Part 28 (2/2)

Fact nine: I don't like Marcone. I don't trust him. I don't believe him any further than I can kick him. I've never hidden the fact. Marcone knows it.

”Son of a b.i.t.c.h,” I whispered, shaking my head. Things went from bad to worse when Marcone showed up, and I naturally figured that the dangerometer had peaked.

I was wrong. Really, really wrong.

I needed one question answered to be sure what was going on, even though I was fairly sure what the answer would be-the only problem was figuring out whether or not the answer would be an honest one.

I could not afford to get it wrong.

”Helen,” I said quietly. ”If it's all right with you, I'd like to speak to you alone.”

A small smile graced her mouth. She took a deep breath and let it out with a slow, satisfied exhalation.

”You needn't, if you do not wish to do so,” Marcone said. ”I do not react well when others threaten or harm my employees. Dresden is aware of that.”

”No,” Helen said. ”It's all right.”

I glanced aside. ”Murph...”

She didn't look overjoyed, but she nodded once and said, ”I'll be right outside.”

”Thanks.”

Murphy departed under Hendricks's beady gaze. Marcone rose as well, and left without glancing at me. Hendricks went last, shutting the door behind him.

Helen ran a fingertip lightly over the pearls on her necklace and settled into the chair behind the desk. She looked quite comfortable and confident there. ”Very well.”

I took a seat in one of the chairs facing the desk, and shook my head. ”Jessica Blanche worked for you,” I said.

”Jessie...” Helen's dead eyes flickered momentarily down to her folded hands. ”Yes. She lived near me, actually. I gave her a ride to work several days each week.”

Which must have been when Madrigal had seen them together-out in public, presumably not in their ”professional” clothes, and the moron had just a.s.sumed that Miss Blanche was another member of the Ordo. From there, it wouldn't have been hard for him to ease up to the girl, snare her with the incubus come-hither, and take her off to a hotel room for a little fun and an ecstatic death.

”You and Marcone,” I said. ”That's one I can't figure. I thought you hated him. h.e.l.l, you were trafficking with the powers of darkness, helping to create an addictive drug-helping the Shadowman kill people, to get back at him.”

”Hate,” she said, ”and love are not so very different things. Both are focused upon another. Both are intense. Both are pa.s.sionate.”

”And there's not much difference between 'kiss' and 'kill.' If you only look at the letters.” I shrugged. ”But here you are, working for Marcone. As a madam.”

”I am am a convicted felon, Mister Dresden,” she replied. ”I used to handle accounts with a total value in the hundreds of millions of dollars. I was ill suited to work as a waitress in a diner.” a convicted felon, Mister Dresden,” she replied. ”I used to handle accounts with a total value in the hundreds of millions of dollars. I was ill suited to work as a waitress in a diner.”

”Nickel in the pen didn't do much for your resume, huh?”

”Or references,” she replied. She shook her head. ”My reasons for being here are none of your business, Dresden, and have nothing to do with the matter at hand. Ask your questions or get out.”

”After you parted company with the other members of the Ordo tonight,” I said, ”did you place a phone call to them?”

”Again,” she said quietly, ”we are at an impa.s.se, exactly as we were before. It doesn't matter what I say, given that you are clearly unwilling to believe me.”

”Did you call them?” I asked.

She stared steadily, her eyes so dull and empty that it made her elegant black outfit look like funerary wear. I couldn't tell if it would be more suitable for mourners-or for the deceased. Then her eyes narrowed and she nodded. ”Ah. You want me to look you in the eyes. The term is overdramatic, but I believe it is referred to as a soulgaze.”

”Yeah,” I said.

”I hadn't realized it was a truth detector.”

”It isn't,” I said. ”But it will tell me what sort of person you are.”

”I know what sort of person I am,” she replied. ”I am a functional borderline psychopath. I am heartless, calculating, empty, and can muster very little in the way of empathy for my fellow human beings. But then, you can't take my word for it, can you?”

I just looked at her for a moment. ”No,” I said then, very quietly. ”I don't think I can.”

”I have no intention of proving anything to you. I will submit to no such invasion.”

”Even if it means more of your friends in the Ordo die?”

There was the slightest hesitation before she answered. ”I have been unable to protect them thus far. Despite all...” She trailed off and shook her head once. Confidence returned to her features and voice. ”Anna will watch over them.”

I stared at her for a second, and she regarded me coolly, focused on a spot a bit over my eyebrows, avoiding direct eye contact.

”Anna's important to you?” I asked.

”As much as anyone can be, now,” she replied. ”She was kind to me when she had no cause to be. Nothing to gain from it. She is a worthy person.”

I watched her closely. I've done a lot of work as both a professional wizard and a professional investigator. Wizardry is awfully intriguing and useful, but it doesn't necessarily teach you very much about other people. It's better at teaching you about yourself.

The investigating business, though, is all about people. It's all about talking to them, asking questions, and listening to them lie. Most of the things investigators get hired to handle involve a lot of people lying. I've seen liars in every shape and size and style. Big lies, little lies, white lies, stupid lies. The worst lies are almost always silence-or else truth, tainted with just enough deception to rot it to the core.

Helen wasn't lying to me. She might have been dangerous, might have been willing to practice black magic to seek vengeance in the past, might have been cold and distant-but she had not, for one second, tried to conceal any of it, or denied anything that had happened.

”Oh, G.o.d,” I said quietly. ”You don't know.”

She frowned at me for a moment-then her face became drawn and pale. ”Oh.” She closed her eyes and said, ”Oh, Anna. You poor fool.” She opened them again a moment later. She cleared her throat and asked, ”When?”

”A few hours ago. The hotel room. Suicide.”

”The others?”

”Safe. Hidden and under guard.” I took a deep breath. ”I have to be sure, Helen. If you really do give a d.a.m.n about them, you'll cooperate with me. You'll help me.”

She nodded once, her eyes distant. Then she said, ”For them.” And met my eyes.

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