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didn’t he come himself?”
    “Dave’s dead,” Mr. Dulles said, no ceremony, just like that, and hearing it made it hurt all over again. “He was shot to death this morning.” The words passed through Tauber like a shiver—a couple shivers maybe, replaced finally by a numb stare. I couldn’t tell if shock had him or if he was just used to numb most of the time.
    “Who did it?”
    “The question is who sent them,” Max answered. “They were under suggestion and knew what they were doing. They torched the house—expertly—and rifled his store immediately after.”
    “For what?”
    “Dave kept a list of the old team.”
    “It wouldn’t be much of a list,” Tauber drawled. “Not many of us left.”
    “Well, I think they were after the list,” Mr. Dulles said. I was having a hard time thinking of him as Max or any other kind of first name. “Whoever they are, they’re going after the old team.”
    “Ha!” Tauber cracked a laugh. “Come after me?  If they ignore me, I’ll fall apart all on my own.”
    “You’ve still got power,” Mr. Dulles said. “I felt it at the door.”
    “Power? For what?” Tauber responded. “I can read the crack dealer upstairs when he pays off the local cop—the cop’s got gout and a fixer-upper on the Outer Shoals but he won’t make the mortgage if his wife doesn’t stop running up the credit cards. The dealer lost some ‘merchandise’ last month—I found out who lost it for him so he gave me a couple bills but then he put two guys to watchin’ my every move for two weeks.”
    “It’s still power.”
    “Sure—against morons, I’m a master. Against a trained mindbender? Give me a break.” Tauber’s eyes narrowed. “Who are you?”
    “A friend of Dave’s,” Mr. Dulles repeated.
    “And him?” Tauber asked, jerking a thumb in my direction.
    “He’s a vessel,” Mr. Dulles answered. “He’s Dave’s list, actually. It’s locked in his head. I can’t access it, he can’t access it, all he can give me is one name at a time.” He watched Tauber closely while explaining, the same way Tauber was watching me.
    “Weird,” he said.
    “I was hoping it was some procedure from the program—something you might know how to break.”
    “News to me,” Tauber shook his head. “Don’t remember anything like that.”
    There was a bang at the door.
    “Rent!” came a nasty, snarling, gravelly voice. “Now!”
    Tauber clearly didn’t want to answer the door, but the banging resumed immediately. “You told me today. Don’t think I’m forgetting about it like last month either—I’ve got it written down!” Tauber cleared his throat and opened the door.
    “”Now!” she shrieked, bursting into the room. That this was a woman’s voice knocked me over—I couldn’t imagine what kind of life would have earned her that rasp. It had to have taken hours to paint her face on, not that it was worth the effort. “It was due yesterday. Where is it?” Tauber stood wavering, unsteady.
    “He paid you last night,” Mr. Dulles said. “Don’t you remember?” As soon as he said it, I knew it was a lie but somehow she didn’t.
    “Last night?” she said, confused. “When?” She was staring at Max now as though trying to place him.
    “He gave it to you at the party, remember?” Mr. Dulles answered, speaking slowly and enunciating, his voice deepening as he went, until it sounded like he was in a tunnel. “The party in the back yard?”
    Her uncertainty grew. Max was watching her closely, like he was reading the right thing to say off her face. “You were wearing…the green dress?” he offered.
    “Uh—I—”
    “I liked the green dress,” Max said. He threw her the smile of a man who’s interested. Not that this smile was any more convincing than his regular one but somehow he sold it to her. “I also liked the secret pocket inside,” he added, his smile growing. “The check’s in the pocket.”
    “The…pocket…?” she said, flustered.