“Gabriel Alonzo Pierce,” I said.
He blinked and seemed to shake his head.
“I’m sorry,” he mouthed to me.“He’s so hot.I get confused.”
“Look, I have some contacts on the street.I know you don’t want me to go and make a mess of things and blow a bunch of money.We’ve already established that I can run an operation with a potato.Give me a handheld camera, and let me disappear for the week.I’ll come back with enough raw footage to dice into something.”
“That’s taking a big risk,” Bradford said.
“It is, but if you want this operation running sustainably, and you want me behind it, you’re going to have to trust me at some point.You guys want me to go and investigate the dead people thing afterwards, that’s fine.I just need some time to try and work out a process.”
“I don’t know,” Bradford said.
“Look.Call it the jitters.Call it whatever.I just don’t want to run into this blind.I need some time to work out how this whole deal works on my own.Just give me a single week.”
“Stacey, you know I have a budget here, too.I can’t stay here forever.”
A real shame, that.
“I know.Just do me this one favor.Let me have a crack at it.Just so I can get some hands-on experience.I don’t want to blow my load—(Gabe snickered, and I shot him a death glare)—and fuck up my screen presence before we begin.”
“Ohhhh,” Bradford said.“Screen fright.Ok, I get it.Can you at least talk to me about what you’ll be going to investigate?”
I thought about this last weekend, my mind spinning through scenarios one after one.
“Ummm,” I said.“My boyfriend was saying he heard an illegal immigration operation coming from Canada had something happen.”
“That sounds really boring,” Bradford said.
“Yeah, but consider the human interest angle,” I said.“Secret boat in the Great Lakes, disappearing into a bout of fog.A real whodunnit mystery.”
“Yeah, I guess I can see that.And you have access to a ship?”
I managed to keep a straight face.
“Absolutely,” I said.
Bradford stared at me for some time, thinking hard, and then shrugged.
“Fine,” he said, sighing.“You know, you’re a real risk-taker.I can see why Andy likes you so much.”
“Oh shit,” Gabe said.“Andy was asking for you earlier, Stace.”
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know.I saw him in the men’s restroom.”
I shook my head.
“Okay.I’m gonna go see Andy.Permission for a handheld and a week?And maybe some extra storage and batteries?”
“Yeah, yeah.Go talk with Andy, and I’ll have a requisition form drawn up by the time you get back,” Bradford said.
I nodded, grateful, and disappeared over to Andy’s office.The lights were all off, the door locked.Where had Gabe said he was, again?
I slid up to the bathrooms, looking around, and then walked in.
“Andy?”I hissed.
