Track 57

“I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better”

Winter 1994

I’m doing the right thing. I know I am. This is my insurance, James Davis chanted to himself as he schlepped another box of files from his trunk and headed into an elevator.

It was after ten p.m. He stared at his gray-haired reflection in the elevator mirror. Working for a black-ops department was a boyhood dream. Hell, Parallax was so secret that nobody in the government apart from Blake knew about it.

But lately his conscience was starting to prickle him. He hardly recognized himself anymore. Could he really continue conducting experiments? Sometimes it felt like torture, both to him and the Subjects. He hoped that one day he’d have the guts to end it. Right now, though, it was the money that motivated him. He had debts. Big ones.

The elevator dinged. James got out on the eighth floor and headed to Charlie’s darkened office.

Charlie was expecting him. Silently, he showed James down a hallway and unlocked a door. The lawyer knew not to ask too many questions. As far as Charlie knew, James was simply following orders from Blake and delivering files for safekeeping. Sure, James could’ve hired a storage locker in which to put the stolen documents. But the nearest facility had suffered first a break-in and then an arson attack.

No, this was the safest place. For now.

He hefted the box onto a shelf along with two others, then turned to a poker-faced Charlie. “There’ll be more.”