Voices – Page 38
Brian glanced at the clock. “Jesus,” he said. “We’ve been here five hours. Or I have anyway. I’m supposed to call Susannah and talk to her about dinner.”
“Phone’s by the bed,” John said. “I’d lend you a new set of clothes, but you’re taller than I am.”
“You don’t have to lend me anything, John. I feel bad enough eating your food and everything.”
“Don’t worry about that shit. In fact, I’ll give you and Jen some money and you can go buy some clothes. Keep them here. Whatever. It’s not an issue right now.”
“John, I can’t take your money like that,” Jen said. “It’s not fair.”
“Yeah, me either,” Brian agreed. “You seem to be doing okay, but you’re not wearing diamond necklaces that say ‘bling’ or driving a Bentley, either. We’re not looking for charity.”
“Then consider it a loan. Seriously.”
“I don’t know…” Brian looked uncomfortable.
“Man, look… I made so much in commission this week you don’t even want to know. Guy comes into the store, and the new laptop he wants isn’t even on his mind, and I talk him into it anyway. Used to be he’d have had to already be thinking about it. Now he doesn’t even have to. I just know. I did that kind of stuff all week. My boss wants to give me a medal.”
“That’s slimy,” said Jen.
“Paid for the sandwiches. And a new coffee table.” John was grinning. Jen pitched him the finger.
“Is it the right thing, though?” She asked.
John didn’t grow upset, but his smile faded away as he considered this. “No,” he said at last. “It’s not. But it’s not taking over the world, either. That guy honestly wanted a new laptop. I just made sure he bought it from me. I didn’t control him, or make him do anything. I just talked him into it because I knew he wanted it.”
“That’s a thin line,” Brian said.
John nodded. “Yeah, but it’s still a line. Right now, I’m the one with a job. I think Jen can get one pretty quickly, assuming she can sleep at night.”
“If we can get control of the part where I turn into the big bad wolf, then I can get a job too,” Brian said.
“Right,” said John. He turned to Jen. “In the interim, can you deal with me bending the definition of ‘right’ a bit to make enough money to keep us all afloat?”
“Sure,” Jen said. “Just… let’s make sure we do something to bend the line back at the end.”
“I think that’s the big question,” said Brian. “What do we do?”
“I’ve been thinking about that,” John said. He reached over the arm of the couch, and picked up a tabloid newspaper. He dropped it in the middle of the coffee table, face up, and let them read the headline.
“Dr. Jackal Slays Another,” Jen read out loud. “Second Victim Found Slashed and Bitten. John… what does this mean?”
She looked up at John, confused. Brian’s expression was different. He looked almost queasy. “I get it,” he said.
“That guy’s out there killing people and chewing on them. That girl they found two months ago was fourteen. He cut her to ribbons, and then ate parts of the corpse.”
He looked up, first at Brian, then at Jen.
“This is how we do the right thing,” he said. “We find this guy, and we stop him.”
