Chapter 29: Lining the Nest

Janet found Beverly standing by an open window, the dead woman staring out at the small amount of traffic as it moved by on the street.

“Are you looking for someone?” Janet asked.

Without turning around, Beverly responded, “No one living. Towns like these, they remind me of my love.”

The statement caught Janet by surprise and left her speechless for a moment. “Is that why we’re here?” she asked the dead woman. “To find a dead love?”

Beverly chuckled and shook her head. “No. Not at all. He isn’t coming back. He is where he’s supposed to be. Either Heaven or Hell. I’m not certain. He wasn’t, either, in the end, although for most of his life he assured me he was going to Hell.”

“Did he have some sort of epiphany?” Janet inquired, sitting down at the table.

“No.” Beverly turned around and faced Janet. “He merely wondered, in the end, if he hadn’t been doing things right after all. ‘Who’s to say,’ he would tell me, ‘what is right and what is wrong? Perhaps it’s all got confused, and we’ve been doing it all backward.’”

Janet chuckled. “A lot of people are going to be upset thinking about that one.”

Beverly smiled. “Indeed, I think that was part of the joy of the thought for him.”

“I need more money,” Janet abruptly stated.

“Why?” Beverly frowned.

None of your damned business why, Janet thought, but she smiled. “I want to open a new bank account. Can’t have all my eggs in one basket.”

“I gave you more money earlier, and we don’t have the house where you put that nun yet,” Beverly reminded her.

“No, we don’t have it yet,” Janet agreed. “But the operative word is ‘yet.’ We’ll have it soon enough.”

“As soon as we have it,” Beverly stated, “then you will get the extra money for your new bank account.”

“I want it now,” Janet argued. “Not much. Just five or six thousand dollars.”

“You could ask for five or six dollars,” Beverly retorted. “You still would not get it. You need to understand this, Janet. The job is not done. You will not get paid for it yet.”

Janet straightened up in her chair. “It’s almost done.”

“Then you can wait until it is,” Beverly’s voice rose slightly. “What makes you this stupid? Can’t you understand English?”

Money, Janet thought, squeezing her hands into fists below the table. Think about the damned money.

“I can understand English,” Janet said. “What I can’t understand is why you won’t give me the bonus I requested.”

“Because it is not a bonus if you request it,” Beverly replied. “Listen to me very carefully, Janet. I do not trust you. I suspect this distrust between us is a mutual item. So be it. I believe if you get too much money, you will leave when the way becomes difficult, and I have a terrible premonition that it will do exactly that soon enough.”

Janet started to argue the point, but Beverly stopped her with an upraised hand.

“We have had to sacrifice Henry,” the ghost continued. “Not a phenomenal loss, but a loss, nonetheless. He was a solid distraction and a fair assassin. Now he has been thrown to the wolves in order for us to last a little longer.”

“You don’t think he’s going to be caught by this person you’re afraid of, do you?” Janet’s tone was full of mockery, but Beverly didn’t rise to the bait.

“He already has been.”

Janet couldn’t respond.

“Henry has yet to say anything,” the dead woman added. “But that is only because the person in question has yet to really begin working on him. My sources say that this will probably begin in the next day or two.”

“If you have sources near him,” Janet said in a low voice, “why don’t you have them take him out of there?”