registry doesn’t know, don’t tell them, either.”
“They don’t know. The reporting agent informed me of the call directly. But he could still say something to another agent, or to someone above me.”
“Can you smooth it over?” Jessica asked. “Can you tell them that after speaking with us, and with her, you’ve concluded that no such call was made? I mean, the Purists have lied before, right? Would it be such a stretch to believe they were again, with this?”
“I can try. That’s all I can promise.”
Figuring that was the best she could hope for, Jessica nodded, but when she started back towards the bumper cars, Marcy reached out and touched her arm, regaining her attention.
“Why did you ask me for this? What she did would have most people pissed! And yet, here you are, trying to protect her from. . . what? Humiliation?”
“Among other things. And I’m not pissed. I was hurt, and confused, but mostly, I just feel sorry for her. She made a mistake,” she said in Bibi’s defense, “and I forgive her. She shouldn’t have to live in the shadow of that mistake for the rest of her life.”
“I always knew you were nice, but God, Jess, this is bordering on sainthood here!”
Jessica just shrugged, turning once again to leave. She stopped abruptly, after only a few steps, when her eyes landed on Craddock in the distance.
“What’s wrong?” Marcy asked, confused.
No response was given, verbal or otherwise, before Jessica began storming towards an oblivious Craddock.
Chapter Thirty-Three
After taking another drag off his cigarette, Craddock then pointed with the two fingers holding it, to the objects just past Jeramey’s feet. “What’s with the duffle bags?”
Casually, Jeramey glanced behind him at the items in question. “They’re part of the plan.”
“You smoke? I didn’t know you smoke! I haven’t seen you smoke! How could you not tell me you smoke? Do you have any idea how unhealthy smoking is?”
Taken aback by the barrage of questions, and Jessica’s indignant stance, Craddock stood frozen, staring back at her blankly, blinking in confusion his only movement. It took a moment to shake off the surprise, but when he finally did, he dropped his cigarette, stomped it out, and then sighed as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. His gaze on the ground initially, he eventually lifted his head, meeting her glower with passivity.
“Well, for starters, I don’t smoke. I used to, but I quit. A while ago, actually. And I didn’t tell you ‘cause. . . Well, since I don’t smoke anymore, I didn’t think it was all that important. And for Mengliads,” he added, “smoking is not unhealthy.”
“Oh.” It was his calm response that made her realize just how extreme her attack on him was. “Then why did you quit?” she asked awkwardly.
“My girlfriend at the time, Denise, asked me to. Said it was an expensive, stinky habit, and that I should have some compassion for all the Humans I was killing with my second hand smoke.”
“Sounds like a fun gal!” Jeramey’s laugh cut short when Marcy glared at him. “I just can’t win with you today, can I?”
Except for rolling her eyes, she ignored him, redirecting her exasperation onto Craddock and Jessica. “Can we have this discussion later?”
Hoping to avoid upsetting her further by saying the wrong thing, Craddock watched Jessica for some sign on how to answer. By the way she smiled at him, almost imperceptibly, he knew she was okay. That they were okay.
“We’re done.” Jessica then gave Marcy her full attention. “So what’s the plan? I’m assuming there is one.”
“There is.” Marcy signaled for Jeramey to hand her one of the bags that was sitting aside. “While the Registry recognizes the possible dangers involved, they have decided that they want you to fly out to California. The drive is just too long,” she unzipped the duffle and began rummaging, “and they want you out of harm’s way and settled as quickly as possible.”
“How do you suppose we pull that off,” Jessica asked, “since there are tons of people, and I’m assuming Mengliads as well, at airports, and I’m still producing that Enyoh scent like a baby?”
“That’s where this comes in.” Marcy produced an item from the bag that no one recognized as being anything.
“And that is?” Jessica’s gaze shifted between it and Marcy.
“It’s a prosthetic belly, to make you look pregnant. Mengliads will spike Enyoh while pregnant; the further along, the bigger the spike. But since women can’t fly in their third trimester, you’ll have to say you’re carrying twins, to explain your size, and the amount of Enyoh you’re producing.”
“So with multiples, the scent is stronger?”
“Yes.” Once Marcy handed the foam prosthesis over to her, she began rummaging again. “We also have a maternity dress for you, and a note from a doctor, saying that you’re twenty-nine weeks pregnant with twins, in perfect health, and have been given the all-clear to fly.”
Stunned, Jessica stared down at the fake belly in
her hands. “You guys think of everything, don’t you?”
“That’s our job,” Marcy answered proudly, handing the dress over to her and the envelope of paperwork over to Craddock. “You can change over there.” She pointed towards a building with an open hallway lined with blue ceramic tiles, most of which were cracked or missing. “It used to be a bathroom, but now it’s just a room with broken toilets and shattered porcelain everywhere, so step carefully.”
Waiting until after Jessica disappeared through the door and around the corner, Craddock faced Marcy. “Isn’t this taking an awful risk? I mean, pregnancy doesn’t produce Enyoh this strong, even at the end! Even with multiples!”
“It’s enough of an excuse to get her through the airport and onto a plane, Craddock,” she assured him evenly. “People at airports are busy with their own travel plans, and unlikely to care if a pregnant woman smells a little stronger than what would be considered normal.”
“Still seems risky to me.”
Marcy was quick to pick up on his acrimony. “Craddock, you have got to work with us on this!”
“I am!” he shot back.
“With what seems like resentment.” She seemed calm, but her agitation was just under the surface.
“There’s no resentment,” he insisted, a bit more civilly. “I’m just frustrated. Wouldn’t you be?”
“I would be,” she admitted, “and I am! But we need all the players in this to be on the same page.”
“Meaning what?” he questioned her, curious, but mostly annoyed.
“Meaning, you need to go along with this!” she ordered. “If she thinks there’s a chance this won’t work, she’ll panic! Half the battle here is getting her to believe it! If she believes it, others will believe it!”
“So you’re asking me not to share my concerns with her, that this whole fake pregnancy thing is risky.” His clenched jaw evidenced his anger over the situation, even though his tone didn’t.
“Yes.” Marcy stared back at him then, awaiting his response.
“Fine.” Making no attempt to hide his discontent, he turned his attention back on Jeramey. “Can I bum another smoke?”