We sat in silence for a few minutes, listening to the rotors beat the air, and some amazing guitar playing by my brother. From the expression on Harbinger's face, I don't think that he cared for metal. I refrained from banging my head in deference to his tender sensibilities.
"What about Julie?" I asked.
"What about her?"
"Does she believe that Grant abandoned me?"
"None of my business. She's a grown-up." The look he gave me told me to shut it. He quickly changed the subject. "Let me ask you this, Pitt. You've been with us for a few months. You've gone on exactly one mission. Could you leave now and go back to your spreadsheets and your tax forms?"
I did not answer. Did Earl know how much I was doubting the path that I was on? He was the experienced one, maybe he could see what I could not.
"Well, you'll probably need to."
My heart sank. So this was it. Was he going to let me go because of my rash actions? If he felt he could not trust me then I would be out. Did he think that I was too hotheaded and impulsive to be a member of the team?
"I got a letter yesterday. The IRS is going to audit us. I'm gonna need your help; our books are a mess. Once we handle this little vampire problem, of course."
I grinned. That I could handle.
"I can deal with the IRS. They're a little easier than vampires. Not much, but a little."
"Will sunlight banish them?"
"Maybe. I haven't tried that before."
"That's just the tip of the iceberg though. OSHA is crawling all over us for-I kid you not-workplace safety violations. As if there is anything safe about what we do at all. The EPA is angry about some of the pollution we have caused by burning certain kinds of monsters. Fish and Wildlife wants to fine us for killing a giant mutant Tennessee River catfish because it was endangered. Sure it had just crawled up on land and eaten some teenagers, but it was still an endangered species. We're in trouble with the BATF for some missing compliance paperwork for the machine guns and explosives-paperwork which they lost. And Immigration is investigating us for employing some illegal aliens."
"Are we?"
"Sure, but who doesn't? Do you think you just put an ad in the paper for people who can fly Russian attack helicopters?"
"Why are the Feds hammering us?"
"We've pissed a lot of people off in Washington. Our company was shut down for a long time. PUFF was only reactivated by the slimmest of margins. There are a lot of bureaucrats who are itching for us to fail. They're making it damn near impossible to get our jobs done."
"So what are we going to do?"
Harbinger grinned savagely. "From the amount of money we made on this job, I'm going to buy me some congressmen, maybe even a senator."
I was shocked. "Are you talking about bribery?"
"Why? Does that offend you?" he asked.
"Oh hell no. I'm a libertarian at heart. Screw 'em."