Life, Domino Hurley liked to think, was good.
He was never struck by the irony of that thought. The fact that he was dead had made very little impression on him, although it wasn't a case of denial. It was simply that he was on the make, doing very well for himself, and that was what mattered. His death hadn't been a surprise. It took long enough in coming. The surprise was that he survived it. He had expected oblivion but instead found himself in a world not unlike the one he had left behind, although it did look a little different, especially the people, but that wasn't anything he couldn't cope with.
There was one thing he did have a problem with. When he was first brought to the Land of the Dead he was told that he had been a bad little boy and had to work off some kind of debt. Work as a reaper, in fact. Domino tried to laughed it off, but the woman handling his case passed him along to the Department of Death's training department anyway. At the first opportunity he went looking for a way out of the building he was being held in but couldn't find any door that led outside. He knew there was an outside because he could see it through the windows. So, he thought, if he couldn't find a door he'd just go out a window. But once he had that idea he couldn't find a single window. He ended up-confused, tired, and demoralized-in the training room he'd refused to go to just in time for the first session.
Domino resented the whole thing and refused to cooperate. He wasn't going to be a slave to anyone no matter what he was supposed to have done. That no one would tell him what that something was only convinced him that it was all a scam. He was so intransigent that some higher-up was brought in to talk to him. But once Hector LeMans got Domino alone with him, Domino became very interested in what he had to say. There was a scam going on all right, and it was Hector's.
Hector told Domino that the Department of Death was on the level, but that Hector was in a position to profit from its operations. It was a simple racket: divert tickets for the Number Nine train from 'good' souls, get them out of the way, then sell the tickets and split the profits. Hector had made a start but he needed a better organization, and he needed to gain control of a division in the Bureau of Acquisitions to make things a cinch. He already had an office manager on his payroll but he needed a reaper to go with him. He wanted Domino to be that reaper.
It sounded good to Domino. He liked the fact that Hector seemed to be taking a risk in telling him his scheme. If Domino talked…but Domino didn't want to talk. There were two kinds of people in the world: pigeons and their keepers. He saw himself as the latter. If Hector was inviting him to help rule the roost, he wanted in. But if he wanted in, he had to go through with the training. Domino had to know the ropes if he was to reap for Hector. If Hector was just jerking him around to make him cooperate, well, Domino didn't know what he could do to a man who was already dead but he'd find something.
So Domino went along with the training. When he was done he had another meeting with Hector. His plant hadn't yet opened a space for Domino, but that was fine because Hector needed a new place to store his pigeons. They were getting to be a handful and once Domino got working there'd be a lot more of them. Domino's first job, then, was to find that new place. Somewhere out of the way, remote, and escape proof. Hector already a line on a few possibilities. He wanted Domino to check into them and be his contact with their respective owners. It wouldn't do for an upper-level DOD official to be seen playing in real estate. Domino did his homework and found the perfect place: a worked-out industrial island at the southern edge of the world. In addition to being thousands of kilometers from the nearest inhabited lands and far off the shipping lanes, the island had one other big attraction for Domino. The island was surrounded by a barrier reef, and a lot of the coral, Domino learned, fluoresced brightly and was made into lightbulbs by the current owners, but they had dug out all they could reach with their heavy equipment. They didn't find it practical to expand further from the island, so they were selling out.
Domino made the coral a big point in his pitch to Hector. "Forget the machines," he said. "The owners are right. There's no way to make a profit any more on the coral that way. But who cares about industrial capital when you have slaves?" Don't just ship the pigeons out of sight, Domino argued. Make a little extra gravy out of them while you're at it. Hector couldn't have been more pleased. He bought the island with Domino still working as his go-between. And since the owners were convinced their property was virtually worthless, they sold cheap.
Hector had Domino oversee their takeover of the island and the initial stages of transferring his pigeons. A few weeks after the operation was in full swing, he told Domino that his man in Acquisitions, Don Copal, had made an opening in his division. By being such an ogre, Hector said with a chuckle, that one of the agents decided skipping town was better than working for him any more. Hector made that into a lesson for Domino. The whole operation depended on secrecy and subtlety. It was almost impossible to fire agents since that meant they would probably never be able to earn off their time. The company wanted them to move on, after all, so the manager would have to provide a compelling reason for his actions. Better to give the agent, any agent, a reason to skip. Then it's the agent who was causing trouble. And if the agent ran off because of Copal's conduct…well, the company didn't require that office managers be lovable. Domino didn't think shouting at agents-Copal's method for demoralizing his staff-was all that subtle, but then he had never read Poe.
Domino moved out of the office Hector had been renting for him downtown and went to the Bureau of Acquisitions, a large deco building in an older neighborhood of El Marrow. The area looked like a former commercial district halfway through an urban renewal project. Tall, modern buildings (if Bauhaus and Beaux-Arts structures, however new, could still be called 'modern') mixed with squat, block-shaped turn-of-the-century architecture.
Domino carried his box of things with him as he rode the elevator up to his floor. He could have handed it off to a demon-the box was large, awkward, and heavy-but he couldn't risk letting it out of his sight. The box contained too many records of his activities since working for Hector. He still needed them, unfortunately, but he also needed a more secure way of keeping them. He had a safe in his old office but as a reaper he wasn't expected to be holding any documents that required that kind of security. He figured he could just scan them into his computer and destroy the originals. Nothing suspicious or unusual about a screen saver password.
It was still early when Domino arrived, but not too early. None of the other reapers nor Don Copal had gotten in yet. The secretary was already there. She seemed surprised to see Domino, and a little annoyed for some reason. Domino didn't care. He was probably just interrupting her routine. Nothing important. She wasn't a bad looker, either. She had a nice shape under her dress, although Domino knew he'd see only a flat ribcage if he took a peek. He also knew enough not to take things too literally in the Land of the Dead. So he took his time studying the illusion of her figure, and gave a purely mental shake of his head when she opened her mouth and a grating New York accent escaped.
Domino introduced himself, got the secretary's name, and waited a few moments to be shown to his office. When Eva kept on shuffling papers at her desk, he said, "I'm pretty sure they didn't say anything about me working out of a hallway."
Eva looked up crossly and said, "You know, we weren't expecting anyone so soon." She sighed and stood up. "OK. I'll take you to Lana's office."
"I thought I'd have an office to myself," Domino said. If he had to share…
"Lana's…gone," Eva said. "It'll be all yours. But all her files and things are still in there. There hasn't been time-"
"Yeah, yeah," Domino said. "I can get her junk out of the way if I can get another box."
"Fine," Eva said. She stopped at one door and opened it. "Here you go." She turned to walk back to her desk.
"What about that box, huh?" Domino snapped.
Eva gestured vaguely, "There's a storeroom-"
"So stop talking about it and go!"
She snapped her jaw closed over whatever she thought to say and stomped off.
"Bitch," Domino muttered as he maneuvered his box through the door. She needed a few good slaps, he thought.
He slid his box onto the desk, pushing things aside in the process. Something thudded onto the carpet. Domino bent to pick it up. It was a fat book. The Novels of Sylvia Plath it said on the spine. Domino wasn't sure why, but that didn't seem right. He shrugged and dropped the book on the chair as he pulled it away from the computer. After looking it over he swore. The thing had no scanner, and they weren't into independent peripherals in the Land of the Dead. Computers were all in one piece like some damned Victrola. He'd need a whole new unit.
There was a cough at the door and Domino turned to see Eva standing there, holding a cardboard box as if it were a dead skunk. Domino pushed a few more things from the desk onto the chair. "Put it right there, sweetheart," he said.
Eva glared but did as she was told. She turned to leave again but Domino grabbed her around the waist and pulled her to himself. "What's the hurry? No one's around yet." He wasn't holding her tightly and she quickly slipped out of his arm.
"Never do that again," she said angrily.
Domino laughed. "Don't take it so seriously. And get me a trash can."
"You are…you have one." She kicked the one beside the desk.
"Yeah, but I've got a lot of shit to throw away. Get me another."
Eva went with a faint growl. Domino watched her dress swish around her hips as she stalked away. He shook his head, with a grin on the face he no longer had, and started dumping whatsername's crap in the empty box. Eva came back with another trash can and quickly turned to leave again.
"I'm going to need a new computer," Domino said.
Eva spun around again with hands on hips. "I'll just pull one out of my-"
"Easy, sister," he laughed. "Don't get your panties knotted. I don't mean now. I'm just letting you know, you know? But if there's any paperwork I have to deal with, why don't you warm it up for me, OK?"
Eva folded her arms. "Anything else?"
"Not right now." He let her get out the door before adding, "But you could get a demon to take these old files out of here sometime." She shot him an acid look before disappearing.
Domino went on clearing his new desk. After a few moments he heard Eva's voice. He strained to hear but couldn't make out what she was saying. She sounded angry. He shrugged. Probably just bitching to one of her girlfriends. A minute or so later there was a loud bang that made Domino jump. He looked out into the hall but only saw Eva sitting at her desk, talking to some short guy. Domino went back to what he was doing.
Soon the same short guy came into the office. He stuck out his hand. "I hear you're the new guy," he said in some sort of spic accent.
"Yeah," he said, grasping the pip-squeak's hand. Good grip, though. "Domino Hurley."
"Calavera," the other reaper said. "Manny Calavera." Domino held back a laugh at the James Bond shtick.
"You caught Eva off guard," Calavera said. "The company doesn't usually fill openings this quick."
"Yeah, well, I was available so here I am."
Calavera looked around. "It's gonna be tough to get any work done with your files not here yet."
"I don't have any files, Cal, so that's not a problem."
There was a short pause before Calavera asked, "So is this your first gig?"
"Yeah, but don't worry. I'm a quick learner."
"Uh, OK." There was another pause. Calavera picked up the Plath book and leafed through it. "I always meant to borrow this," he said half to himself.
"You might was well take it. I don't need it."
"What do you know about Lana?" Calavera asked.
"I thought it was Sylvia," Domino said, sorting through the desk drawers.
"No, I mean the woman who used to be in this office."
"Oh." Domino shrugged. "Nothing, I guess."
"Well, she was here a long time."
"Uh, huh."
"People liked her. She was a good reaper. She didn't deserve to be torn apart by demons."
"Hey, that's a shame," Domino said, trying to decide if he could use the half-used day planner he'd found.
"Yeah, sure it's a shame," Calavera said, sounding annoyed. "The point is, everybody's still in shock over what happened. We're kind of angry. You coming in so soon, well, some of that might rub off on you for a while."
"Don't worry, Cal. I'm an easy-going guy. I'll fit in."
Calavera shook his head.
"By the way," Domino said, "does the DOD usually give agents such crappy computers? 'Cause I'm telling you, Manny, this thing is a joke."
Calavera shrugged. "Well, like I said, Lana was here a long time. I think that unit's been here almost as long."
"Time for the scrap pile, then."
"That's up to you," Calavera said. Domino stiffened when he started rummaging around in his box. "Look at all the diplomas!" he said.
Domino jerked the box toward him. "You have to have the proper attitude to get diplomas like those, Manny."
"Really?" Calavera said, tucking his new book under one arm. "I thought you just had to have the proper postage." He turned and left before Domino could make an answer.
He ground his teeth. "I'm surrounded by a bunch of shit-heads," he said under his breath
Copal didn't come into the office until nearly midmorning. Not, to Domino's way of thinking, a good sign. He thought it indicated a lack of drive. Copal's appearance didn't inspire confidence, either. His suit, although technically in good condition, seemed to fit like a rag on his illusory frame. Hector had advised Domino to meet with Copal as soon as he arrived, so he kept watch and was in Copal's office within a couple of minutes.
Copal had already shed his coat and had his sleeves rolled up and his tie loosened, giving him a hard-working look. Sloppy, but driven. His office looked equally messy-three overflowing trash cans, stacked boxes of records, bulging file cabinets, and a small conference table so buried in papers it was obviously no use for meetings. And yet Copal seemed to see a pattern in the chaos. As soon as Domino introduced himself Copal reached into a sagging in-basket and pulled out three work orders.
"These came in over the last couple of weeks," he said. "It's my ass if anyone finds out I've been sitting on them for so long, but Hector's already diverted the Double-Ns. It'll look too suspicious if you bring in three saints your first day, so take care of 'em the old-fashioned way."
"And what's that?" Domino asked.
"Goddammit!" Copal growled, unlocking the middle drawer of his desk. He took out a bulky gun and handed it to Domino butt first. "Here."
Domino turned the pistol over in his hands. "What good is this on dead people?"
"That's a sproutella gun, you dumb-ass. Haven't you been to Hector's greenhouse outside of town?"
Domino shrugged. "Sure, but what does that-"
"You ever see any plants outside of that little building?"
"So this thing-"
"That's right," Copal snapped. "So you take those bastards out to the greenhouse and sprout 'em. Got it?"
"They'd be more use on the island."
"We can't use the island this time, bonehead. Why?" he asked for Domino before he could himself. "Because you gotta bring them back to the office for us to use the system that you set up! And you can't bring in three fucking saints on your first day! Tomorrow we can start shipping to the island. Today you just get these guys out of our hair."
"OK," Domino said with a small shrug, tucking the gun under his waistband and buttoning his coat to hide it. "Anything else?"
"No." Domino turned to go but Copal said, "Yeah, wait. There is something. Get a padlock for your message tube." He pointed at his own to show what he meant. "Some of the 'competitive' agents take cases assigned to others when they aren't around." Copal ground his teeth and said, "It's against policy but the company overlooks it most of the time because it helps keep cases moving. If that happens to you we're screwed."
"Maybe you need to take ownership of that policy," Domino said. "But I'll pick up a lock on my way back to the office." He remembered something before he could move to leave again. "I wanted to ask you something. Is you're secretary always so pleasant?"
Copal laughed. "Yeah, Eva's got a chip on her shoulder all right. But she does her job OK. Why?"
"No reason, really. I just thought maybe I could try to, uh, cool her down."
"I don't think you'd have much luck. Calavera's more her type."
"That so?" Domino shrugged. "It doesn't matter, I suppose."
Domino took care of the day's business and got back to the office in the middle of the afternoon. He saw that the file cabinets had been emptied while he was gone. He put his special papers in the back of a bottom drawer and shook his head. He wished he could get rid of them or keep them in his apartment, but he needed them close to work. And he needed that new computer if he was going to cover his tracks and still have access to what he needed. He wasn't going to take Copal's slob approach.
He spent the rest of the afternoon getting familiar with the office. Calavera was right in saying that the others would resent him. Or maybe the stunted little half-wit put the idea into everyone's heads. Domino had heard that he was supposed to be one of the company's best agents, but Domino found that hard to believe. Calavera seemed to spend more time orbiting Eva than doing his job. It looked like Copal was right about her taste in men. The way they fought, they might even be married.
That night Domino went out to a new nightclub Hector had half-interest in. It was a pretty swanky place with a good bar and cocktail waitresses with legs from here to Judgment Day. Domino was starting to really enjoy himself when he thought he heard an all-too-familiar screech. He looked around and saw Manny and Eva at a nearby table. Domino felt his good mood evaporate a little, but he got up and went over to be friendly. Just because they got off wrong at the office, he figured, was no reason they couldn't get along now. He was wrong. Eva, although cranky, was reasonably quiet, but Calavera chose to be a complete dick. Domino realized these people were a waste of his time, so he left them to spit their venom at each other.
In the following days the other agents continued to cold-shoulder Domino. He knew for certain then that Calavera had turned them against him. He could have tolerated that, but one of them went too far. He kept getting into Domino's face about Lana, even though she got herself shredded through no fault of his before he'd even heard about her. When he pointed that out to the little prick, he jumped him. Domino came close to turning him into kindling for that, and soon after the kid slunk out of town like a whipped puppy. That was fine with Copal. The fewer agents he had the more cases he could send to Domino, and Hector wanted him to process as many Double-Ns as possible. So Copal didn't bother asking for a replacement.
Copal and Hector were satisfied with the way things were turning out, but Domino wasn't. He'd taken all the shit from Calavera that he was going to. So he pitched an idea to Hector. He said it was too great a risk to have a big shot like Calavera in the same office with him. He had to be gotten rid of. Personally, he said, he'd just as well sprout him as anything else. But maybe Copal's 'subtle' approach would be better. So, instead of Copal diverting cases from here and there evenly, he could take them as much as possible from just Calavera-shunting all 'good' cases (not just Double-Ns) to Domino and giving Calavera all the 'bad' ones. With any luck, he'd soon be running out of town. That seemed to be the way the agents in that office dealt with their frustrations. The idea sounded good to Hector, and soon Calavera's career began its slide into a bottomless pit.
Domino enjoyed watching Calavera's dawning realization that he wasn't the DOD's golden boy anymore. Calavera also seemed to realize that Domino was behind it. At least his resentment of Domino seemed to grow. But that was all right. No matter what he suspected he wouldn't be able to pin anything on Domino. At the office Christmas party Calavera got tight as a drum early on and managed to get even more in the bag as time wore on. Then he started a loud, nearly incoherent rant about Domino's unbelievable luck. Or maybe it was about solar power. There was some debate afterwards about what exactly he was saying. Eva tried to maneuver him out, but he was nearly liquid by then and easily slipped away from her. He sloshed up to Domino and slurred something incomprehensible. It might have been a question. When Domino didn't respond, other than to look amused, Calavera clearly said "Well?" and sounded very angry. Domino gave an exaggerated, weary sigh and turned to put his drink down. When he turned again, Calavera was drawing back his right arm as if readying for a punch. But instead of taking a swing at Domino, he toppled over backwards…passed out. Eva and a couple other friends carried him away.
Domino loved every second of it. He figured he'd seen the last of Manny Calavera, but the next day he was back in the office with an atomic hangover and no memory of the previous day. Domino decided he needed a bigger push so he began lobbying Copal for Calavera's office. At first Copal resisted, not wanting to deal with that kind of hassle. And it wasn't as if Domino's office was any worse than Calavera's. But not long after Domino began his campaign for the switch, Copal started to get pressure from downtown to replace the reaper Domino had thrashed. In the end, Domino got what he wanted. The new agent was put in Domino's old office and the storeroom was reconverted into an office for Calavera. But despite this humiliation, one he couldn't black out on, he still showed no sign of skipping town.
However, Domino felt he had come out ahead. With his new office he finally got his new computer. He scanned all his sensitive documents and installed encryption and security software. He decided against destroying the documents-he couldn't destroy the deed to the island in any case-and moved them to a safe deposit box in El Marrow's largest bank. Finally, he could 'breathe' easy.
Months went by and Calavera still gave no indication that he was going to run away from his troubles. Domino resigned himself to the possibility that he never would, telling himself that Calavera was now so demoralized it hardly mattered anymore whether he stayed or went.
One day, the Day of the Dead in fact, Domino was reading the paper in his office. He more than met his sales quotas, so he could have taken the day off like most, but he preferred to stay on top of the game even if it was going to be a slow day. He was reading the obituaries, which had a different meaning for people in the Land of the Dead. Domino hoped someday to spot old associates he thought might be useful in the racket. Next to where his feet rested on his desk lay a half-crumpled memo from Copal about a poisoning. Domino saw no reason to go scrambling for cases when the best were handed to him on a platter.
The morning was getting a little older when his intercom buzzed.
"Yeah?" Domino said as he pushed the button.
"I need to see you in my office," Copal's voice said. "Now."
"OK," Domino said and released the button. He carefully folded his paper, stood up and stretched, then sauntered out into the hall. As he approached Eva's desk he asked, "Any messages?"
"I can't see your tube from here," she answered matter-of-factly as she carried on with her typing.
Domino laughed as if she had made a joke and went into Copal's office after a quick rap on the door.
"About time," Copal groused as Domino closed the door behind him. "Did you stop for donuts or what?"
"What's the panic?" Domino asked lightly.
"The poisoning," Copal answered in a clipped tone.
"Oh, fuck!" Domino exclaimed. "You dragged me in here for that…that feeding frenzy?"
"Look at what I just got," Copal said, flinging a work order toward Domino.
Domino picked it up. "Son-of-a-bitch!" he said under his breath. Then aloud to Copal, "Don't tell me this whore is at the poisoning."
"She's at the poisoning," Copal snapped. "And guess where her ticket is right now."
"You know," Domino said, "we really need better communication around here."
"Like that's gonna help now." Copal rubbed his eye sockets. "The good news is that all the early birds have already got their cases and none of them brought back this…this…"
"Calabaza," Domino supplied.
"Yeah, Calabaza," Copal repeated. "But there's still Calavera."
"Isn't he taking the day off?"
"How can he? He never makes his quotas."
"Oh, yeah," Domino said, 'grinning' wickedly.
"Yeah," Copal sneered. "So he might wander in any minute now. And the first thing he'll see is that goddamned memo. So you'd better get your ass out there and bring that woman in!"
"Sure," Domino said, putting the work order in his pocket. "No problem."
"There'd better not be, or someone'll be taking you out to the greenhouse."
Domino left and, in the elevator, let loose a stream of invective toward Copal. Who did that slug think he was threatening? When he got to the garage his driver was waiting for him with the car. Before getting in he spotted Calavera's driver. He clicked his fingers at him and the demon trotted over.
"Calavera's not coming in today," Domino told him. "Take the rest of the day off. Go enjoy yourself."
"Are you sure, sir?" the demon asked.
"Hey!" Domino spread his arms. "It's a holiday! Why should you be stuck here while your boss whoops it up, huh? C'mon, get out of here, kid. And if anyone gives you trouble, just send 'em to me and I'll fix everything."
"Thank you, sir!" the demon said, then went to put Calavera's car away.
"OK," Domino said to his driver. "Let's go."
Domino soon found himself at a diner in the Land of the Living. He got his pigeon and bundled her into the car. As they pulled away from the diner Domino was surprised to see Calavera's car arriving. He waved happily to him as they passed, wondering where that big, orange replacement driver came from.
Back at the office, Domino got the nun off to his boys in the Nada Mańana offices for the drop at the Pearl. Then, out of curiosity, he used his 'special' computer access to find out who the remaining soul in the diner was. He had a good laugh when he read the bio. Even with a somewhat-even playing field, Calavera still came up snake eyes. Still chuckling, he stripped down to his undershirt and started working out on his punching bag. He was just getting into a good rhythm when Calavera walked in, asked a lot of strange questions, and nosed around the office. When he started poking at the computer Domino warned him off even though the machine was secured. Finally, Domino got the pest out and then got back to the obituaries.
A few days later Domino was busy doing the paperwork on his legitimate cases when his message tube gave a sad hiss. A sure sign that the server just crapped out again. Domino hated the slowdown that always caused. Eventually, demons from the mail room got around to distributing work orders and other documents. Domino looked over the first batch that came to him and set them aside. Nothing critical there. The second batch had a Double-N case right on top. Domino grabbed his reaper gear and headed out.
Once on the Limbo Highway Domino read over the bio. He always got a laugh out of that, seeing how the idiots denied themselves power, pleasure, and money just so he could take away their 'reward' and sell it to those who had earned it.
He had just finished reading when he spotted headlights in the rearview mirror. He turned to look through the rear window, idly wondering who else was going his way. He kept watching as he noticed the other car was catching up. He got a little concerned when he saw that it wasn't just headlights lighting the other car's way. The car-if that monstrosity was a car-seemed to be on fire.
Whatever it was, it was soon right on Domino's rear bumper. His driver was looking worriedly in the rearview mirror, hardly paying attention to the road in front of him. The nightmare car kept pace with them for a while. Domino saw that Calavera's replacement driver from the poisoning was behind the wheel, and he was sure that was Calavera himself perched up behind him. The driver had a manic look on his face and Calavera already had his scythe out and planted beside him like some evil standard. Death rides a burning hot rod, Domino thought, shivering slightly despite himself.
Suddenly the other car surged forward. Domino's driver panicked and they went rolling over into the ditch at the side of the road. When it was over, his driver was the first out and helped Domino crawl through a broken window. He apologized repeatedly for the spill and looked so scared that Domino took the trouble to put him at ease. It wasn't as if he didn't share his driver's reaction to that car, after all.
Fortunately, his car wrecked in such a way that most of the damage was to the upper body. His driver was able to roll the car back onto the road. The engine started fine although it sounded like it was working a little harder than before. The driver thought it should get them there and back again, and Domino had a sick feeling he knew where Calavera was in such a hurry to get to. So they got back on the road. The driver said the steering wasn't right and took it a little more slowly than usual. They didn't see any sign of the hot rod on the way to their destination, and Domino began to hope that Calavera got lost. After all, Domino had the work order. But when he got to the hospital room where his pigeon was supposed to be, he found that she was already gone.
That was bad, and Domino felt an unfamiliar sinking feeling where his stomach used to be. He went back out to his car and told his driver to return to El Marrow. He did a lot of thinking on the trip back, and once the car came to a stop in the garage Domino immediately sought out the tube system operator to confirm his suspicions about its breakdown. That done, he went to report to Copal.
Considering the circumstances, Copal was relatively calm and level-headed about it. If they acted quickly enough, maybe they could cover up this little stumble. So he went and got Calavera into his office, giving a good performance as he righteously chewed him out. But Copal nearly lost control when they learned that the woman had already left the building in the belief that she didn't rate any better than the walking package. But he managed to keep up appearances and hustled Calavera out the door while letting Domino know he should call Hector.
That wasn't something Domino really wanted to do. He had no idea how Hector would react. Realistically, it was probably inevitable that someone would discover their scam, especially since Domino insisted on skimming so much from just one agent. But Domino's mind glossed over that fact. He wasn't worried about Calavera. They had him under control and could shut him up permanently at any moment. Domino was more concerned about the Colomar woman. She was loose, totally random, and could do any amount of damage. But whatever the consequences, Domino had to make that phone call. Trying to keep what had happened from Hector would only make things worse. When Domino got him on the line, he said only that there was a problem and that they needed to talk in person in Copal's office right away.
When Hector arrived, he, Domino, and Copal shut themselves in. Domino quickly outlined what had happened, being careful to place the blame where it belonged. Hector just sat behind Copal's desk perfectly still except for one hand softly drumming on the desktop.
"Mr. LeMans, I assure you," Domino finished, "the missing woman will be found. I will personally track her down myself."
Hector's fingers stopped their tapping. "Just like you 'personally' picked her up from the Land of the Living?" he asked ironically.
"That was my intention," Domino protested, sounding a little too desperate to his ear holes. "But somehow, agent Calavera got to her first."
Hector's fingers drummed a quick riff. "We gave you the fastest car, Domino," he said, too softly for Domino's comfort. "We gave you all the best clients. You had all the advantages. So how was this Calavera able to sneak in there and eat your lunch?" By the end of his speech he was on his feet and towering over Domino.
"Oh, now Hector," Copal said, trying to sound reasonable, "you can't get too mad at Domino! That wasn't his fault." Domino felt a little relief as Copal went to bat for him.
"Oh, I can, Don," Hector said, again too quietly. "You should know I can get too mad." There was an almost imperceptible pause. "But not at Domino." As Hector said this, Domino noticed that his other hand-the one that hadn't been tapping on the desk-was holding something. "After all," Hector continued, "he wasn't in charge of this operation." The gun started to come up. "At least, not until now."
"Hector! No!" Copal shouted as he saw the muzzle point straight at him. Hector squeezed off three quick rounds and Copal dropped with a gurgling scream.
"Marigolds," Hector observed when it was over. "Funny. For some reason I was expecting tulips. Well, maybe Mr. Calavera, eh, Domino?" He chuckled as he sat back down. "Why don't you personally go down and escort him up here? The sooner he's sprouted and we can get back to business, the better."
"Right away, Mr. LeMans," Domino said, stepping over Copal's body as he left the office. On his way out he noticed that Eva wasn't at her desk, but thought nothing of it until he got to the storeroom where Copal said he put Calavera. The door was open and Calavera was not inside. He quickly returned to Hector.
"Calavera's gone," he said. "And so's his girlfriend…Copal's secretary."
"Hmm," was all Hector said at first. The one hand was back to drumming on the desk but, Domino was relieved to see, the other was on his enormous belly, patting in counterpoint. The gun remained out of sight wherever Hector had holstered it.
"Not the best news," he finally said, "but I think we can include this on the list of Don's failures. In any case," he continued as he hauled himself back to his feet, "I don't think Mr. Calavera is our immediate worry any longer. It sounds as though he and his lady friend have decided to remove themselves from our affairs. And it's not as if he knows anything definite…and he can't reveal what he does know without sticking his own head into the noose. That just leaves the Colomar woman," he said as he got to the door. "I'm counting on you to straighten this out, Domino." He nodded toward Copal's remains. "Don't forget I expect a great deal."
"You won't be disappointed," Domino said. "I'll find the woman, and I'll deal with Calavera, too."
"Nothing would please me more," Hector said, "but don't lose your perspective. Your first priority is that woman." He opened the door. "I'll see to your promotion tomorrow. I trust you'll chose a suitable time to clean up in here." He closed the door behind him.
Naturally, Domino had no intention of hauling Copal out to the greenhouse in broad daylight. He returned to the office some time after midnight, after celebrating his good fortune at a series of nightclubs. He had with him a large, strong plastic bag for carrying the remains. He went into Copal's…into his office…and began working the shrubbery formerly known as Don Copal into the sack. After a minute or so he paused, hearing a soft, scuffling noise from outside the window. When he didn't hear it repeated, and still unsure whether he had really heard anything at all, he returned to his task.
Probably just pigeons, he thought.