“We can talk about this here’n the frigid confines of your office or we’uns can go down to PsyLED HQ and do it with the lawyers and maybe an FBI or CIA VIP present. What’s it gonna be?”
“Is my client under arrest?” a cool voice said from the door.
Makayla closed her laptop with a softsnap. I stood upright and let my happy smile slip away as I faced the man in the very expensive suit, and no uni. There were two men behind him, wearing unis that made them look as though their shoulders were going to pop right out at the slightest movement. Bodybuilders for sure, hired for bulk and given guns.
“A lawyer and two musclemen to back him up,” I said to Tandy. “Are you’un feelin’ intimidated?”
“No, Nell, but I am feeling a great many other things,” Tandy said. Which sounded positive.
“Me too.” I dug a little lower into the church-speak and addressed the lawyer. “Your’un client here can tell me about a self-perpetuating energy spell or she can tell her lies to the federal prosecutors while she’s wearing a truly tacky orange jumpsuit. There ain’t a lot of laws on the books to control witches, because they’uns tend to control themselves, but there are laws on the books that cover harm to the general population byindividuals and corporations. And wrongful death lawsuits, and involvement by the Environmental Protection Agency, and OSHA, and the DOE and DOD, and fines, and all sorts of things that can plague a body and a company into legal and financial ruin.”
The suit said, “LuseCo has nothing to do with the problems seen—”
“We know better, bubba. People have died, thanks to thewyrdcurse this company let loose into the ground, maybe combined with a laser, maybe with blood magic. Now, somebody’s gonna talk to me.”
Tandy fought a smile at my words.
“How’s my bad cop?” I asked him.
“Delightful. And she knows all about the spell that got away. But her lawyer doesn’t.”
“Ohhh, bad girl,” I said to her. “Lying to your lawyer.”
The lawyer said, “Miz Lin?”
“I’d like a moment with my lawyer,” she said. “Then we can talk.”
I looked around the room, double-checking that there were no exits, and I nodded.
In the hallway, Tandy said, “Nell. You were... unexpected. And brilliant.”
I grinned happily. “I was, wasn’t I? I reckon growing up in the church and watching so many debates between factions and near factions twisted my mind into a semilegal bent. And watching so much TV and movies when I was at Spook School mighta helped with my interrogation techniques.”
Tandy laughed softly. “I think we created a monster.”
“Why, thank you, Tandy. This monster needs to text JoJo to get a warrant for anything related to a working calledInfinitio. I saw it on her laptop. And she was also online, inside the TVA. That woman is in this up to her plastered scalp.” I pulled my cell and sent JoJo a quick text.
***
Twenty minutes later, the well-dressed and calm lawyer appeared in the hallway, where we had staked out a place on an uncomfortable bench-seat couch to prevent exodus by any of the company officials. He stopped in front of us, and Tandy made as ifto rise. I thought at him,Sit. He did. Which might be quite scary, when I had time to think about it.
The lawyer said, “It is my client’s understanding that you wish to see and test the lab in the basement. She has agreed to open it to you.”Basement—singular, not plural. She didn’t know I knew about the subbasement.
“And the witches?”
“There have been no contract witches on the premises for over seventy-two hours, at which time they were summarily sacked. My client Ms. Lin, and LuseCo itself, have no idea what the witches were working on beyond their assigned duties, and bear no responsibility for anything said witches might have done while on premises, behind the backs of their supervisors.”
“Blaming the witches. Ain’t that always the way. And yet, speaking of witches, we have a magical working that came from this location, and got free into the environment just like an MED. You ever heard of an MED, Mr. Lawyer Man? Look it up. And just after the MED, them witches were fired,” I purred, “from a job that gave them access to things beyond their ‘assigned duties.’ I don’t believe in coincidence—it goes against most of what I perceive as rational, and LuseCo’s got coincidence piled on coincidence like a stack of coins that’s ripe for spilling over. So I want all contact info and personnel records on the fired employees. If I get them by the time I’m done with my little trek into thetwo basements, I’ll be happy and leave without ordering up Makayla a pretty orange jumpsuit. Okay, Mr. Lawyer Man?”
The lawyer’s face altered just a bit. More important, my partner sat up straight. “My name is Brad Maxwell. Not Mr. Lawyer Man.”
“Your client is still keeping secrets, Mr. Lawyer Man-well.”
“Maxwell. Brad Maxwell.”
“I want access tobothlower basements within the hour, and I’d like to get it without calling Washington, and with LuseCo’s complete and generous assistance. But I’ll start at the first basement. For now.” The lawyer turned and entered the office of the CEO and shut the door quietly. I had a feeling that he was trying to deal with the semithreats and unexpected information I had tossed his way.
I sent a text to JoJo telling her where we were going and ledthe way to the elevator. Not improbably, there was only one basement button on the elevator’s control panel. That meant the lower basement was a big secret, with a secret elevator or—I put my finger on three key openings on the control panel—a secret keyed access.Interesting.I pushed a button, and the doors closed on the two of us.
