Davidson cleared his throat and I turned my attention to find him looking sternly at me. “Mr. Canderous, I really think us leaving here is the least of your concerns right now. I’ve got several bones I could start picking with your Department if you’d like. I understand that Mr. Bane here was kidnapped from his place of work, rolled into a carpet no less, and I highly suspect that you had something to do with that. Frankly, I hate to think what charges he might bring against the D.E.A. should younot let us walk out that door right now.”

Connor and the Inspectre let go of me. I turned silently, feeling utterly helpless. Any heroism I had felt earlier was squashed now, and my ego had practically shriveled up, crawled under a rock, and died. I stood mute.

“Fine,” I said, making an unexpected dive for Faisal now that no one was holding on to me. “Go, but not before I give our friend here a hug good-bye!”

Faisal didn’t have a chance to react. I pulled my gloves off as I went and then did something I had never done before-I grabbed Faisal’s face in both hands and tapped directly into him. I concentrated on my raw emotions the way Connor had taught me to, and flipped into a psychometric vision with one thought on my mind.Irene.

The room around me fell away. An image resolved in my mind’s eye-Faisal in his office talking to Irene, only in this vision she was alive. In life, she was more radiant than I had ever seen her. She was quoting him a price, a price Faisal would have to pay if she was going to steal the wooden fish for him. Faisal knew it was in a private collection on the Upper West Side, its owner unaware of its value to the Sectarians, but he desperately needed it. I tried to guide Faisal’s thoughts in the vision, but they wouldn’t tell me why he wanted it so badly.

Time slipped forward in the vision and this time Faisal was on the phone with Irene and they were yelling at each other. Irene had stolen the artifact as asked, but kept repeating over and over into the phone that she’d never sell it to Faisal, now that she knew what he was planning on doing with it. All I had to do was wait long enough and I was sure I’d hear the specifics of what Faisal had been planning…

Except I was suddenly torn out of the vision and back into the real world with the sickening sensation of having the wind knocked out of me. I was doubled over kneeling on the floor, clutching my stomach. Faisal stood over me, his fist still clenched from the blow.

“Stay,” he panted, “out.”

His face looked as drained as I felt, except he was able to stand, while all I could do was flounder on the floor, flopping like a fish. Forcing myself into another person’s mind was a violation like no other and it tore at my nerves as if I had run into an electric fence. It wasn’t something I ever wanted to repeat. It had weakened me more than psychometry usually did. Maybe tapping into another living creature used up more energy, on top of the pronounced unpleasantness of it all? I didn’t know. I started fishing in my pocket for my Life Savers. Faisal and Davidson turned away.

“We’ll be in touch,” Davidson said as they started for the door.

“I say, so shall we,” the Inspectre said, stopping them in their tracks by the door. “It’s awfully brave of you to intimidate my young initiate here, old boy, but you’ll find me a different story. Rest assured, I will get to the bottom of all this.”

Faisal glanced back as he reached for the handle. “The only thing you’re bound to reach the bottom of is a bag of chips, old man…or the East River.”

As soon as he and Davidson walked out, the divisional managers scrambled out of their chairs and followed, leaving just Connor, the Inspectre, and me. Connor helped me up in the immediate and heavy silence that hung in the air as the door closed. None of us dared looked at the other.

“Well, that was certainly different,” I said.

“You look like hell, kid,” Connor said.

“Good. Ifeel like hell.”

“Hope it was worth it. Did you get anything?”

“Most of what he said about Irenewas true,” I said. “She was a thief, like a freelancer to them, but she wasn’t holding out for more money. She refused to help him when she found out what the Sectarians were going to use the wooden fish for.”

“And what were they planning?” the Inspectre asked.

I shrugged. “I don’t know, sir. That’s when Faisal went all Cassius Clay on me.”

“Well, that’s a start,” the Inspectre said encouragingly. “That’s more than we knew before. And we do have an avenue or two more to explore…”

Connor and the Inspectre exchanged that look again. I was too wiped to say anything more. Connor took the empty clipboard and slid it in his satchel.

“I could use a stiff drink after that,” Connor continued as he ran his hand through the white streak in his hair. “Shall we?”

“Hrooom!” the Inspectre blasted as he headed for the door. “That may indeed be the best idea I’ve heard all night, boys. Tonight the drinks are on Other Division.”

33

Eccentric Circles was the ancient dive that catered to a clientele of the mysterious and the strange. Naturally, it was a departmental favorite. As usual, the place was packed with secretive folk who wanted little in the way of small talk or questions, but it was a safe bet that just about all of its patrons dabbled in something arcane, otherworldly, or just plain fucked up. We fit in perfectly.

The first few drinks helped rebuild my sugar depletion, but the trade-off was that I was slowly getting drunk. Three rounds into it, I started feeling bad. There was a growing mountain of things I should be dealing with and I was sick of not dealing with things-it had gotten Tamara killed. Also, I had essentially abandoned Jane right after she had helped me bring in Faisal, and now she was somewhere out there alone in the city, unsure of her own fate. Irene had yet to manifest again, and I didn’t know if she’d be hostile or not when she did. I attempted to leave at one point to check my messages, but the Inspectre stopped me and confided that our drinking and bonding were every bit departmental job functions as time in the office was. I wasn’t sure I believed him, but after my third pint I was willing to give it a shot. Other Division was buying, and after the downward spiral my day had taken, I found it a meager but welcome reward. Three cheers for job-sanctioned drinking!

Connor returned from the bar, pushing his way through the buzzing crowd. He was carrying several pints, which he slammed down on the table. Having matched the Inspectre and me drink for drink, he was in a jovial mood.

“Sorry it took so long,” he said. “Some of the guys from Greater and Lesser Arcana were up at the bar and pulled me into the old argument.”

“What argument?” I asked, grabbing one of the glasses.

“Historically,” Connor said, “drinking is a common pastime among agents. There’s a lot of stress on everyone and the biggest in-Department pissing contest is over who suffers the most. Those guys always think that they’re the ones.”

“They could be right,” the Inspectre said. “They do carry the additional burden of answering to Thaddeus Wesker.”

I liked hearing the Inspectre be a little cheeky, and knowing Director Wesker as I did, I thought the old man made a pretty convincing argument.

“I don’t think they do,” Connor said. “Shadower has the largest group of heavy drinkers. I think their world of infiltration, subterfuge, and constant surveillance might take the prize.”

I stared at my pint as the foam slowly settled, and I felt the weight of the past day pressing down on me.

“You okay, kid?” Connor asked.

“None of today happened the way I imagined,” I said with a sigh. I took a sip, relishing the oaty thickness of the brew.

“Anything particular?” Connor asked.