Deader Still Read Online Free PDF

a truck-stop shower in the sink and changed into the clothes Connor had brought for me, then checked my ears one last time for any bits of rat before hitting the show floor. Connor was waiting for me outside the rest-rooms.
    “So, where’s my surprise?”
    “Follow me, kid,” he said and started walking off at a brisk pace into the heart of the convention center.
    The crowd was thick and I had to dart through it before I lost him.
    “My surprise is in here?”
    Connor nodded. “We’re gonna be working for a Department recruiting booth for a shift or two.”
    “Here?”
    Connor lowered his voice. “You’d be surprised how many Extraordinary types a convention like this attracts,” he said. “Besides, there’re a couple of side benefits to working here that I think you’ll find interesting.”
    “Such as … ?”
    “Well, two things, really,” he said. He stopped at one of the booths. Dozens of still-boxed action figures lined the booth. “First, think about the great scores you could find here with your powers.”
    I had been slacking in using my psychometry to supplement my government salary at the D.E.A., and my
SoHo
apartment’s maintenance fees weren’t going to pay for themselves. If I could get some good readings on some of the collectibles here and get them into the hands of the right consumer, I’d be set for a while.
    “Brilliant,” I said. “Thanks, partner. What’s the second?”
    Connor stopped and pointed ahead. I looked and saw our booth. There was nothing that suggested the secretive nature of our organization, but there was a table full of pamphlets and reading material … and the Inspectre was manning it.
    “What’s the Inspectre doing over here?” I said. “I thought he was just here to oversee the Oubliette.”
    Connor shook his head. “He’s also here to work the booth.”
    “Isn’t that kind of beneath him, playing booth jockey?”
    “You know the Inspectre,” he said. “He’s a hands-on kind of guy. Likes to take a personal interest in who’s coming into the Department. Like you. I thought you’d appreciate the bonding time I bought by volunteering us for this.”
    I was touched by his thoughtfulness. Before I could think of anything to say, Connor patted me on the shoulder and took off down the aisle toward the Inspectre. I followed him into our booth. Connor took a spot at the back of the space organizing stacks of papers while the Inspectre stood at the front, handing out information. The table was covered with a variety of pamphlets and handouts: Homebrew Potions: Ask Me How! , The Truth About Gated Communities: Ghost Dancing & Ancient Indian Burial Grounds , Your Neighbor Might Be Possessed If: Ten Signs It’s Time to Move .
    The list went on and on.
    “You know,” I said, approaching Connor, “for a secret organization, we’re sure making quite a spectacle of ourselves.”
    “Relax, kid,” he said. He sounded more curt than usual. “Most of the people just look at us as a marketing ploy for some new line of comics or something. They don’t even give us a second glance.”
    I looked around and noticed what he said was true. A five-hundred-pound guy dressed as Legolas took one of the leaflets the Inspectre handed him and moved on without batting an eye. No one was really paying us any attention.
    “So, do you think I passed the Oubliette?” I asked, switching back to my main concern.
    Connor paused, silently shuffling the papers in his hand.
    “Is something wrong?”
    Connor gestured for me to move closer, farther away from the Inspectre.
    “What the hell did you do back there?” he asked, not waiting for an answer. “The Oubliette has rules. No outside items. You had your phone on you.”
    “What was I doing?” I said, angry. “I was surviving … because the fucking thing malfunctioned.”
    “Maybe that was part of the test,” he said with an air of superiority. “Did you ever consider that ?”
    I hadn’t, but I wasn’t going to tell