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professionalism and, when necessary, haste. That girl is a big part of that reputation, though she seems to be slipping in the former.”
    Morgan was pretty sure Deena hadn’t cost them any work yet, and her slips involved getting a bit more creative than her orders allowed for, but Marsh generally spoke well of her and seemed pleased with Deena’s work. Still, a girl like that could be a handful if she decided to stop listening to reason. Morgan knew that the older sister, Harper, was also a rapidly growing liability. She didn’t have the power Deena did, and was a fuck-up of the highest magnitude. She didn’t take to the training, didn’t learn, didn’t adapt as phenomenally as her sibling. And she certainly didn’t have any unique abilities. But the witch defended her. And no one wanted to be on that girl’s bad side.
    “This could just be one of her episodes, a lapse in judgment or a similar problem and it will pass, you’re right. But I want you to find Deena and bring her back. If it looks like that won’t happen, if she seems to be trying to leave our organization, or if her behavior is too far out of sorts, you’re to terminate her. No nonsense, no bargaining, no bullshit.”
    Morgan took a breath and waited for a moment. He’d seen up close what Deena could do. She was unpredictable on a good day, but she could be crazy and vicious when backed into a corner. “I’m not a big talker. I doubt I’ll be able to convince her to come back if she doesn’t want to. I certainly won’t do a better job of it than her handler or her sister.”
    Morgan could see the wheels spinning in his boss’s head.
    “If Deena isn’t coming back, I have no use for her sister either. In fact, after Harper’s latest catastrophe, I believe we are done with her,” Marsh said. “She’s been nothing more than a carrot to keep Deena focused, but it isn’t worth it anymore.”
    “Maybe killing Harper isn’t the best way to go about it; could she be leveraged some way?” Morgan was wondering if his guns would be a match for the young woman’s magic. Deena was a growing legend in the local world of professional killers, though very few of them knew the limits of her power.
    Marsh shook his head. “Not worth the trouble.”
    “If I kill her sister, I don’t see Deena coming back here. But if you utilized Harper, if you used her to get Deena to come back, it would make more sense. Bring her back to help her sister and we can take care of them both here.”
    Marsh grabbed a tennis ball and rolled it around on the table. “If she were confused enough, there’s no telling what she would do. It seems the more she uses her powers, the more off kilter she becomes. Strange. Erratic.”
    “We knew that the first time we met her. She was always going to be a wild card.”
    Marsh nodded and his face went sour. “We knew that much, but it seemed like a winning proposition. Someone with her abilities, in our organization? It’s too bad we couldn’t keep her on task.”
    There was a chance for gain here. There was the real possibility for Morgan to come out ahead in the situation. He paused as he approached the door. “I’ll go after her, if that’s what you want, but what would be my compensation for this? Hunting down, how did you put it - erratic? Hunting down an erratic witch is more than a little dangerous.”
    “It always comes back to money in this world.” Marsh sighed. “The monetary benefit would be great. But, in the long run if they don’t come back, I’ll need someone to do their jobs. That makes the future a bit brighter for you, doesn’t it?”
    Morgan nodded. “It does.” He was already getting a good share of work just on his reputation, but Marsh had increasingly been handing Deena more of the prime jobs. And what was worse, Marsh was paying her much less than he should for such jobs and pocketing the additional money for the organization. The little witch didn’t know any better. Or she didn’t