by F P Adriani
He really didn’t have to jab the knife of humiliation in so deep.
“She just showed up not even two weeks ago,” I said to him now. “And I haven’t had the chance. I do always check out anyone regularly coming into the building. But the manager sprung her on the place after he suddenly fired the guy before her. I have NO say in all that. I just rent this office space.”
“Yeah, we know all about that,” said Detective Shaver now. “We’ve searched the Diamond Database; you’ve worked in mine security and your license for…this business checks out. Everything seems perfectly legal there. You were kidnapped once on Diamond—that was a great story. Maybe we’ll get to see it on the big screen someday.
“The thing is: farther back. I’ve looked for more information about you, and I came up against a wall a couple of times, a wall known as the UPG seal.”
I swallowed, feeling myself begin to shake inside, but I managed to keep my outsides from shaking…at least I thought I managed it. Had I left any prints at the Rodriguez house? I must have. Would the cops be able to use them to pinpoint my real identity? I doubted it: they probably didn’t have the kind of clearance UPG-backed security on this planet had.
Still, I was fucking worried now. I didn’t need any other shit to get out about me. Bad enough my Pia Senda identity had been put into a public spotlight here. For my own psychological safety at least, I didn’t need a spotlight on any other part of me.
When I finally spoke to the two cops again, I was squelching fear this time rather than anger. “So? Yeah, I worked for the UPG. On a space transport once, but mostly doing data-entry work.”
“Mmm, I’m sure,” Shaver said, flashing me an ironic mouth.
“You got something to accuse me with over Millie Rodriguez? ’Cause if you don’t, I’ve got a busy day to get back to,” I said in a more passionate voice than I’d intended. My heart was pumping so hard, it was also pushing words out my mouth too hard now.
“Nope. No accusations, no charges,” said the Shaver person.
“Then as much as I’d love to help you, I’m tired of these questions.”
“I’m sure you are. But, see, in your answers, we’ve learned a lot. I don’t get the feeling that you’re involved with Rodriguez’s disappearance, because you didn’t lawyer-up. And you didn’t tell us to go stick these questions up our butts. We get a lot of that on Diamond,” she laughed a little, with that same sarcastic smile Burroughs wore earlier. “I’ve been at this a loooong time. Met lots of people. Some even worked for the UPG and they’re never forthcoming. You’ve impressed me personally.”
I breathed a relieved sigh inside; then I wondered if that could be seen on the outside.
Unfortunately for me, Burroughs then said, “Still, we could be wrong about you. So here’s a warning: don’t you skip out of The Sphere even for a moment, because then you’ll piss us off, and as soon as you come back, we’ll make sure we find you to say a fond cop-like hello.”
My insides were doing that trembling again. One of the strange things about internal Diamond human law: while the local police stations didn’t necessarily talk to each other across Diamond, they did have jurisdiction to round up Diamond citizens from anywhere within The Diamond Sphere if they were wanted for Diamond-based crimes.
This jurisdiction-in-The-Sphere was an old outdated law many Sanders were against but that the UPG had lobbied The Diamond Council to keep alive, just in case the UPG’s people couldn’t get baddies they were looking for. Then the UPG could rent-a-cop here, have them find some crime-loophole they could charge the baddies with, and the local police could then do some of the baddy-hunting legwork. The UPG had both real bounty-hunters and pseudo-bounty hunters of numerous kinds.
In too many damn ways Diamond was indeed a crazy corrupt place, and I was stuck in the middle of it….
“So,” Burroughs finally added, “we’ll make sure we keep an eye on you until Millie Rodriguez turns up. Nice to meetcha—”
“—And have a good day,” finished Shaver.
I sat still behind my desk until they’d walked out the door and closed it behind them, and I’d finally seen them drive away out the window.
Then I jumped up and slammed my palm down on the desktop, yelling, “Fuck-shit-fuck!”
*
Hera was now looking better to me with each passing moment.
In my office still, I thought about what the Twin Cops had said. Then I thought about other related things.
I actually could flee. I could flee to Hera. I could skip off there and back to Earth. After all, I did have those remnants of my old life, alternate identities and all, not just this Pia Senda one.
But did I want to do that skipping? It would mean leaving my friends and my lover…. And that was something I just could not do.
Goddamit, I’d gotten in over my head this fucking time. I should go to Hera. I would go to Hera. I’d go and tell the two cop fuckers I was going. I would look honest then, like I wasn’t skipping out, so maybe they’d trust me more. And then if I finally did decide to flee, getting away would be easier.
This was my plan. Now, how to break it to the others in my life? And when?
Well, I didn’t know yet, and doing that would have to wait anyway, because, right now, I had something else to take care of.
*
I found Don behind the back of the building.
He was moving some garbage cans against the wall. But as I approached him, he froze first, then began backing away, his bony knees knocking beneath his pale blue shorts.
He started saying, “You—”
“—scumbag,” I finished. “You fucking put the cops onto me, and after I didn’t rat out your fucking sleazy cousin.” I walked up to him, but not too close. Just close enough so he could both see and feel how pissed off I was.
“Whadja do to her—”
“I didn’t do shit. Nothing happened. We talked. You overreacted. She’s probably ripping someone else off right as we speak. Now listen, scumbag: you can stick this building up your ass. I’m getting out. I should have put that in motion right away when I realized your cousin scummed my office over.”
He pointed a bony shaking forefinger at me. “See? You HATE her. And she’s missing. No coming to WORK, no phone calls to ME. So WHAT was I supposed to think?”
“Are you even capable of that? I seriously wonder…. But you should have come to me. Maybe I could have helped you find her. Shit, I could have put someone on that. And you could have paid me for doing what I know.”
A strange agitated look came over his eyes, and then he said in a small voice, “I still could.”
I stared back at him, my hands on my hips now. “You know…that might not be a bad idea. I don’t know what your fucking cousin’s into now, but I suspect her breaking into my place was deliberate. But probably not her doing. She was hired—that’s what I think. And if you tell the cops this, you’re an even bigger fool than I thought you were. You want to find her? I’ll put someone on it. Your choice. But I’m still moving out of this fucking compromised office as soon as I can find a new one.”
“You can’t—you’ve got a lease!”
“Fuck the lease,” I said. Then I stalked away from him.
*
I got two calls in my office that day.
First, not long after I’d left him, Don called me and specifically asked me to look for Millie; apparently, he was afraid to in-person come near me now.
“I’ll pay YOU,” Don said. “I won’t go to the cops anyMORE. I see maybe that was dumb…. PLEASE find her.” He then kind of begged me to not dump renting the office, but I told him my being here was no good anymore. And it wasn’t like I was just dying to move, like I needed a goddamn office-move right now. I just had no choice.
Two months ago I thought I could finally see the summit of my business ahead; now, I had tumbled down the fucking hill, the summit having shot farther away to before I’d started MSA. Where would I find a new place and especially
one that would be more secure? This situation just stunk.
And I had the others to think about too.
As soon as I got off the phone with Don, I called Mike at home, who apparently had been sleeping. When he spoke, he yawned through his words: “Hellooooo…. Oh Pia….What—the janitor, did youuuuu say?…Okay, will come in after Iyaaaaa….”
When I had hung up with him and was about to pick up the receiver again and call Nell, she sauntered through the door.
“Hey, am I glad to see you!” I said in a breathless rush as I put down the receiver.
“What—what’s happened?”
“A lot,” I said.
I quickly filled her in on some of the goings-on, then we spent some time trying to figure out if we should start working on researching Millie first or finding a new office first—or maybe I’d do the office thing; and she’d do the Millie thing, with Mike’s help.
Nell and I were still discussing all this in my inner office when the outer-office phone rang, which was the second call I got that day.
A moment later I was on that phone again and Roberto’s voice was in my ear: “Just calling in. Everything’s okay at Castano’s here.”
“Well, it’s not okay here. Roberto, we’re going to have to move MSA to a new office. And fast.”
“Move the business—what? Where? You mean now?”
“Yeah. If I can’t find a new place within a few days, guess I’ll have to work outta my hotel room, for fuckssake.”
“But, Boss, that’s crazy. You can’t run a security business from a hotel room!”
“No kidding. But it’ll only be temporary. What fucking choice do—” I started saying, but then Lori Godwin’s voice in my ear interrupted my indignant speech.
“Pia, Lori here. I overheard Roberto talking. Did you know Julianne has a small house pretty close by, down the road? The housekeeper Libby used to live there, but she recently bought her own place. You’re welcome to check it out and set up your business there. I’m sure Julianne would be okay with that.”
Good for Julianne, but I wasn’t sure about a damn thing, including if I should trust Lori-in-particular’s offer. She was connected with Hu after all. Was this whole fucking thing a set-up? …On the other hand, did any of that really matter? Apparently, Hu could get to me anywhere. She’d found me here, she could find me wherever. I hadn’t exactly been hiding from the world here.
Still, I said to Lori slowly now, “Thank you for offering, but, um, I just can’t afford the rents in your area there.”
“Oh—then no rent yet. I’ll just subtract it from what you’ll get when you’re done with the case.”
I sighed. “I suppose I’ll have to consider the offer, but I’m skeptical.”
Skeptical or not, I was still in a bind, so Nell and I practically bolted over there in her car, both of us suddenly more than a little excited about getting out of the “old” MSA office.
And when Nell turned the final corner onto a tree-lined street and my astonished eyes spotted the house, my skepticism instantly vanished.
Small patches of woods hugged both sides of the compact square cottage; it was dark red and beautifully shingled on both its gabled roof and walls, with bushes neatly dotting the house’s front and sides, and a tiny multicolored flower garden lining the sandy path to the bright-blue front door. Really, it looked as close to a fairy-tale house as you could get on Diamond, and I had difficulty taking my eyes from the place.
Nell pulled down the side driveway, and when we finally stepped out of the car, she said, “Pia, I love what we do and that we’ve done it together. It’s our own little space. But, really, the stained walls don’t inspire me. Now this—this would inspire me.”
We removed the key Lori had left for us beneath the front stoop’s mat, then we strolled through the house’s interior, which wound up being bigger than I’d thought, which meant the reality of it was even more perfect: if we moved in, Nell could work there quite comfortably and therefore could work more days. She could even set up her jewelry business inside one of the five rooms. When I said so to her, she grinned back at me.
How funny life could be: your office gets broken into; then in consequence you find yourself in possession of The Office Of Your Dreams.
…Still, there were problems: how could I ask Nell to remain as a part of this mess of a business?
“We really need to talk,” I said to her once we were walking back toward the front door again.
The Sun beating down on our heads, we stood outside the place as I relayed all the goings-ons to her, including the Hu goings-ons this time.
And then I vaguely referenced something else I hadn’t figured out yet, some danger, to which Nell replied, “Then, shit, of course we’ve got to move. Why the hell didn’t you tell me about all this sooner?”
“You know why,” I said, glancing down at her belly. Then I watched her growing frown.
*
That week ultimately proved to be the most hectic week of my life on Diamond. I had a gazillion things to do then, and they had to be done in a certain order—or at least they should have been done in a certain order. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t execute that successfully. I wound up spastically running all over the place, running on adrenaline, or maybe adrenaline fumes was a more accurate description because by the middle of every day, I had to pump myself full of certain foods and pills to help me last till the end of the day.
First on my to-do list: I had to clean the new place and put all the old-place’s safe contents into a safety deposit box, but not before I had disguised them in a locked container—there was no time to set up a secret safe in the new place before we moved in. All my paper files, computer equipment and best pieces of office furniture had to be moved—Roberto’s job to do, with Derek’s and Tan’s help—no time to buy all new furniture to replace all the old pieces.
I also had to update my current business contacts on my new address info; the old contacts would have to wait till Nell got to them. And she, too, was now busier than ever, which upset me because she didn’t need any extra work right now. I still worried over her. I probably wouldn’t stop worrying over her. I had done a lot in my life, a lot of dangerous things, but worry and fear were actually your friend then, not your enemy. In the scenarios I’d often moved around in, if you got cocky, you got dead—that was reality.
Plus, I had a lot more in my life now, and usually the more you possessed, the more you worried about losing what you possessed. That was one of those fucking frustrating things about life, one of those cosmic no-win-situation jokes.
In the middle of all these finicky physical labors, I also had to deal with strife-filled conversations—both professional and personal shit. Between Tan and I, and Hu and I, so maybe also between Tan and Hu—though they never actually spoke. It was this whole sort-of triangle thing that I was soooo not a fan of.
Hu still called me. Her third call actually came in the old MSA office on the fourth day of The Most Hectic Week Of My Life. I had popped in there in the morning to remove the last items left: a picture I’d taken of Magenta Mountain, and a plaque of Nell’s from when she’d graduated college.
As I was doing that was when I picked up the phone and heard Hu’s voice, which said something about my office move being a smart thing after the break-in—apparently, the little Lori Birdie had informed her of both the move and the break-in, which Hu seemed eager to discuss, but I was not eager to discuss.
“Can I do nothing without you knowing about it?” I spat.
“Probably not,” Hu said. “You need to resolve that break-in issue.”
“Like I don’t fucking know that? How about lending me some arms to handle that faster…. Er, no, on second thought, ignore what I just said.”
“But that’s not a bad idea—”
“Ignore it! I’m on it,” I said. And as I did so, I suddenly remembered something I’d seen while moving the real safe’s contents: Nell’s outline of the incidents that fi
rst day with Julianne. There was something important in the documentation….
Hu’s voice broke into my thoughts, so I decided to develop them further later. I barely had any time to breathe now, forget about think—
“All right. I won’t interfere,” said Hu now.
But before she could possibly say anything more, I spoke. “Now, look—I can’t think right now, I’m so fucking busy. So whatever angle you called up for, fuck you. You’re endangering me. Someone’s been in here sniffing around, someone could learn of these calls—or maybe they already have. Maybe they’re listening right now.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that—”
“Yeah, well, I am worried about it. You want to talk to me? It’ll have to happen under safe circumstances, which are actually impossible around you.” I slammed down the receiver, pulled the cord from the wall, grabbed the last of the decorations, and flew out the dump’s door.
*
My drive to the new office was a welcome but unfortunately too-short reprieve from my long to-do list.
When I got there, for about an hour Nell and I worked together in half a companionable silence and half a humorous co-worker state as we outfitted a new office desk and set up a new office phone. While we worked and joked, I fantasized about later that night when I’d finally be able to hit my bed and lose consciousness….
My portable phone suddenly rang, destroying both my vision and my peace with Nell.
I hesitated to answer the call. Nell stopped her fiddling with the office-phone wires, and her eyebrows rose first at me and then at the ringing noise coming from my black blazer.
Now I said, “I’m thinking that maybe we should hold off on plugging in the new phone. Do we really need it? Let’s hide out here for forever in silence.”
