The Wrong Goodbye

23.

“You —you knew that I was coming?”

Dumas snorted, and took a sip of his drink. “You think an operation like this, one that pisses off the Big Guy and the Adversary both, and we wouldn’t have any goddamn countermeasures? Please —we’ve been monitoring your progress since before you even reached the canyon. Sweet ride, by the way.”

“If you knew I was coming, why didn’t you kill me hours ago? Why let me get this far?”

“I considered it, of course —but honestly, what would it have accomplished? You would’ve just wound up in another body and come back to pester us all over again, like the little gadfly you are. Besides, I’ve always had a soft spot for the souls I’ve corrupted —you little tykes are so adorable with your eternal suffering and why-me whining and your sad little puppy-dog eyes. So call me sentimental, but I decided this time I’d give you a pass.”

“A pass? You call my tangle with that thing in the basement a pass?”

“What, Abby? Abby’s harmless. Well, to you, at least —her tastes run more toward the living, the younger and fresher the better. Besides, if I hadn’t made things a little challenging, you wouldn’t feel like you’d accomplished anything getting up here, and just imagine what that’d do to your self-esteem! I’m about building up, Sammy, not tearing down.”

“Big of you,” I said.

“Isn’t it, though?” He made to take a pull of his drink, and then stopped short. “Oh, hell —where are my manners? Care for a drink?”

“No, thanks.”

“Probably for the best. Stuff’s made from the blood of the Chosen —it’d likely eat that monkey-suit’s insides right out of you. Still, it is delicious —and damn hard to come by these days. One of my clients had a case lying around since the last Great War. Traded it for a slice of nun who’d had a genuine religious experience before she died. Course, the way things have been going of late, this stuff won’t be rare much longer, so I figure I may as well drink up! Now, Sammy, you want to tell me what brought you all this way? Some unresolved daddy issues, perhaps?”

“Don’t play coy with me —you know damn well why I’m here. I came for Varela.”

“And Varela is…?”

“Play dumb all you like,” I said, “but I’m not biting. I underestimated you once before; it’s not a mistake I’m likely to repeat.”

“Really? Because I was of the impression you’re not a man who learns from his mistakes —you’re always far too certain you’re in the right. But let’s say for the sake of argument that I do know who this Varela is. What makes you think I’d hand him over to you? I mean, I allow you into my place of business out of the kindness of my heart, and this is how you repay me? By issuing orders and expecting me to snap to? It seems you’ve forgotten your station in this world, Collector —you’re in no position to make demands of me. You’ll be lucky if I don’t kill you for your impudence.”

“By all means, go ahead. As you said, I’ll simply be reseeded elsewhere —and when I am, I’ll be sure to tell my handler where she can find the missing Varela soul.”

At that Dumas sat upright and set his drink down on the table. “Wait,” he said, leaning forward in sudden interest, “you’re here about a missing soul?”

“As if you didn’t know.”

“I didn’t know.”

“Cut the bullshit,” I spat. “I know all about your arrangement with Danny Young. I know he’s been funneling you souls in return for skim. And I for damn sure know that Danny stole Varela’s soul. Now, I’ve seen enough of your operation tonight to know that business is booming. So what happened? The souls Danny was assigned to collect couldn’t keep up with demand? Or was Varela some kind of special order?”

Dumas scowled, his face flushed with anger. “Boy, if I were you, I’d watch your tongue. You don’t understand half as much as you think you do.”

“Then by all means, enlighten me.”

He downed his drink and wiped his lips with the back of his hand. “First off,” he said, gesturing around the room with his empty glass before setting it on the table, “we ain’t in the business of taking special orders —the product we got is the product we got. Partly ’cause we gotta keep a low profile if we wanna keep this operation running, and snatching souls to fill requests would attract all kinds of unwanted attention. Also partly ’cause it’s not necessary. A skim-trip ain’t so much about the specific experience being relived; it’s about the feeling, the sense that the Maker’s in His heaven and all is right with the world. All you need for that’s a soul that ain’t been all the way corrupted, and believe me, we got scads of ’em just stacking up, Danny Young or no.”

I nodded toward the empty glass beside him, my face a mask of disbelief. “So you’re telling me the nun-soul you traded for that you came by honestly?”

Dumas chuckled. “I’m not sure honestly is the right word, but yeah, she arrived via the usual channels. Guess a pious life’s no guarantee you’ll get measured for your wings and harp once your final bell has tolled.” He saw the doubt in my eyes and continued. “Don’t look so surprised, Sammy! Hell’s fulla decent people who couldn’t hack it without a little assistance from the likes of me —you of all people should know that. And believe me, you’re better off not knowing what she bargained for; the whole affair would turn your stomach.”

I thought a moment about what he’d said, but the math still didn’t add up. “The fact remains that Danny works for you, and that he stole the soul I’m looking for. I’m supposed to believe those two things are unconnected?”

“Believe what you want, Sammy —and someday, you’ll have to fill me in on how you’ve come to know so much about who I do and don’t associate with —but the truth is, Danny doesn’t work here anymore.”

“He doesn’t.” Skeptical.

“No, he doesn’t. Fact is, the boy got sloppy —unreliable. Became a liability to the organization. So I had to let him go.”

“If that’s the case, then what the fuck would Danny want with the soul of some drug kingpin that wasn’t even his to take?”

“Wait —don’t tell me this Varela you’re looking for is Pablo Varela? As in head of the Varela drug cartel?”

For the life of me, I couldn’t tell if he was shining me on, or if his surprise was as genuine as it seemed. “So you do know of him,” I said.

“Of course I know of him,” he replied. “I’m a big fan of his work! That bastard is as nasty as they come; well, was, I suppose. A shame that someone of his talent would be struck down in his prime…”

“Yeah, I’m all broken up about it. Only now that I know you’re such a fan and all, I’m forced to wonder if maybe you had Danny take his soul as a little keepsake —you know, so you could stick it in a glass case beside the ball from McGwire’s go-ahead run or whatever.”

“Are you nuts? Leaving aside for a moment the fact that Danny no longer works for me, you know the kind of attention it’d attract to my operation, snagging the soul of a rising talent like Varela? And anyways, if any of the Fallen has McGwire’s go-ahead run, it’d be Mammon; he’s the one who cut McGwire’s deal.”

“OK, so assuming for a second you’re telling the truth–”

“Why, Sam, that hurts.”

“–and Danny wasn’t working for you when he stole Varela’s soul, what could he possibly want with it? You think he might be trying to score a skim-fix on his own?”

“Doubt it. Even if he’s desperate, the kid ain’t stupid, and to try and process a soul all by his lonesome with those pathetic monkey reflexes of his, he’d hafta be. Besides, Varela was as twisted as they come —there’s not much point skimming off a soul as corrupted as his. No, what Danny’d want if he were jonesin’ is a soul with a little decent left in it. So either he took Varela just to fuck with you, or…”

Dumas’s eyes got a faraway look in them, and he fell silent for a moment. Then he shook his head and muttered, “Well, I’ll be damned,” more to himself than to me.

“What?” I asked. “What is it?”

“I do believe I figured out what ol’ Danny Boy might be up to. And if I’m right, you’re not the only one that crazy fucker played.”

“I don’t understand.”

“That’s all right,” he said, a rueful grin gracing his face. “I’m beginning to.”

Dumas got to his feet, clapped me on the shoulder.

“Come with me,” he said. “There’s something I think you need to see.”