Something Bad (16 page)

Mac limped into the garden section and stopped short. The floor vibrated with his weight more than he remembered. He took another step and the vibrations increased in both frequency and intensity. They continued when he stopped. The hanging merchandise swayed with the movements. All around him, items on shelves teetered, and then toppled from the displays. Up near the rafters, the de-thatching rake swayed slowly on its hooks, inching toward the ends of the restraints with each pendulum-like swing.

Mac didn’t take another step. The rake reached the limit of the hangers and fell. The weight of the rake-head turned the sharp teeth downward as it descended, and it crashed down on Mac’s head before he could react to its approach. The force of the impact created a sickening smack as the tines of the rake dug deep into Mac’s scalp and skull. He fell, motionless, in the main aisle of the garden section.

“I
’VE BEEN EXPECTING
you,” Thibideaux said without opening his eyes.

The Councillor moved in front of the chair. “Why do you insist on breaking the rules? Didn’t I make myself clear the last time I was here?”

“Crystal.”

“Then why do you persist? You know you’re not supposed to kill citizens.”

Thibideaux opened his eyes. “I didn’t.”

“What are you talking about? Are you saying the tornado that killed that family wasn’t your doing?”

“No, that’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying those weren’t killings.”

The Councillor’s brows pressed down, nearly covering his eyes.

Thibideaux scooted forward in his chair and rested his right elbow on the chair arm. “You just don’t get it, do you? They weren’t killings, they were just consequences. Acquisitions require set-ups, and set-ups sometimes have consequences. That’s all.”

The Councillor shook his head and exhaled through his open mouth. “I told you before. The rules are not open to your personal interpretation.”

“I can assure you I’m following the rules,” Thibideaux said, emphasizing each word. “I can quote the rules right down to the punctuation. ‘Never let personal feelings, such as glee, revenge, anger, boastfulness, pride, greed or conceit enter into the business at hand. Completion of the assignment is to be as emotionless as possible. Emotions can be used to set up completion of the assignment as long as setbacks are never dealt with through anger or revenge.’ How’s that? Or this. ‘Recruiters are to blend in with the general population. They are to be an invisible force. They are to avoid any activity or behavior that might make them stand out from the average person. They will take special care to avoid drawing attention to themselves, or to the activities of the Organization.’ Then, there’s my favorite: ‘Most recruiters will fit within an average physical phenotype.’“

The Councillor smiled. “Okay, you can quote from the training manual. How about working in accordance with what you just recited?”

“You mean like the part about blending in? Look at me. I’m afraid I break that one by just being.”

“You know what I mean.”

Thibideaux slid from the chair and looked up at the Councillor. “What does the government call it when a military operation results in civilian deaths? Collateral damage? They don’t call it killing. That’s reserved for the enemy. The civilians are not killed, they’re just consequences. Get it?”

“That’s still your interpretation.”

“Okay, you want to see me following the rules? Go back and pull my file from the last time I was here in Boyston, twenty-five years ago. Read it and think of our conversation today.”

“I’ve seen the file.”

“You have to do more than read it. You need to climb into it.” Thibideaux paused. He brought his hands up to his mouth, paused again, and then lowered them. “Have you ever wanted to kill someone? I mean really, really wanted to kill someone. To watch their chest rise and fall with the last breath. To watch their eyelids flutter and their eyes defocus to another plane.” He shook his head. “No, you wouldn’t have, would you? Mid-level officers are never on the front lines when the battle is raging. They never pull triggers.”

His eyes went wide. “Try to imagine that feeling—to want to kill that bad, but with rules that say you aren’t supposed to. If you obey the rules and don’t kill under those circumstances, that’s power. And that’s following the rules.”

He moved a step closer to the Councillor, who backed up an equal step. His voice danced, like that of a child who just struck on a great new idea. “Here’s what I think. The do-not-kill rule was written to develop that power, and for no other reason. Why? So we could use that power. When you go back to my file, see how I found a fate much worse than death for that individual. That’s power. That’s brilliance. That’s following the rules. That’s using the rules.”

The Councillor shifted his weight onto his right leg. “You make a strong point, but I still can’t totally agree. I don’t think the organization will, either.”

Thibideaux turned away. “What’s your given name?”

“You know I don’t have that information.”

“You haven’t seen your own file?”

“No. We aren’t allowed to see the files of councillors. Only of recruiters.”

“Then, what’s my given name?”

“I’m not here to play games. I can’t give that information.”

“Do you know where I was born?”

“Yes.”

“Can you tell me?”

“No.”

“Well, I know where I was born—in New York City.”

The Councillor looked down and shook his head. “Sorry, but you weren’t born in New York.”

Thibideaux spun around to face the Councillor. “Sorry to say this, young man, but you just broke one of the rules.”

The Councillor frowned. “I did no such thing.”

“Yes, you did. You’re not allowed to tell me where I was born, or any other personal facts. But you just told me where I wasn’t born, which is a personal fact that allows me to narrow down my search for my place of birth.”

The Councillor started to speak, but Thibideaux held a finger to his face.

“Don’t speak. Try to catch my point. If you interpret the rule about divulging personal facts strictly, you broke the rule. But if you interpret it more broadly, by saying you didn’t tell me my place of birth, then you’re in the clear. So, which is it? Did you break the rule or didn’t you? Do you want to take the strict interpretation or the broad one?”

“I understand your point. I’ll have to take it under advisement.”

Thibideaux jumped back into his chair. “Can you leave me alone to do my work in the meantime?”

“I’ll take that under advisement, too.”

Thibideaux attempted a smug smile but his mouth maintained its dimensions. The slight tug of the feeble muscles pulled on the scars, giving him the only sensation left in that part of his body. Pain.

G
ABE LOOKED AT
the empty glass in front of the one unoccupied seat at the card table.

“Do you think he’ll show?” Teddy said. “You told him it was tonight, right?”

“I told him,” Gabe said. “He said he needed to get out with the guys.”

The doorknob turned and Dr. Robert Halvorson stepped in and stopped. “This the place?”

“Come on in, Doc,” Billy said. “How’s Mac doing?”

Teddy stood up and nearly knocked his chair over. “Jesus, Billy. How about a, ‘Hi, how are you’ first?”

Billy looked at the floor.

Doc walked over and shook Teddy’s hand, then Gabe’s. He had to reach for Billy’s. “Thanks for inviting me to the card game.” He pulled a chair to the table and sat down. “Billy, Mac’s going to be all right, but he won’t be the same as before. He’s lost most of his memory, and he has the mind of a twelve year-old. If there’s a good thing in it, his hands don’t shake any more.”

“I want his hands to shake again. I want him back.” Billy buried his face in his hands.

“He’s in good hands. Janice is a strong woman.” Doc rubbed his hand on Billy’s shoulder. “Where’s John? I thought he played with you guys.”

Billy talked from between his hands. “He don’t come outside no more. Not since Mac got hurt.”

Gabe poured Doc a glass of Jack and tapped the deck of cards on the table. “We’ll all chip in. Janice will have help. I don’t want to slight Mac, but how about some cards?”

Billy wiped his cheeks and forced a smile. He raised his glass. “This is for Mac.”

Two fingers of sour mash was left in the bottle when Teddy got to his first question. “Hey, Doc. You and Misty seem awful close. She as good as they say?”

Doc smiled. “She just works in my clinic.”

“Then what goes on in the back room every lunch hour?”

Gabe slapped the table with his right hand. “They do the lab work back there instead of sending it out. It saves us a bundle of money.”

Teddy burst into laughter. “Yeah, Gabe. And I suppose you still believe in the tooth fairy?”

Billy giggled. “Doc?”

Doc’s smile showed teeth. “She works in my clinic.”

Teddy jumped to question number two. “So, what brought you to the Tri-counties? I heard you were some kind of wonder kid up north.”

“It’s a long story.”

Teddy reached for the second bottle of Jack and pushed the deck of cards to Billy.

“We’re just warming up here.”

Doc leaned back in his chair, lifting the two front legs from the floor. “I guess some people would say I was on the fast track. I graduated number two in my medical school class at Baylor and had a productive internship and residency.”

“In what?” Gabe said.

“Internship in obstetrics and gynecology.”

Billy giggled.

“Residency in family medicine.”

Teddy put his elbows on the table and leaned his chin into his hands. “And you just decided to come to the country?”

“Not exactly. I had two good offers, and not for HMOs either.”

Billy turned his chair to face Doc. “What happened?” His eyes were wide, smiling.

“We were in Minneapolis.”

“We?” Teddy said.

“I was married, four years. We were trying to have a child, but we couldn’t conceive. They had this famous specialist in fertility problems there, so we went. We found out the problem wasn’t with her.”

“You were shooting blanks?” Teddy said.

Billy giggled again.

“Low sperm count. You sure you want to hear this?”

“Ain’t no one around this table within shouting distance of perfect, Doc,” Teddy said. “People around here live for problems. You got one, they’ll love you for it.”

“Anyway, we signed up for the
in vitro
program.”

“What?” Billy frowned.

“Test tube babies,” Teddy said.

Doc laughed. “Not exactly, but something like that. Part of the way through the preliminary screening, my wife lost interest and cancelled the appointments.”

“She chicken out?” Gabe said.

“That’s what I thought, but two months later she told me she was leaving me for the famous specialist in fertility problems.”

“Damn,” Teddy said. “What did you do?”

“Nothing. The jerk told me that if I made trouble for her I wouldn’t be able to get a job as janitor in the lowliest HMO in the state.”

“You shoulda hit him,” Billy said.

Teddy and Gabe looked at Billy and then at each other. Gabe shook his head and smiled. Teddy took a long drink of Jack.

“Didn’t have to. He was indicted for not only charging his clients for the
in vitro
procedures, but also billing them to insurance companies, describing them as standard gynecological procedures.”

“Bastard,” Billy said. “Shoulda hit him.”

Teddy laughed. “Okay, Billy. You’re cut off for tonight. Can you still deal, or are you done?”

“I’m okay. I just get worked up about that white coat crime.”

It was Gabe’s turn to laugh. “That’s white collar crime, Billy.”

“Whatever. I’d get thrown in jail for a long time if I did something like that in my garage, but I bet he just got a slap on the wrist.”

Doc leaned forward and the front legs of his chair slapped the floor. “No, he went to prison. But not before he had me blackballed. My two job offers evaporated and no one would give me an interview. And, not just in Minnesota. He had contacts all over the country. I guess he thought I had something to do with busting him.”

Teddy took another drink. “What did your wife do?”

“She gave me some song and dance about old Double-Dip not being the man she thought he was, and that she was sorry. She wanted me to give her another chance.”

“Shoulda hit her, too.”

“Put your guns back in the holster, Billy,” Teddy said. He turned to Doc. “What did you tell her?”

“I forgave her by handing her a packet of divorce papers.”

“Hit her …” Billy said as his head fell onto his arms on the table. He mumbled something and closed his eyes.

“Looks like we’re down to three hands,” Teddy said. He turned to Doc. “Why here?”