"The source." Felicia paused, as if to emphasize that nothing more needed to be said, then smiled smugly and returned to her seat.
For the first ninety minutes of the bus ride, Andie made small talk with the man behind her and two women across the aisle. None of them struck her as particularly loony. The women were young, practically girls. They had worked a variety of odd jobs, not sure of what to do with their lives. The man was a musician who played nightclubs in second-rate hotels. Andie talked only of her recent experience at the Second Chance clothing store, which was as far back in Kira's employment history as she needed to go. It wasn't long before Andie realized that undercover work was a lot like dating. To be successful, all you had to do was act interested and get the other guy talking about his favorite subject--himself.
Throughout the ride Felicia had been making her way from the front to the back, stopping to visit individually with each newcomer for ten or fifteen minutes. Andie was about two-thirds of the way back. Felicia reached her at the two-hour mark, right on schedule.
"Can I join you for a minute, Kira?"
"Sure."
Felicia took the seat on the aisle but said nothing. Andie surmised it was her job to ask the questions.
"So, how often do you have these retreats?"
"About once a month. Sometimes twice a month in the summer."
More often than Andie would have guessed. The fact that they were having a retreat the same week she had gone to work at the used-clothing store wasn't quite the lucky coincidence she had thought it was.
"Is this a good turnout?"
"Pretty decent, yeah."
A million questions swirled in Andie's head, but she didn't want to come across as overly inquisitive, too much like a cop. After a minute of silence, Felicia asked, "Anything special you'd like to know, Kira?
Where the hell is Beth Wheatley? she thought. "Nothing specific that comes to mind. I'm just taking your advice. You know, taking things one step at a time."
"That's really the only way. One step at a time." "Just out of curiosity, how many steps are there?"
Felicia smiled, as though the question were naive. "That depends on the individual."
"I hope you don't mind me asking, but how many steps have you taken?"
"One of your goals is to figure that out for yourself. By the end of this weekend you should be able to interpret the energy given off by others and determine their level of vibration."
"Does that mean you know my level of vibration?"
"Yours is the most basic level, Kira. Very human. But don't be discouraged. We all started at the beginning. Even Steve Blechman."
"He'll be here this weekend, right? When I asked at the orientation meeting, you said Steve was coming."
"He's coming."
"Why isn't he here on the bus?"
"He just has to be very careful on retreats."
"What do you mean?
"He has to limit the time he spends with us."
"We'll all get to meet him, right?"
Felicia hedged. "I'm afraid you won't. None of the newcomers will."
"Why not?"
"He'll be spending his time with the more experienced members."
"He can't even take the time to say hello to us?"
"It's not that simple. Before you go one-on-one with Steve, you have to be prepared. Without the proper preparation, newcomers tend to feed too strongly off his energy. They become leeches. That sort of overindulgence is not what this is all about. You must know exactly how much to take. And you must take no more."
"How do I begin my preparation?"
Felicia seemed pleased that she had asked, as if her eagerness were a good thing. "You will begin tonight."
"I can't wait," she replied, and she truly meant it.
News of Shirley's death had left Gus numb. Friday was the day he had planned another visit to follow up on her lawyer's insights about the conspiracy to commit murder. Whether she was in a gang or not wasn't all that crucial. He simply wanted the names of her co-conspirators. He wanted to find out if they, like Shirley, had known Beth. Perhaps they even knew what had happened to her. Shirley and her unnamed co-conspirators had seemed like his best lead. Until this morning.
Throughout the morning Gus repeatedly phoned Andie and left messages, but she didn't return any of them. He did finally get a call back from Agent Haveres, who said he had taken over Agent Henning's responsibilities on the Wheatley case. That didn't sit well with Gus. Something was amiss, and he wasn't getting any answers by telephone. At lunchtime, he headed to the FBI building downtown and demanded to speak to Andie's supervisor.
Lundquist kept him waiting in the lobby for almost an hour. Finally, when it was clear Gus wasn't going to give up and go home, a receptionist brought him back to the supervisor's corner office. The introductions were brief, the small talk nonexistent. Gus got directly to the point.
"Where is Agent Henning, and why won't she return my calls?"
The bluntness startled Lundquist. "She's been reassigned."
"To where, Siberia?"
"To a case and location that is confidential. Just as Agent Haveres told you this morning."