"Who even uses a phone?" He continued to dig under stacks of paper. When his search sent a row of data chips tumbling to the floor, I couldn't contain myself any longer.
"Behind you, Al, on your desk. The flat black box."
"Right." Finding it, he squinted into the monitor. "Listen, I'm going to have reception patch this onto the LINK ..." Then, he recognized me. "Of course. You. Never mind, this is going to be short. What do you want, McMannus? I thought we had a deal. You stay out of police business."
"It's one of your boys that's come to me." I kept part of my attention focused on Michael as he trudged down the street. I'd slowed to almost a crawl to follow him and would probably end up with a ticket for going under the required speed limit. I glanced at my wristwatch-phone. "Michael Angelucci. You know him, Al?"
"Know him? For Christ's sake, get your claws out of him; Mike's one of our star players."
"Yeah, I can see why." I spit out a bitter laugh. "He's got a heart."
My insult didn't even faze Al. He just narrowed his green eyes even further and glared at me suspiciously. "What's he coming to you for?"
"That's personal." I quickly turned down a connecting tube, as Michael rounded the corner in front of me.
Al drew his lips into a tight line and studied my face. "If he's bringing a case to you, I'll have his hide."
"He's not. I just wanted to make sure the guy was legit. He seemed awfully friendly to be one of yours."
Al barked out a gruff laugh. "Give him some time, McMannus. He's only been in the big city about a month. Transferred from Pennsylvania. Amish country. They're pretty cut off out there. No LINK."
I thought about my dingy office, and sneered. "It's a refreshing way to live. You ought to try it."
"I had so much hope for you, Dee. You were the best." His voice dropped to almost a whisper. When I looked down, his stony expression had cracked slightly. When he saw me looking at him, he pointed at me. "You were smart enough to know better than to cross certain lines. You don't fuck with loyalty and expect to stay in the force."
I shook my head. "Loyalty? That's what it was about for you? Listen to yourself, Al. I notice you didn't mention justice."
"This is the real world, kid. You were too damned idealistic to survive on the force. Grow up, why don't you?" The finger that had been pointing at me now jabbed at the box. The time display scrolled across
the screen, followed by caller ID, and then, finally, the fax light flashed. His frown deepened. Suddenly, his hand got really large and distorted, then the screen went dark. For a second, I thought he actually managed to find the off switch, until I heard him dejectedly mutter, "Aw, hell."
I realized he'd just flipped the phone over, so that the fiber-optic camera faced his desk. The line was still open, and I used the opportunity to foil his parting shot. "You were like a father to me, Al. A little loyalty from you might've been nice."
PARTNER EXCOMMUNICATED: Pope likens McMannus to JezebelThe Vatican issued a surprise announcement today excommunicating Catholic Deidre McMannus, former partner of Pope-killer Daniel Fitzpatrick. The brief statement from the newly elected Pope Elijah I said, "Statements made by McMannus at Christendom court have shown her to be a nonbeliever and a temptress of men." The statement included virtual replay of McMannus's admittance that she invited Fitzpatrick back to her place despite the fact that she knew him to be a married man, and her sworn testimony that she agreed with Fitzpatrick's controversial assessment of the invalidity of the LINK-angels.
Though absolved of any connection to the murder of the Pope, McMannus has been under heavy scrutiny in Christendom and beyond for her extraneous interviews and commentary. Vatican spokesperson Cardinal Jacob Creed said, "I really doubt there's anything that woman believes in."
The Times caught up with McMannus at her apartment moments after the announcement was made. "Those bastards!" McMannus said. "Don't they know what this will do to me? How am I supposed to maintain religious accreditation?" [LINK here for virtual replay]
Religious scholar Dr. Jesus Martinez of the American Catholic university, Georgetown, was equally surprised at the Vatican's decision. "This is really not precedented," he said in a LINKed interview. "The Vatican rarely issues excommunication orders. As far as I can see, Deidre McMannus has done nothing that would normally call for excommunication."
LINK opinion polls, however, seem to think that the justice meted out by the Vatican is perfectly appropriate. "Let her rot, I say," harryll435@LINK.com posted today on the hot-LINK discussion group devoted to following the Pope murder trial. "She's a complete bitch."
On the same discussion group, Wiccan High Priestess Sapphire Whitewater publicly offered McMannus an invitation to convert. "McMannus is precisely the kind of woman my coven is looking for. Strong, self-reliant, and daring. Some might call those the qualities of a bitch, but I say they are the qualities of a witch."
McMannus has not yet replied to Whitewater's offer.