But first, you and I must come to an agreement. I need information that only you can give me. I need you to tell me how the two of us can be useful to each other. You must convince me that by helping you, I am going to be helping myself." "Fine," I said. I looked down at my hands and thought about what to tell him, then glanced at Sam. He was waiting for a response. "I've been watching you for years," I said. "I've noticed that your habits are eccentric, and yet you are able to achieve so much." I wasn't sure why I was putting it that way, but it came out. "What do you mean by that?" "There is a code, a very strict code," I said. "You always get what you want." "You haven't noticed that we're missing some members?" he asked, referring to my team. "We've been missing three people for a couple of years now, and yet we're still here, doing what we were hired to do. This wouldn't be possible if I wasn't smart." I didn't answer him, but I didn't have to. He looked at me and smiled. It was a weird smile, but there was a glint in his eyes that wasn't all that dark. "Are you going to be a good little girl?" he asked. I didn't respond, but his grin got wider. "Perhaps I should show you how good I can make you?" he said. He got up and went over to the door and opened it. He pointed at the dead body on the floor and motioned for me to look closer. I did, and as I did, I made out the name of the girl on his back. But not just her name, but the name of the man I was investigating. _T_ _OD ROCKER._ I felt the chill, and it went deep inside me. It was as if the air around us became electrified, and I felt an almost unbearable electricity shoot through me. I took a deep breath and looked back at him. He had turned to face me, a small smile on his face. "You know the name of my wife?" he asked. I shook my head. "Well, I would have thought that you would. It's not exactly a secret." "Was her name really . . .?" "Why, yes, of course. Yes, she was real, and yes, it was her. Look at me. Am I lying to you?" "Not at all. So where is she?" "Well, she's right there," he said. "Is that the kind of information you want to hear?" He stepped closer to the body and touched her ankle. "It was in all the papers," he said. "I thought about going to talk to her about you at the time. I thought about telling you about her, and how we had a life together. Then I got excited and tried to do this to myself, and it didn't work out." "There is a way to kill yourself?" I asked. He glanced back at Sam, shook his head. "No, it's really more complicated than that. It's for an audience. I don't want to do it in front of anyone." "There is a better way?" I asked. "I can't be doing this right now. I can't stay focused with you there. There is a better way, and that's all you need to know." He was getting angry, that much was clear. I looked at Sam. He was looking at me, his eyes confused. "So you're saying that I don't really have a choice?" I said. "I think you need to take a break." He smiled. "You know, I used to be a very wealthy man. I used to own movie studios, and I had a mansion in Malibu. But then I got into the movie business too quickly, and I ended up losing everything. It was a tough way to make a living, but, well, you get used to it. So I found myself homeless." "Here? In this city?" "Of course not, silly. That's where I was going to use the code. They were taking everything away from me, but my little daughter here is all that I have left. And you would not believe how much you get used to." He turned to the body and got down on his knees. He picked her up, put her back on the floor. "If you can't think of a way to help yourself, then I might be able to help you out, if you know what I mean." He stared at me for a long time. There was no hesitation. He knew he was in control. "Sure," I said. "I don't mind." "Good. Now, if you can put your shirt back on, we're going for a ride." "Where are we going?" "You're going to ask me questions. I'm going to ask you questions." "And what if I don't answer them?" I asked. "Then you're going to learn a very important lesson." He turned and walked toward the door. I quickly followed. We went back into the front room, and he pointed to the couch. He sat on one end of it, and I sat on the other. I wondered if it was a trap. That's what I felt. He didn't wait for me to start talking. He just told me the story. "I came here with this one," he said. He pointed to Sam, who was still on the floor, and then took a few steps back and gestured at the lifeless body. "She was beautiful, but her beauty couldn't save her. She was young, young and very kind, and I gave her everything she wanted. I bought her a new car. I bought her clothes, jewelry, and a few other little things. That girl was one of a kind. She didn't mind doing anything. I was a good person, and it made her happy. But then they came along and took everything from me." "Who came along?" "The government, of course." "And what do they want with her?" I asked. "What do they want with her?" "They killed her," I said. "They took away a part of her, and now they have it. But they took it away so they can make more of her." He stared back at me and smiled. "It's too late for her. She's a part of me now, like she was always there. We live in her. I see her everywhere I go. She lives inside of me. And it makes me strong." "This is a little hard for me to believe." "I know. I know." He sat there for a few seconds, and then he got up. He seemed to be thinking about what to do, and then he came over to the body on the floor and started taking things off of her. He kept gesturing for me to look away as he took off her jewelry. He went through her bag and found a small plastic bag. He pulled out a few things that were in there and looked at them. "I don't like talking while I'm doing this," he said. "I mean, there are things that are sacred." He put them back in the bag, took his shirt off and folded it neatly. Then he went to his feet and put his shirt back on. "Maybe we can talk after you're done." I nodded. It was clear to me that he was going to take my life away, and I wasn't going to stop him. He grabbed the plastic bag and stood back. He took one last look at me and then started to leave. But he stopped before he opened the door. "I'm going to have you start with the money you get. The first week I gave you twenty thousand. I'm going to up it to fifty thousand in the beginning." I reached for the money in my back pocket, but I already knew what it would do. I closed my eyes and wished I was free, but I didn't. I was going to have to keep making things better and better. "I don't have that much right now," I said. "All I can do is ask," he said. "And if you're not there to answer, you're out of luck." "I might be able to take care of it for you," I said. "Well, see that you do," he said. "And after that we'll move onto the next part. The thing is, I need her to stay in this house. That makes you my partner. In a way, this job is almost yours. What do you think?" "Sure," I said. "I can do that." He smiled and turned away. He walked out the door and closed it behind him. "Was that your partner?" Sam asked. I turned to him. "Yeah, it was. I think it was his wife. Maybe he killed her, but