p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"13 January, 1938. 9:15 PM/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The last of the day's business meetings was formal and frumpy, as only meetings in a stuffy hotel conference room could be. Bea and Helen were the only women in the room, and Bea and Marcus were the only ones under fifty. All the other attendees seemed to be near-identical old men. They didn't look exactly alike, of course, but their appearances all seemed to express the same idea. All appeared over-salaried and over-fed, with gray hair and frowns and special interests galore. They came with agendas and contracts and all of it had to do with vast sums of theoretical money. No cash, just stocks and bonds and diamond mines in India. Men like these never dealt with something so mundane as a paycheck./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Bea didn't want to be at this meeting. Hell, she barely understood why Helen had insisted that she and Marcus come. Helen had said that it was good to have mercenaries' faces attached to the contracts. But secretly, Bea figured that she had to come because Helen wanted the female company. As for Marcus, his height and muscles and crooked nose probably served to intimidate the businessmen into giving Helen better deals./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Well, whatever the reason, Bea was only expected to be present. Thank god no one expected her to pay attention or take notes, because her mind had started wandering within the first five minutes. First, she'd stared at the taxidermy deer head mounted on the wall, and thought about the taxidermist fixing the hollow balaclava of skin to the stuffed frame. Then she'd thought about the men's' mistresses; men so rich and dull were certain to have them, weren't they? Maybe the girls got pearls for their trouble – something that could be sold for something useful when times demanded it. Or perhaps they were set up in their own apartments. Sleek, modern units with chiffon bedspreads and electric refrigerators in pastel colors. Expensive things that would take a lot of work to acquire. Well, only a lot of work if the work in question was something other than spreading one's legs and moaning./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Bea blinked and noticed that everyone in the conference room had started moving. There was much stretching and cracking of knees. The meeting was finally over, thank whatever divine powers that be. Bea roller her shoulders and tried to catch Marcus's eye. All she wanted was a shared glimpse of sympathy, something that indicated that he had been as miserable as she. But Marcus was straight-backed and solemn, just like Helen wanted. No doubt he'd spent the meeting glaring at each of the men in turn, just to show that Helen meant business./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Bea never understood how he managed to keep up the bodyguard act for so long. If she hadn't known better, she'd have sworn he was man of discipline and stodgy morals. The men probably thought that, too. Wouldn't they be surprised if they caught of glimpse of Marcus during his off hours, in the semi-private sphere that he shared with Bea? Oh, their faces would turn with horror. Bea wanted to giggle at the thought, but Helen would notice and ask what was funny./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"So she bit her lip, and filed out of the room with all the others. She was careful to stay near Helen, but two steps behind. Helen got annoyed if Bea walked ahead of her. You walk like a man! she would say. Or, alternatively, stop strutting; you're not the Queen of Sheba. It made Bea want to shove her employer down the hotel's opulent front steps, stomp on her face a few times, and light her on fire. She'd never do such a thing, of course. Two steps behind was the mercenary equivalent of spreading her legs and moaning. Like a mistress, she knew where the money came from./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Once the group had reached the lobby, the men dispersed, and a slight man peeled himself from one of the brocade chairs and came skittering towards Helen. He had a fresh copy of The Atlantic rolled under his arm, Bea noticed. This hotel had to have a magazine-and-cigarette shop somewhere./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Helen had brought Mr. Pauling to take shorthand, but the men had balked at the idea of a verbatim record of proceedings. It was too much evidence./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Good evening, ma'am." Mr. Pauling stood before Helen and bounced on the balls of his feet. "Did all go well?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"While Helen's attention was elsewhere, Bea drew closer to Marcus. She hoped he's bent down, and she could whisper in ear. She'd suggest drinks and quick fuck in the men's room. Hell, she'd even be happy driving into town. They could torch a few abandoned buildings or sit in the back of a seedy burlesque with worn-out girls and watered-down drinks. They needed to something, anything to release her pent-up energy./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Terribly disappointing," said Helen. Marcus exhaled; Bea suspected he was trying not to snort. Helen could have been handed the entire continent of Australia in a velvet-lined box and she still would have called it disappointing./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I want these typed and filed by morning." Helen thrust her longhand notebook into Mr. Pauling's hands. While Mr. Pauling fumbled, Bea and reached the back of her hand against Marcus's. He glimpsed down at her, making proper eye contact for the first time that night. Save me, Bea mouthed, and she could have sworn she got the subtlest smile in return. Marcus brushed Bea's hand in return, maybe lingering a little longer than necessary. If nothing else, Bea must have known that Bea was on the verge of going crazy and exploding./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Of course, ma'am," said Mr. Pauling./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Helen did not so much as thank him, just looked over her shoulder. "Beatrice, we're going upstairs." This was the cue that Helen was going to retire early and that the men were dismissed. Pauling scuttled off like a nervous insect, and Marcus marched off with a simple, "Good night, ma'am." Bea watched him go. Lucky man, off to get a drink or read the evening paper, while she had to help Helen get ready for bed./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The elevator had brass grilles and a teenage operator who looked absurd in his gold-braid cap./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Tenth floor." Helen sniffed at the boy and never tipped. Tips just encouraged the poor to stay poor, or so she said to Bea./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The hotel room on the tenth floor was pale blue and sleek. There was a pseudo-Egyptian vase on the dresser, and pseudo-Oriental screen the corner, pale green and patterned with cranes. All the furniture seemed to be made of smooth curves of pale wood, from the vanity to the desk to the two twin beds./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"One might have assumed that Helen took double rooms to save money – each room cost twelve dollars a night! – but Bea suspected it was at least partially to keep her separated from Marcus. Put Bea in the same room as Helen and Marcus in the same room as Mr. Pauling, and there was no way for the mercenaries to cause the improper sort of ruckus. Helen had no patience for noise complaints, torn sheets, or fires caused by dropped matches. Such things were inconveniences or worse, disappointments. Sure, this thing between Bea and Marcus had never been formally acknowledged. Helen had never said a word about it, but Bea was still certain she knew. There were burns and bruises and if Helen's henchmen went through the mercenaries' possessions, they'd find notes and misplaced pairs of underwear./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"No sooner had the door clicked close than Helen had removed her purple suit jacket and started unbuttoning the lavender shirtwaist beneath it. "It's in my cosmetics case."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Bea nodded. The case was in its normal place inside Helen's dress-suit case. It was a dark, bulky thing, thoroughly Victorian and long out of fashion. Helen was like that sometimes. She'd fixate on certain old things and insist the long-ago past had been better. She could live until 1970 and she'd probably still be using the same ancient case./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"So Bea sifted through ornate silver compacts and perfume atomizers until she found the little bottle that glowed a soft golden color. It was Australium dissolved in aqua regia, very expensive and very important for Helen's health; Bea wasn't allowed to know the details./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Helen had removed her narrow suit-skirt by now, and was busy unclipping her garters from her shape-wear. Despite her age, she wore an un-boned corselet marketed towards much younger women. Well, if nothing else, Helen was slim enough for it, all ribs and shoulder blades draped in tissue-paper skin./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"But more important than Helen's boniness was the fact that this corselet was backless. It was meant to be worn beneath racy, bias-cut dresses with plunging backlines. Helen never wore those sorts of dresses, but she needed space for the machine mounted in the flesh between her shoulder blades./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The machine was vaguely triangle-shaped, with a sleek chrome coating that Fred thought gave it a modern gleam. A sliver of glass fuel tube was visible on the side of the thing, and Bea could see that the yellow glow had almost disappeared./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""What're you waiting for?" Helen had settled before the vanity. Her eyes were all over Bea, irritated and expectant./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm on it." Bea switched the machine off, drained the spent fuel into a ceramic coffee mug, and began to funnel the fresh stuff into the nozzle. She had to work quickly; Helen would die if the machine was off for around ninety seconds. If the machine had to shock her back to life, Helen would be mercilessly cranky and take it out on Bea with pinches and slaps. Her blows were barely hard enough to leave a mark, but Bea hated having to stand there and take them. A slap from anyone else would be met with punching, biting and possible strangulation, but with Helen, Bea had to pretend to be repentant. Like a good mistress who knew where the money was./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Thankfully, there would be no un-dead slapping tonight. Nothing was stuck or clogged, and Bea got the fuel changed with time to spare. "Done, ma'am."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Helen nodded, and Bea took the coffee cup into the bathroom. The aqua regia was acidic, so she filled the sink with water, poured the fuel in, waited for it to mix, and pulled the plug. She stayed to watch everything drain away; hoping against hope that Helen would be asleep when she emerged. If Helen was gone, she could slip out without excuses or question and stay away as long as she liked./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"But Helen was no such thing, of course. She'd just changed into her long white nightgown and settled into bed with a book and a cigarette. Her hair had never been bobbed, and the long mostly-black mass fanned across the pillows. There was too much contrast between her hair and the white sheets, along with Helen's white skin. It made her look older, somehow. Thoroughly witchlike, though that last thought might have stemmed from Bea's half-repressed desire to rough Helen up and set her on fire./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Not going to bed?" Helen didn't even look up from her book. Bea noticed the title just then. How to Win Friends and Influence People, lessons that Helen was certain to refuse to take to heart./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Too early for me," Bea managed. "It's not even ten."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Helen sighed and shook her head. "When I was your age, young ladies got their beauty sleep."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Bea wanted to say that young ladies during Helen's youth had also worn whalebone corsets and lead-based fairness creams, and were those things worth emulating? But she bit the inside of her cheek. "That's modern times, ma'am. No reason to sleep at night when you've got electric lights."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Helen sighed, and if resolved to this particular foible of youth. "Just be sufficiently rested for tomorrow." She looked up and frowned at Bea's restlessness. "I brought some other books. You may read them." The Metamorphosis and The Island of Dr. Moreau sat on the bedside table. "Or will you tell me that young people only read magazines and pulps nowadays?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"A large part of Bea wanted to snap that plenty of magazines were more useful than The Metamorphosis. A good newsmagazine could tell her which new dictators and business tycoons might want to hire a mercenary someday. That was a hundred times better than the story of some self-pitying cockroach-man./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Magazine. The word made Bea remember that copy of The Atlantic tucked under Mr. Pauling's arm./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Magazines," said Bea. "Yeah, that's mostly what I read." She inhaled and continued. Yes, this would be a simple lie. "You know how it is, ma'am. What with the pace of modern life, it's hard to concentrate long enough to read a book. So, magazines it is. And you just got me thinking that I didn't bring any. I might have to run down to the lobby and get one."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Helen raised an eyebrow. "They sell them here?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""They do. Mr. Pauling had a fresh one."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"And before Helen could get another word in, Bea slipped out into the hall. She heaved a sigh of relief once the door clicked behind her. If Helen had anything more to say, Bea could plausibly deny having heard./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Bea rang for the elevator. The brass grills clicked open./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Your boss didn't tip me," said the boy./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yeah, she's a real cunt," said Bea. Her voice was a bit louder than it needed to be, but that one syllable had never felt better in her mouth. Nothing like cunt to crush an atmosphere of suffocating politeness./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The boy blinked and went silent at her crassness, of course./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Oh, don't act like you've never heard that word before," said Bea. "You father probably says it to your mother while he fucks her."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"This time, the boy laughed, as if he didn't know how else to react. "Is this supposed to make me forget that your old lady didn't tip?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Nope," said Bea. But the boy really was a pathetic sort, so she pulled a five-dollar bill from her wallet. "She's not going to tip you. Here, take that and call it all our tips for as long as we're here."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The boy's eye widened at the bill, of course, but they had reached the ground floor. Bea pushed past him to make sure she wouldn't have to listen to any more stupid questions./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Upon exiting the elevator, Bea had a mind to immediately start searching for Marcus, but for the sake of authenticity, she asked a concierge where the magazine stand was. It turned out to be just off of the lobby, across the hall from the reading room. The place was small but well stocked, and Bea immediately grabbed a copy of The Economist and a deck of Luckies. Best to be well-stocked on cigarettes; Helen always refused to share. Bea paid with a quarter, took out her zippo and lit one of the cigarettes on the way out. The first drag was deep and smooth, filling her insides with heat./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Business might be mind-numbing and Helen might be suffocating, but at least women were allowed to smoke in hotels these days. It hadn't always been that way. Looking back, how had Bea survived the earlier part of the 20s, back when a smoking lady might be scolded by strangers or asked to leave? Well, she'd gotten by in the way she always had. Doing just enough to please the important people and to hell with the rest!/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Bea was smiling at this last thought when she noticed the sound of typing coming from the reading room. Pinching the cigarette between her lips, she carefully turned the door handle so it would make no noise, and pushed the door open a crack. Sure enough, there was Mr. Pauling, pounding away on his portable typewriter. His hair looked strangely damp. Was he really breaking a sweat from typing? Bea frowned for a moment, then decided she didn't care. Let Mr. Pauling sweat over whatever he wanted, as long as if kept him from noticing if Marcus disappeared. Bea shut the door as quietly as she had opened it. If Marcus wasn't in the reading room with Mr. Pauling, he'd certainly be in the bar. Marcus wasn't the type to turn in early or sober, especially after an unpleasant day./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The hotel's bar would have been dark even if it hadn't been for the walnut paneling and red-shaded lamps. Still, Marcus was instantly noticeable. He'd taken off his suit jacket and the shoulders beneath the white shirtsleeves were a step wider and broader than anyone else's. He was so tall that that he had to hunch over to rest his forearms on the bar. There was something heavy about the gesture, as if he was depending on the bar to prop him up. And he seemed to be staring almost straight ahead, with his brow furrowed and his jaw thrust forward. It was perfect pose for a man who wanted to drink with no interruptions beyond "What will it be, sir?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Marcus." Between her higher voice and blue suit, Bea felt like a bird beside him. Marcus looked so out of it that she was surprised when he immediately turned at her voice and held out one of his enormous paws. Bea put her cigarette in her left hand, put her right in Marcus's, and maneuvered herself onto a barstool. She normally wasn't one for pushed chairs and held doors, but she appreciated this. Bar footrails were not meant to work with high heels./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"As soon as she was settled on the stool, Bea spotted another of Marcus's subtle semi-smiles. Rumor of a smile, she called it in her mind. Maybe Marcus wasn't in as foul of a mood as she'd worried. He might just be tired./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Get a ward eight for the bird." Marcus might have growled at the bartender, but his voice was softer when he turned to Bea. "She asleep?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""God, don't I wish?" Bea pulled her skirt straight; it was bunching unattractively around her lower stomach. "She's up reading. Something about making friends, if you can believe it? I had to tell her I needed to buy a magazine."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The bartender set the ward eight down in the midst of Marcus's empty shot-glasses. Bea could have sworn that his eyes lingered on her as she did so. Most likely, he had sensed that there was something slightly off about her face. Bea liked to think that she was fairly good at concealing her scars. A glass eye, plenty of makeup, and a fluff of curls pinned over the burned part of her scalp—all that covered up the most obvious parts. But the glass eye didn't move and nerve damage had left Bea's face slightly asymmetrical. It was just odd enough to make a curious person look twice./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Bea tried to reassure herself. The bartender was likely an ordinary sod who only noticed things so he could tell stories to some vapid girlfriend. Still, she couldn't shake the feeling that he was watching her. The bartender might be a moron, but even a moron might whisper things to a waitress, who would whisper them to a chambermaid, and suddenly, Helen would know. The walls didn't need ears. The half-invisible background people were quite enough./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""This place sucks," Bea whispered, softly enough that the bartender couldn't hear. She took a large gulp of her drink; the sooner she was buzzing, the better. "Wanna blow? My car's nearly full. There's gotta be something in town."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Marcus's face suddenly became fully animated as he raised both eyebrows. "Your car? In this weather?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""What about the weather?" The words came out too loud./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Marcus scoffed, though not unkindly. "Haven't looked out a window for a few hours, have you?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""N-no. No." Damn, did all that disappointment have to seep into her voice./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""It's been snowing since three," said Marcus. "Not sure we could even find your car in the drifts, much less drive it."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Bea sighed through her nose, then tossed back the rest of her drink in two swallows, ladylike behavior be damned. It was satisfying to set the empty glass down at least. "Well, fuck." This, at least, she managed to whisper. Her mind started searching for possibilities again – surely they could find something entertaining? Outrageous fun could be had at hotels, of course. You could push somebody wearing evening clothes into the swimming pool, try to steal a concierge's hat, or return to the room sneak gin and play drunken charades. Plenty of possibilities, though Bea had never done any of them with Helen nearby./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Marcus must have guessed what Bea was thinking, because he growled for two more shots of Jameson and pushed them both towards her. "Here. Seems you need it."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Thanks, pet." Bea tossed one back. It burned far less than she expected; hard liquor was so much better now that it was legal again. A bit of warm edge was starting to build under her skin. Booze-fueled energy with nowhere to go. It made the prospect of getting smashed in this dim bar seem duller than ever./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Is it really, truly, so bad that we can't go out? I'll let you drive if that makes you feel better." Marcus often drove the team van when they were stationed at Coldfront. br /Marcus shrugged and tapped one finger on the rim of an empty shot-glass. "I'm pretty sure but we could check."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Bea quickly downed the rest of the Jameson and they headed for the front door. Marcus offered her his suit jacket and she accepted it less because she needed it than because the doorman would notice if she didn't./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It was snowing all right, so ferociously that Bea didn't even consider stepping out from the beneath the hotel awning. This was the really miserable kind of snowstorm, too, with small, hard flakes and so much wind that swirls of loose powder blew across the lawn. The snow must have been wetter earlier in the day, though, because it had stuck to everything from windowpanes to the trunks of trees. The cars in the parking lot had been reduced to white lumps. Bea could only recognize her Volkswagen Beetle because of its shape. The round little dome of the chassis somehow made it seem more cheerful than the other, boxier cars. With the wheels all but buried in the snow, it looked almost like a lump of fairy candy or a scoop of ice cream. br /Despite the car's appearance, Bea groaned. She'd specifically bought the Beetle because it was sturdy. Megalomaniacal chancellor aside, those Germans were excellent engineers. Only the Australians could do better. But even a German car couldn't plow its way through bumper-deep snow without overheating or sliding off the road./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Right." Marcus nodded at their surroundings, as if one glimpse had told him all he needed to know. "No way we're driving in this."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yeah." The weather was hopeless, but Bea couldn't help but stare longingly at that little dome of fairy candy. Cars did that to her. Reminded her of all the places she could go, at least when the weather was decent. She found herself thinking of her first-ever ride in a car, a boyfriend's third-hand Model T. It had had no top, no suspension to speak of, and it started with a hand crank instead of a key. It was a disaster of a car, but they hadn't cared. It got them away from their parents and the dusty streets of their little Nebraska town. The freedom had gone to their heads during those rides. It made them reckless. No wonder old Parson Brown had railed against cars as "vessels of sin" that "encouraged heavy petting."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm ready to go in if you are." Marcus had to be freezing in just his shirtsleeves and vest. As he turned towards the door, Bea could see that the hairs on the back of his neck were standing on end./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""No, wait." She reached out and grabbed the strap on the back of his vest. "Let's go out to my car. Not drive it anywhere, just get in. We can screw or something."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"That certainly made Marcus stop in his tracks./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Nobody new is going to arrive at night in the middle of a snowstorm," said Bea. She pointed at the gilt-panel hotel doors. "Hell, even the doorman's gone inside. And even if he steps out, there's snow over the windows./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Marcus snorted. "Fucking in your car?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""We can do it. We'll make it work." Bea grabbed his wrist and tugged. She was a foot shorter and easily a hundred pounds lighter, but she managed to muster enough force to get him to take a step back./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You're actually serious." Marcus's tone suggested he was almost pleased at this./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Damn right I am!" Bea dragged Marcus back a few more steps, out from underneath the shelter of the awning. Suddenly, she was up to her stocking-ed calves in snow and the wind was driving hard little flakes into her face. She looked up at Marcus, grabbed his hand even tighter, and then turned on her heels to make a dash for the car. Well, she tried to make a dash. The snow forced her to pick up her knees like a marching clarinetist and her dainty business shoes tried to slide out from under her. Bea imagined falling face-first and knocking out a few teeth. At least, he could be trusted to carry her back indoors./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Fifty high-kneed steps later, they reached the Beetle. Bea fumbled through her pockets for the keys for thirty cold seconds before she managed to unlock it. Both lunged for the doors, then slammed them shut behind them. A chunk of snow fell off the driver's-side window./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"For a second, Bea could just lean back in her seat and catch her breath, grateful to be out of the wind. At some point, her breathing turned to a low giggle, and she turned to look at Marcus. She needed a moment to make him out, because the only light came through the exposed window. It wasn't much, just the sickly yellow glare of a nearby sodium street lamp. Not a flattering sort of light, but it reminded Bea of earlier years, she'd snuck out of the house and scurried down a road lined with similar lamps. A sodium light was meant to illuminate scraps of adventure, snatched whenever she could get them./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The last of the day's business meetings was formal and frumpy, as only meetings in a stuffy hotel conference room could be. Bea and Helen were the only women in the room, and Bea and Marcus were the only ones under fifty. All the other attendees seemed to be near-identical old men. They didn't look exactly alike, of course, but their appearances all seemed to express the same idea. All appeared over-salaried and over-fed, with gray hair and frowns and special interests galore. They came with agendas and contracts and all of it had to do with vast sums of theoretical money. No cash, just stocks and bonds and diamond mines in India. Men like these never dealt with something so mundane as a paycheck./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Bea didn't want to be at this meeting. Hell, she barely understood why Helen had insisted that she and Marcus come. Helen had said that it was good to have mercenaries' faces attached to the contracts. But secretly, Bea figured that she had to come because Helen wanted the female company. As for Marcus, his height and muscles and crooked nose probably served to intimidate the businessmen into giving Helen better deals./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Well, whatever the reason, Bea was only expected to be present. Thank god no one expected her to pay attention or take notes, because her mind had started wandering within the first five minutes. First, she'd stared at the taxidermy deer head mounted on the wall, and thought about the taxidermist fixing the hollow balaclava of skin to the stuffed frame. Then she'd thought about the men's' mistresses; men so rich and dull were certain to have them, weren't they? Maybe the girls got pearls for their trouble – something that could be sold for something useful when times demanded it. Or perhaps they were set up in their own apartments. Sleek, modern units with chiffon bedspreads and electric refrigerators in pastel colors. Expensive things that would take a lot of work to acquire. Well, only a lot of work if the work in question was something other than spreading one's legs and moaning./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Bea blinked and noticed that everyone in the conference room had started moving. There was much stretching and cracking of knees. The meeting was finally over, thank whatever divine powers that be. Bea roller her shoulders and tried to catch Marcus's eye. All she wanted was a shared glimpse of sympathy, something that indicated that he had been as miserable as she. But Marcus was straight-backed and solemn, just like Helen wanted. No doubt he'd spent the meeting glaring at each of the men in turn, just to show that Helen meant business./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Bea never understood how he managed to keep up the bodyguard act for so long. If she hadn't known better, she'd have sworn he was man of discipline and stodgy morals. The men probably thought that, too. Wouldn't they be surprised if they caught of glimpse of Marcus during his off hours, in the semi-private sphere that he shared with Bea? Oh, their faces would turn with horror. Bea wanted to giggle at the thought, but Helen would notice and ask what was funny./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"So she bit her lip, and filed out of the room with all the others. She was careful to stay near Helen, but two steps behind. Helen got annoyed if Bea walked ahead of her. You walk like a man! she would say. Or, alternatively, stop strutting; you're not the Queen of Sheba. It made Bea want to shove her employer down the hotel's opulent front steps, stomp on her face a few times, and light her on fire. She'd never do such a thing, of course. Two steps behind was the mercenary equivalent of spreading her legs and moaning. Like a mistress, she knew where the money came from./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Once the group had reached the lobby, the men dispersed, and a slight man peeled himself from one of the brocade chairs and came skittering towards Helen. He had a fresh copy of The Atlantic rolled under his arm, Bea noticed. This hotel had to have a magazine-and-cigarette shop somewhere./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Helen had brought Mr. Pauling to take shorthand, but the men had balked at the idea of a verbatim record of proceedings. It was too much evidence./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Good evening, ma'am." Mr. Pauling stood before Helen and bounced on the balls of his feet. "Did all go well?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"While Helen's attention was elsewhere, Bea drew closer to Marcus. She hoped he's bent down, and she could whisper in ear. She'd suggest drinks and quick fuck in the men's room. Hell, she'd even be happy driving into town. They could torch a few abandoned buildings or sit in the back of a seedy burlesque with worn-out girls and watered-down drinks. They needed to something, anything to release her pent-up energy./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Terribly disappointing," said Helen. Marcus exhaled; Bea suspected he was trying not to snort. Helen could have been handed the entire continent of Australia in a velvet-lined box and she still would have called it disappointing./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I want these typed and filed by morning." Helen thrust her longhand notebook into Mr. Pauling's hands. While Mr. Pauling fumbled, Bea and reached the back of her hand against Marcus's. He glimpsed down at her, making proper eye contact for the first time that night. Save me, Bea mouthed, and she could have sworn she got the subtlest smile in return. Marcus brushed Bea's hand in return, maybe lingering a little longer than necessary. If nothing else, Bea must have known that Bea was on the verge of going crazy and exploding./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Of course, ma'am," said Mr. Pauling./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Helen did not so much as thank him, just looked over her shoulder. "Beatrice, we're going upstairs." This was the cue that Helen was going to retire early and that the men were dismissed. Pauling scuttled off like a nervous insect, and Marcus marched off with a simple, "Good night, ma'am." Bea watched him go. Lucky man, off to get a drink or read the evening paper, while she had to help Helen get ready for bed./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The elevator had brass grilles and a teenage operator who looked absurd in his gold-braid cap./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Tenth floor." Helen sniffed at the boy and never tipped. Tips just encouraged the poor to stay poor, or so she said to Bea./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The hotel room on the tenth floor was pale blue and sleek. There was a pseudo-Egyptian vase on the dresser, and pseudo-Oriental screen the corner, pale green and patterned with cranes. All the furniture seemed to be made of smooth curves of pale wood, from the vanity to the desk to the two twin beds./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"One might have assumed that Helen took double rooms to save money – each room cost twelve dollars a night! – but Bea suspected it was at least partially to keep her separated from Marcus. Put Bea in the same room as Helen and Marcus in the same room as Mr. Pauling, and there was no way for the mercenaries to cause the improper sort of ruckus. Helen had no patience for noise complaints, torn sheets, or fires caused by dropped matches. Such things were inconveniences or worse, disappointments. Sure, this thing between Bea and Marcus had never been formally acknowledged. Helen had never said a word about it, but Bea was still certain she knew. There were burns and bruises and if Helen's henchmen went through the mercenaries' possessions, they'd find notes and misplaced pairs of underwear./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"No sooner had the door clicked close than Helen had removed her purple suit jacket and started unbuttoning the lavender shirtwaist beneath it. "It's in my cosmetics case."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Bea nodded. The case was in its normal place inside Helen's dress-suit case. It was a dark, bulky thing, thoroughly Victorian and long out of fashion. Helen was like that sometimes. She'd fixate on certain old things and insist the long-ago past had been better. She could live until 1970 and she'd probably still be using the same ancient case./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"So Bea sifted through ornate silver compacts and perfume atomizers until she found the little bottle that glowed a soft golden color. It was Australium dissolved in aqua regia, very expensive and very important for Helen's health; Bea wasn't allowed to know the details./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Helen had removed her narrow suit-skirt by now, and was busy unclipping her garters from her shape-wear. Despite her age, she wore an un-boned corselet marketed towards much younger women. Well, if nothing else, Helen was slim enough for it, all ribs and shoulder blades draped in tissue-paper skin./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"But more important than Helen's boniness was the fact that this corselet was backless. It was meant to be worn beneath racy, bias-cut dresses with plunging backlines. Helen never wore those sorts of dresses, but she needed space for the machine mounted in the flesh between her shoulder blades./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The machine was vaguely triangle-shaped, with a sleek chrome coating that Fred thought gave it a modern gleam. A sliver of glass fuel tube was visible on the side of the thing, and Bea could see that the yellow glow had almost disappeared./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""What're you waiting for?" Helen had settled before the vanity. Her eyes were all over Bea, irritated and expectant./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm on it." Bea switched the machine off, drained the spent fuel into a ceramic coffee mug, and began to funnel the fresh stuff into the nozzle. She had to work quickly; Helen would die if the machine was off for around ninety seconds. If the machine had to shock her back to life, Helen would be mercilessly cranky and take it out on Bea with pinches and slaps. Her blows were barely hard enough to leave a mark, but Bea hated having to stand there and take them. A slap from anyone else would be met with punching, biting and possible strangulation, but with Helen, Bea had to pretend to be repentant. Like a good mistress who knew where the money was./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Thankfully, there would be no un-dead slapping tonight. Nothing was stuck or clogged, and Bea got the fuel changed with time to spare. "Done, ma'am."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Helen nodded, and Bea took the coffee cup into the bathroom. The aqua regia was acidic, so she filled the sink with water, poured the fuel in, waited for it to mix, and pulled the plug. She stayed to watch everything drain away; hoping against hope that Helen would be asleep when she emerged. If Helen was gone, she could slip out without excuses or question and stay away as long as she liked./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"But Helen was no such thing, of course. She'd just changed into her long white nightgown and settled into bed with a book and a cigarette. Her hair had never been bobbed, and the long mostly-black mass fanned across the pillows. There was too much contrast between her hair and the white sheets, along with Helen's white skin. It made her look older, somehow. Thoroughly witchlike, though that last thought might have stemmed from Bea's half-repressed desire to rough Helen up and set her on fire./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Not going to bed?" Helen didn't even look up from her book. Bea noticed the title just then. How to Win Friends and Influence People, lessons that Helen was certain to refuse to take to heart./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Too early for me," Bea managed. "It's not even ten."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Helen sighed and shook her head. "When I was your age, young ladies got their beauty sleep."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Bea wanted to say that young ladies during Helen's youth had also worn whalebone corsets and lead-based fairness creams, and were those things worth emulating? But she bit the inside of her cheek. "That's modern times, ma'am. No reason to sleep at night when you've got electric lights."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Helen sighed, and if resolved to this particular foible of youth. "Just be sufficiently rested for tomorrow." She looked up and frowned at Bea's restlessness. "I brought some other books. You may read them." The Metamorphosis and The Island of Dr. Moreau sat on the bedside table. "Or will you tell me that young people only read magazines and pulps nowadays?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"A large part of Bea wanted to snap that plenty of magazines were more useful than The Metamorphosis. A good newsmagazine could tell her which new dictators and business tycoons might want to hire a mercenary someday. That was a hundred times better than the story of some self-pitying cockroach-man./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Magazine. The word made Bea remember that copy of The Atlantic tucked under Mr. Pauling's arm./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Magazines," said Bea. "Yeah, that's mostly what I read." She inhaled and continued. Yes, this would be a simple lie. "You know how it is, ma'am. What with the pace of modern life, it's hard to concentrate long enough to read a book. So, magazines it is. And you just got me thinking that I didn't bring any. I might have to run down to the lobby and get one."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Helen raised an eyebrow. "They sell them here?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""They do. Mr. Pauling had a fresh one."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"And before Helen could get another word in, Bea slipped out into the hall. She heaved a sigh of relief once the door clicked behind her. If Helen had anything more to say, Bea could plausibly deny having heard./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Bea rang for the elevator. The brass grills clicked open./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Your boss didn't tip me," said the boy./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yeah, she's a real cunt," said Bea. Her voice was a bit louder than it needed to be, but that one syllable had never felt better in her mouth. Nothing like cunt to crush an atmosphere of suffocating politeness./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The boy blinked and went silent at her crassness, of course./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Oh, don't act like you've never heard that word before," said Bea. "You father probably says it to your mother while he fucks her."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"This time, the boy laughed, as if he didn't know how else to react. "Is this supposed to make me forget that your old lady didn't tip?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Nope," said Bea. But the boy really was a pathetic sort, so she pulled a five-dollar bill from her wallet. "She's not going to tip you. Here, take that and call it all our tips for as long as we're here."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The boy's eye widened at the bill, of course, but they had reached the ground floor. Bea pushed past him to make sure she wouldn't have to listen to any more stupid questions./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Upon exiting the elevator, Bea had a mind to immediately start searching for Marcus, but for the sake of authenticity, she asked a concierge where the magazine stand was. It turned out to be just off of the lobby, across the hall from the reading room. The place was small but well stocked, and Bea immediately grabbed a copy of The Economist and a deck of Luckies. Best to be well-stocked on cigarettes; Helen always refused to share. Bea paid with a quarter, took out her zippo and lit one of the cigarettes on the way out. The first drag was deep and smooth, filling her insides with heat./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Business might be mind-numbing and Helen might be suffocating, but at least women were allowed to smoke in hotels these days. It hadn't always been that way. Looking back, how had Bea survived the earlier part of the 20s, back when a smoking lady might be scolded by strangers or asked to leave? Well, she'd gotten by in the way she always had. Doing just enough to please the important people and to hell with the rest!/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Bea was smiling at this last thought when she noticed the sound of typing coming from the reading room. Pinching the cigarette between her lips, she carefully turned the door handle so it would make no noise, and pushed the door open a crack. Sure enough, there was Mr. Pauling, pounding away on his portable typewriter. His hair looked strangely damp. Was he really breaking a sweat from typing? Bea frowned for a moment, then decided she didn't care. Let Mr. Pauling sweat over whatever he wanted, as long as if kept him from noticing if Marcus disappeared. Bea shut the door as quietly as she had opened it. If Marcus wasn't in the reading room with Mr. Pauling, he'd certainly be in the bar. Marcus wasn't the type to turn in early or sober, especially after an unpleasant day./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The hotel's bar would have been dark even if it hadn't been for the walnut paneling and red-shaded lamps. Still, Marcus was instantly noticeable. He'd taken off his suit jacket and the shoulders beneath the white shirtsleeves were a step wider and broader than anyone else's. He was so tall that that he had to hunch over to rest his forearms on the bar. There was something heavy about the gesture, as if he was depending on the bar to prop him up. And he seemed to be staring almost straight ahead, with his brow furrowed and his jaw thrust forward. It was perfect pose for a man who wanted to drink with no interruptions beyond "What will it be, sir?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Marcus." Between her higher voice and blue suit, Bea felt like a bird beside him. Marcus looked so out of it that she was surprised when he immediately turned at her voice and held out one of his enormous paws. Bea put her cigarette in her left hand, put her right in Marcus's, and maneuvered herself onto a barstool. She normally wasn't one for pushed chairs and held doors, but she appreciated this. Bar footrails were not meant to work with high heels./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"As soon as she was settled on the stool, Bea spotted another of Marcus's subtle semi-smiles. Rumor of a smile, she called it in her mind. Maybe Marcus wasn't in as foul of a mood as she'd worried. He might just be tired./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Get a ward eight for the bird." Marcus might have growled at the bartender, but his voice was softer when he turned to Bea. "She asleep?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""God, don't I wish?" Bea pulled her skirt straight; it was bunching unattractively around her lower stomach. "She's up reading. Something about making friends, if you can believe it? I had to tell her I needed to buy a magazine."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The bartender set the ward eight down in the midst of Marcus's empty shot-glasses. Bea could have sworn that his eyes lingered on her as she did so. Most likely, he had sensed that there was something slightly off about her face. Bea liked to think that she was fairly good at concealing her scars. A glass eye, plenty of makeup, and a fluff of curls pinned over the burned part of her scalp—all that covered up the most obvious parts. But the glass eye didn't move and nerve damage had left Bea's face slightly asymmetrical. It was just odd enough to make a curious person look twice./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Bea tried to reassure herself. The bartender was likely an ordinary sod who only noticed things so he could tell stories to some vapid girlfriend. Still, she couldn't shake the feeling that he was watching her. The bartender might be a moron, but even a moron might whisper things to a waitress, who would whisper them to a chambermaid, and suddenly, Helen would know. The walls didn't need ears. The half-invisible background people were quite enough./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""This place sucks," Bea whispered, softly enough that the bartender couldn't hear. She took a large gulp of her drink; the sooner she was buzzing, the better. "Wanna blow? My car's nearly full. There's gotta be something in town."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Marcus's face suddenly became fully animated as he raised both eyebrows. "Your car? In this weather?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""What about the weather?" The words came out too loud./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Marcus scoffed, though not unkindly. "Haven't looked out a window for a few hours, have you?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""N-no. No." Damn, did all that disappointment have to seep into her voice./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""It's been snowing since three," said Marcus. "Not sure we could even find your car in the drifts, much less drive it."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Bea sighed through her nose, then tossed back the rest of her drink in two swallows, ladylike behavior be damned. It was satisfying to set the empty glass down at least. "Well, fuck." This, at least, she managed to whisper. Her mind started searching for possibilities again – surely they could find something entertaining? Outrageous fun could be had at hotels, of course. You could push somebody wearing evening clothes into the swimming pool, try to steal a concierge's hat, or return to the room sneak gin and play drunken charades. Plenty of possibilities, though Bea had never done any of them with Helen nearby./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Marcus must have guessed what Bea was thinking, because he growled for two more shots of Jameson and pushed them both towards her. "Here. Seems you need it."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Thanks, pet." Bea tossed one back. It burned far less than she expected; hard liquor was so much better now that it was legal again. A bit of warm edge was starting to build under her skin. Booze-fueled energy with nowhere to go. It made the prospect of getting smashed in this dim bar seem duller than ever./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Is it really, truly, so bad that we can't go out? I'll let you drive if that makes you feel better." Marcus often drove the team van when they were stationed at Coldfront. br /Marcus shrugged and tapped one finger on the rim of an empty shot-glass. "I'm pretty sure but we could check."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Bea quickly downed the rest of the Jameson and they headed for the front door. Marcus offered her his suit jacket and she accepted it less because she needed it than because the doorman would notice if she didn't./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It was snowing all right, so ferociously that Bea didn't even consider stepping out from the beneath the hotel awning. This was the really miserable kind of snowstorm, too, with small, hard flakes and so much wind that swirls of loose powder blew across the lawn. The snow must have been wetter earlier in the day, though, because it had stuck to everything from windowpanes to the trunks of trees. The cars in the parking lot had been reduced to white lumps. Bea could only recognize her Volkswagen Beetle because of its shape. The round little dome of the chassis somehow made it seem more cheerful than the other, boxier cars. With the wheels all but buried in the snow, it looked almost like a lump of fairy candy or a scoop of ice cream. br /Despite the car's appearance, Bea groaned. She'd specifically bought the Beetle because it was sturdy. Megalomaniacal chancellor aside, those Germans were excellent engineers. Only the Australians could do better. But even a German car couldn't plow its way through bumper-deep snow without overheating or sliding off the road./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Right." Marcus nodded at their surroundings, as if one glimpse had told him all he needed to know. "No way we're driving in this."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yeah." The weather was hopeless, but Bea couldn't help but stare longingly at that little dome of fairy candy. Cars did that to her. Reminded her of all the places she could go, at least when the weather was decent. She found herself thinking of her first-ever ride in a car, a boyfriend's third-hand Model T. It had had no top, no suspension to speak of, and it started with a hand crank instead of a key. It was a disaster of a car, but they hadn't cared. It got them away from their parents and the dusty streets of their little Nebraska town. The freedom had gone to their heads during those rides. It made them reckless. No wonder old Parson Brown had railed against cars as "vessels of sin" that "encouraged heavy petting."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm ready to go in if you are." Marcus had to be freezing in just his shirtsleeves and vest. As he turned towards the door, Bea could see that the hairs on the back of his neck were standing on end./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""No, wait." She reached out and grabbed the strap on the back of his vest. "Let's go out to my car. Not drive it anywhere, just get in. We can screw or something."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"That certainly made Marcus stop in his tracks./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Nobody new is going to arrive at night in the middle of a snowstorm," said Bea. She pointed at the gilt-panel hotel doors. "Hell, even the doorman's gone inside. And even if he steps out, there's snow over the windows./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Marcus snorted. "Fucking in your car?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""We can do it. We'll make it work." Bea grabbed his wrist and tugged. She was a foot shorter and easily a hundred pounds lighter, but she managed to muster enough force to get him to take a step back./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You're actually serious." Marcus's tone suggested he was almost pleased at this./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Damn right I am!" Bea dragged Marcus back a few more steps, out from underneath the shelter of the awning. Suddenly, she was up to her stocking-ed calves in snow and the wind was driving hard little flakes into her face. She looked up at Marcus, grabbed his hand even tighter, and then turned on her heels to make a dash for the car. Well, she tried to make a dash. The snow forced her to pick up her knees like a marching clarinetist and her dainty business shoes tried to slide out from under her. Bea imagined falling face-first and knocking out a few teeth. At least, he could be trusted to carry her back indoors./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Fifty high-kneed steps later, they reached the Beetle. Bea fumbled through her pockets for the keys for thirty cold seconds before she managed to unlock it. Both lunged for the doors, then slammed them shut behind them. A chunk of snow fell off the driver's-side window./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"For a second, Bea could just lean back in her seat and catch her breath, grateful to be out of the wind. At some point, her breathing turned to a low giggle, and she turned to look at Marcus. She needed a moment to make him out, because the only light came through the exposed window. It wasn't much, just the sickly yellow glare of a nearby sodium street lamp. Not a flattering sort of light, but it reminded Bea of earlier years, she'd snuck out of the house and scurried down a road lined with similar lamps. A sodium light was meant to illuminate scraps of adventure, snatched whenever she could get them./p