Strange Robby

by Selina Rosen

  Carrie watched out the peephole. She couldn't see too well, but she could tell that they weren't fighting. She moved to a window and peered cautiously out. If Spider caught her spying on her, she'd have her hide.

  They were having some sort of very serious conversation, and it lasted for almost thirty minutes. At one point they were even laughing. As the young man started to leave he reached out to grasp the car door handle, and it was then that Carrie noticed his hands. They were like Spider's.

  Carrie moved quickly away from the window, sat down and picked up the paper pretending to read. What the hell did it mean? Who the hell was that man?

  Spider came in and walked into the living room carrying the TV. "Young people these days have no work ethic."

  Carrie planned to say nothing, to just pretend like she bought the whole little drama, but she had never been able to play stupid even when it was in her best interest to do so. Carrie put down the paper.

  "Can the shit, Spider. I was watching you. All right, pitch a little bitch, I don't care. I saw you talking to him. You weren't mad, and neither was he. I also saw his hands. So you want to tell me what's going on?"

  All right. Her first instincts had been correct; she should have kept her mouth shut. It was obvious even before Spider started screaming that she was pissed.

  "Goddamn it, Carrie!" Spider screamed. "I'm trying to protect you and you just won't allow it. Don't get into this shit! I don't want you in it. It has nothing to do with you and I. It only has to do with me."

  "If it involves you; it does involve me. Can't you see that? Now just tell me what the hell is going on."

  "Just!" Spider threw her hands in the air. "I don't know what the hell is going on anymore. All I do know is that it's dangerous to know anything, and the last thing I want to do is put you in any danger. Please don't ask me to tell you. Please don't try to figure out what's going on. I'm only asking you to do one thing for me—stay the hell out of it. It's none of your business."

  "I'm the DA. My office offers me some protection. I'm not afraid. Crime in this city is my business!" Carrie screamed back.

  "Being DA will not protect you from these people, Carrie. The only thing that can protect you is total ignorance. So quit prying around." Spider stomped up stairs.

  Carrie started to follow her, and Spider spun on her. "Can't you see? I love you, and I don't want you to get hurt."

  Carrie started crying then. "And can't you see that I love you, and I don't want you to get hurt? Don't you think I have a right to know what's going on? If the tables were turned, would you want to be left out in the dark? Maybe I could help."

  Spider walked back down the stairs and took Carrie into her arms. Carrie held her tightly.

  Spider didn't let go of her. "When I was young, I had all these big dreams, goals. I was going to find true love, get everything I wanted, stop crime and cure cancer. Then one day realization slapped me in the face, and I knew that I already was where I was going. I gave up any dreams and desires I had and fell into a rhythm of complacency. I was never going to have more than I had right then, and I was all right with that. I wasn't happy, in fact I was miserable, but it was comfortable misery. Then right when I had given up my last shred of hope, I met you, and . . . everything changed. Suddenly I had everything I'd ever dreamt of. I just want to be here with you forever, but if you keep snooping around I'm going to have to leave. Because if you figure them out, they'll kill you."

  Carrie moved her head to look up at Spider checking her face for any sign of insincerity. There was none. "You're serious?"

  "Yes."

  They found the first body at four in the morning, and by ten they'd found four more.

  Carrie surveyed the last murder site. "At this rate, being DA will be a nothing job because there will be no criminals left to prosecute," she told Laura and then screamed. "Except of course for the Fry Guy! About whom we have no clue!"

  She glared across the vacant lot at Spider who just smiled and shrugged.

  Carrie couldn't get what Spider had said out of her head. Spider meets with some mysterious stranger last night, and now they had five more fried repeat offenders. She wanted to think it was a coincidence, but she knew it wasn't. Spider was mixed up in this up to her neck, and by turning a blind eye to it, so was Carrie. But if what Spider alluded to was true, there really was no satisfactory alternative.

  One of the So-what-if guys approached her. She was a little surprised, because they had never taken any interest in talking to her before. In a flash Spider had moved herself between Carrie and the man. He tried to go around her and she put a hand on his shoulder. Damn it! What the hell was she doing now?

  Spider put her hand palm down on Kirk's shoulder.

  "Stay the fuck away from her," Spider hissed.

  Kirk smiled at her. "You're very protective, aren't you? She's the DA here. I just wanted to ask her a couple of questions. Unless, of course, you're willing to answer them."

  "You know everything I know," Spider said.

  "Somehow I doubt that, Detective Webb. I'll only keep her a couple of minutes . . . I'm not going to hurt her . . . Yet."

  Spider grabbed him by the collar and glared at him. "You stay the fuck away from her."

  He jerked free of her grasp. "That's only going to work once, Webb. I'm going to talk to her, and unless you want to try to explain to her and everyone else here why you're accosting me, I suggest you get the hell out of my way."

  Spider moved reluctantly.

  Tommy walked over to Spider. He'd seen the whole thing. "What's going on?"

  "That's what I'd like to know," Spider said. She didn't take her eyes off the So-what-if guy.

  Carrie waited with baited breath as the man approached her. She'd seen the whole altercation, and was not looking forward to this meeting.

  "DA Long, my name is Kirk Anderson, SWTF." He held out his hand. She didn't shake it, and he withdrew it.

  "I know who you are. What do you want?" Carrie asked bluntly.

  He nodded his head to the side indicating that he wanted to talk to her alone, and behind him Carrie could see Spider flinch. Carrie left Laura behind, and she and Kirk walked a few steps away from the crowd. The guy gave her the creeps, and she was glad to see that both Tommy and Spider were keeping an eye on him.

  "If I may be blunt," Kirk cleared his throat and looked over his shoulder at Spider. "Ms. Long, Carrie . . . "

  "Call me Sir," Carrie corrected.

  "Sir, your partner, Detective Webb, has information which is vital to our investigation. It would be in her best interest to speak with us. In fact, it would be in your best interest for her to talk with us. You might tell her that," Kirk said.

  His expression never changed. Over his shoulder she could see Tommy holding Spider back with an effort. Carrie hoped she was doing a better job of hiding her feelings. It wasn't all in Spider's head. There was a real and present danger, and here he was. You didn't have to be an empath to know that.

  Carrie was surprised at how confident she sounded when she spoke. "I'm sure that if Spider had any information she would have given it to you."

  He laughed then. "Why would she give it to me when she hasn't given it to you?" He walked away then without further explanation. The meaning of his words sank in as she watched his departing back, and she looked at him with black hatred.

  Spider walked quickly over to her. "You all right?"

  "They're who you're afraid of, aren't they?" Carrie whispered.

  Spider nodded.

  "They've bugged our house, Spider," Carrie said, lowering her voice still more.

  "Are you sure? How do you know?"

  Carrie told Spider exactly what he had said, then held onto Spiders arm when she swore and started to run over and kick his ass. He waved at her and smiled, then he and his buddy walked over, got in their car, and drove away.

  "The bastards!" Spider cursed.

  "Maybe you should tell them," Carrie whispered. "Tell them whatever it
is they want to know and get them off our back."

  "That won't happen, Carrie. They don't work like that. Please stay out of this."

  "I can't, Spider. Don't you understand? I can't! They won't let me."

  When Carrie got home the house was in ruins. Everything was ripped apart and stuff was slung everywhere. There was a lump in her throat as she pulled the mace from her purse. Spider's truck was in the driveway. She turned her comlink on.

  "Spider!" she hollered. Spider walked out of the den carrying a pillow. Carrie sighed with relief and punched a cancel code into her comlink. She ran over and hugged Spider. "What the hell happened?"

  "They bugged the whole house. The movers must have done it. Remember? I told you I didn't trust them. So far they were all in my stuff." She pulled a pimento jar filled with water and eight tiny little bugs out of her pocket. "I'm gonna sling them down the disposal."

  Carrie walked past her into the living room and flopped down in a chair. She looked around her at the carnage in the room. "You did this?"

  Spider looked around her. "I'm sorry, Baby, but I had to. I'll put it all back when I'm sure I have them all."

  "You can never be sure, Baby, they're not much bigger than a pin head. They could be anywhere." Carrie buried her face in her hands and started to cry.

  Spider knelt beside her and patted her back.

  "I'll get all of them, Baby. I know it's a mess, but I'll clean it all up. It's not as bad as it looks. I'm pretty sure I got all the ones out of our bedroom."

  "Not as bad as it looks!" Carrie pushed away from her and stood up. She glared down at her. "You're pretty sure you got all the ones out of the bedroom! All this time those bastards have been listening to every word we said, everything we did. What the hell have you done to us, Spider? What the hell have you done?"

  "Shush!" Spider said.

  "I won't shush. They're going to kill us all anyway, and I don't even know why. Now I want to know why my privacy has been invaded! Why our house is in a shambles! Why those fucking So-what-if guys think they can walk up to me, and threaten us—threaten you without fear of repercussion? What the hell do they think you know that they are willing to take these kinds of chances? What the hell are you playing at?"

  "I'm not playing at anything!" Spider yelled, standing to her feet. "These guys," she shook the jar in the air, "they're the ones who decided they wanted to play, and the only way I can save any of us is to try to keep the secrets I have. Don't you understand? If you know, then that makes you a target. If Tommy knows, he's a target, and if I tell them what I know, then they've got no reason to keep me alive. The only reason I'm still alive now is because they think I'm the only one who can tell them what they need to know."

  "Who the Fry Guy is." Carrie flopped back into her chair and wiped her face. "He's got a weapon they want."

  "Please, just leave it the fuck alone."

  Chapter Thirteen

  "There is no man who has power over the wind to

  retain the wind; nor has he power over the day of

  death: and there is no discharge in that war; nor

  shall wickedness deliver those who are given up to

  it." Ecclesiastes 8:8

  "You did what!" Deacon screamed from behind his desk.

  "It seemed like it might be more expedient . . . " Kirk started.

  "This woman is the brand new lesbian DA. Every fucking camera in this country is turned on Carrie Long right now. You don't do shit to her. You don't talk to her. You don't even look at her. I thought I made that crystal clear."

  Kirk glared at Jason who just grinned. Kirk didn't have to ask who had told Deacon what he had done. The goddamned weasely-eyed little dwarf.

  "Sir, with all due respect, we are getting nowhere this way . . . "

  "If there is one thing that the agency has never been, Anderson, it's in a hurry. You get in a hurry and you make mistakes. Webb wasn't kidding. If you back her into a corner she'll rip your face off. That's a fact; you push her too hard and she'll blow this whole thing wide open. I told you what the science boys said about her."

  "That's why I'm recommending termination," Kirk said.

  "Then we'll never find out who the Fry Guy is, and he's our real problem—not Webb. Hell, we know all about Webb, she's part of the program. This guy's NOT. He's the one we really have to worry about. Besides, the boys at the top have made it real clear they don't want Webb killed."

  "How can we get her to tell us anything if we can't put the pressure on?" Kirk asked. "I guarantee she's not going to just give us the information."

  "We can put pressure on her, Kirk. But we can't afford to be stupid about it. Look what your stupidity cost us. She's found every bug in the house. We had ears in there, and now we got nothing because you got ants in the pants. You're going to have to be subtler. We move on nice and slow, and if that doesn't work, then we get vulgar. But even then we don't get sloppy."

  "Yes, Sir," Kirk said through gritted teeth.

  Deacon stood up then, put his fists on his desk, and looked down at Kirk. "I know you'd love to think otherwise, but you are not in control of this operation. Hell, I'm not even the boss, which would make you a fucking peon. Don't go off half-cocked again. When you do, you make me look bad, and I don't like to look bad. Do I Jason?"

  "No, Sir," Jason said.

  "From now on if you need to take a shit, Kirk, you check in with me first. You got that?"

  "Yes Sir."

  "Do you think it's fucking funny?" Kirk asked as he drove.

  Jason grinned broadly. "Yes," he said simply.

  "I ought to kick your fat, fucking . . . "

  Jason shook a finger at him. "Better call Deacon first."

  "Someday I'll be where Deacon is, Jason, and then you'll be sorry you weren't more respectful," Kirk said.

  Jason laughed. "And that's it for you, isn't it? That's the whole tamale. To become a high ranker in the agency. To be a bigger peon than you are now. That's fucking pathetic."

  Kirk laughed back. "That's kind of the pot calling the kettle black, isn't it?"

  "Ah, but at least I know I'm pathetic," Jason said.

  "You make me sick," Kirk spat. "You are completely without ambition . . . "

  "I had ambition once and look where it got me. I'm a fucking hired goon for a secret government agency, which never should have existed in the first place. Stalking someone who's no doubt going to kill me, in the company of a man I cannot stand, and who can't stand me. When you have a job like ours, Kirk, ambition isn't a good thing; it's a bad thing. Just look at what you're willing to do to get a crappy office like Deacon's."

  Spider looked down at Henry. He looked so peaceful. He always looked so peaceful.

  "Hey, dude!" She sat down beside him. "Boy, have I gotten myself into a big heap of crap . . . " She talked to him for about half an hour. When she started to leave a nurse at the front desk called her over.

  "There a problem, Karen?" Spider asked.

  "No. A man came in and left this. He told me to give it to you." She handed Spider an envelope.

  "Thanks." Spider forced a smile and then went out to the truck with the unopened envelope in her hand. She looked in her rear view mirror, spotted the SWTF men, and wasn't too surprised. She started to just wad the envelope up and throw it away, but curiosity won the day and she opened it.

  It read: How touching! Wouldn't you like to know once and for all what really happened to your brother and Henry Chambers? If you show me yours, I'll show you mine.

  Spider had a pretty good picture of what had happened to her brother and Henry. She'd like to follow these bastards to whatever rock they crawled under at night and see if they could take it as well as they could dish it out. But she couldn't afford the luxury of anger, no matter how righteous it might be.

  She wadded the note up, used her car's cigarette lighter to light it, and then threw it out her window.

  The doorbell rang and George stupidly opened the door without even asking wh
o it was.

  "Hello, can I help you?" George asked the middle-aged man who stood in the doorway.

  "Yeah, ah," he cleared his throat. He looked past George into the hallway. "You the butler?"

  George was more than a little offended. "No, I'm the assistant DA. Can I help you?" he asked again.

  "Spider Webb live here?"

  George began to think he had screwed up badly.

  Carrie walked into the hallway then, a stack of papers in her hand. "I haven't got all night, George . . . " She saw the stranger in the door then and right away started wondering how many steps it would take her to get to her gun. She still had the mace, but now it had a friend.