a slip. It wouldn’t happen again. It couldn’t because G rarely missed a thing. If I didn’t act like the Errand was no more special than any other Errand, I would get pulled from it—best case. Worst case would be an immediate dismissal followed by rotting away in some nameless alley.
“Sorry. I’m just a little excited about this one,” I said, coming around the couch to sit across from her.
“What? You? Excited?” she said. “Can’t be.”
“Don’t tell.”
“I won’t if you won’t tell on me . . . but I might just be a little bit excited, too.” G’s green eyes flashed, and she almost, almost , smiled. I’d seen her smile a few times, but it had always been a bit more menacing. This smile was almost joyful. I guessed I’d been in my line of business too long when a joyful smile was more disturbing than a menacing one.
“So, other than to share in the once-every-few-years whim of excitement, to what do I owe the honor of a personal meeting?”
G only did private meetings with her Eves at the start of an Errand as the exception. In the course of a year, I might see her once or twice, and whenever I did, it was never to go grab a drink and catch up. G’s meetings were always important and always about business. She didn’t know anything about her Eves’ pasts, and we didn’t know anything about hers. None of us had families, or at least ones we kept in touch with; we didn’t have time for things like hobbies. All of that added up to make casual conversation a bit of a problem.
“There’s been a change in plans,” she started.
I stopped breathing. Did she know? How could she have figured it out?
“Mr. Ten is a bit of a world traveler. He’s out of the country half of the year from the sounds of it. A piece of information the Client forgot to mention.” G made that face that crippled me every time it was directed at me. To get a face as beautiful as hers to look so ugly must have taken years to perfect. “The Target’s in Seoul for the next week. Then he’s back for a week, then leaves for Bangkok for another week. So on and so forth.”
“O-kay.” I wondered why that was such a big deal she had to meet me in person. So he was gone a lot. Plenty of Targets were . . . so we did one of the things we Eves did best and adapted. I’d earned my patch in adaptation years ago.
“Since the Target’s out of the country as much as or more than he’s in it, and this Errand is going to take significantly longer to close, I don’t want one of my best Eves to get bored.”
Ah. I got it. When trying to understand where G’s train of thought was going, always think dollars and cents. “Or go to waste when she could be working an Errand within an Errand, right?”
G nodded. “Precisely. You have the fastest start to completion time of all of my Eves, so I’m sure you’ll have no problem juggling a few other Errands along the way. I won’t throw you anything too complex. A rock-and-roller here, a pro-basketball player there. Errands you could close in twenty-four hours if need be.”
If I thought arguing would have gotten me anywhere, I would have. I didn’t want to work an Errand within an Errand. I wanted to keep my focus and attention on Callahan. I wanted to bring him to his knees before he saw it coming. I wanted him to curse the day he’d met me. I wanted him to curse my name until his dying day.
I wanted all of that, but I had to play nice. Especially when it came to G.
“And because you have that little glimmer in your eye, I’m guessing you already have an Errand for me to work while Mr. Callahan is away.” Saying his name was hard. I felt like I was giving away everything in my tone or expression. If I was, G seemed none the wiser.
“That glimmer always gives me away, doesn’t it?” She smiled again, her typical menacing one, and not a single wrinkle lined her skin. The Botox was good, or she’d found the fountain of youth somewhere along the way. Judging from
“Sorry. I’m just a little excited about this one,” I said, coming around the couch to sit across from her.
“What? You? Excited?” she said. “Can’t be.”
“Don’t tell.”
“I won’t if you won’t tell on me . . . but I might just be a little bit excited, too.” G’s green eyes flashed, and she almost, almost , smiled. I’d seen her smile a few times, but it had always been a bit more menacing. This smile was almost joyful. I guessed I’d been in my line of business too long when a joyful smile was more disturbing than a menacing one.
“So, other than to share in the once-every-few-years whim of excitement, to what do I owe the honor of a personal meeting?”
G only did private meetings with her Eves at the start of an Errand as the exception. In the course of a year, I might see her once or twice, and whenever I did, it was never to go grab a drink and catch up. G’s meetings were always important and always about business. She didn’t know anything about her Eves’ pasts, and we didn’t know anything about hers. None of us had families, or at least ones we kept in touch with; we didn’t have time for things like hobbies. All of that added up to make casual conversation a bit of a problem.
“There’s been a change in plans,” she started.
I stopped breathing. Did she know? How could she have figured it out?
“Mr. Ten is a bit of a world traveler. He’s out of the country half of the year from the sounds of it. A piece of information the Client forgot to mention.” G made that face that crippled me every time it was directed at me. To get a face as beautiful as hers to look so ugly must have taken years to perfect. “The Target’s in Seoul for the next week. Then he’s back for a week, then leaves for Bangkok for another week. So on and so forth.”
“O-kay.” I wondered why that was such a big deal she had to meet me in person. So he was gone a lot. Plenty of Targets were . . . so we did one of the things we Eves did best and adapted. I’d earned my patch in adaptation years ago.
“Since the Target’s out of the country as much as or more than he’s in it, and this Errand is going to take significantly longer to close, I don’t want one of my best Eves to get bored.”
Ah. I got it. When trying to understand where G’s train of thought was going, always think dollars and cents. “Or go to waste when she could be working an Errand within an Errand, right?”
G nodded. “Precisely. You have the fastest start to completion time of all of my Eves, so I’m sure you’ll have no problem juggling a few other Errands along the way. I won’t throw you anything too complex. A rock-and-roller here, a pro-basketball player there. Errands you could close in twenty-four hours if need be.”
If I thought arguing would have gotten me anywhere, I would have. I didn’t want to work an Errand within an Errand. I wanted to keep my focus and attention on Callahan. I wanted to bring him to his knees before he saw it coming. I wanted him to curse the day he’d met me. I wanted him to curse my name until his dying day.
I wanted all of that, but I had to play nice. Especially when it came to G.
“And because you have that little glimmer in your eye, I’m guessing you already have an Errand for me to work while Mr. Callahan is away.” Saying his name was hard. I felt like I was giving away everything in my tone or expression. If I was, G seemed none the wiser.
“That glimmer always gives me away, doesn’t it?” She smiled again, her typical menacing one, and not a single wrinkle lined her skin. The Botox was good, or she’d found the fountain of youth somewhere along the way. Judging from
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