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What I was getting into was going to be a lot more challenging and serious. It would be nearly impossible to smuggle anything in or out, I wouldn’t learn their location, and I probably wouldn’t get to work with anything sensitive for a while. I’d have to move out of my apartment, which would make it far more difficult to pass information to anyone with MSI, even indirectly. Would it be worth it?
Then again, if it was so tight, this might truly be our one chance to get inside. I just hoped it wasn’t a trap. I took a deep breath and said, “I’m in.”
Roger’s smile was nearly blinding. “Good. I’m glad to have you. Now I’ll turn you back over to Marta to work out the specifics.”
He left, and soon Marta came into the room. I put down my coffee cup and stood, but she motioned for me to sit. “Don’t worry, take your time. We’re not going anywhere from here. I just have a little paperwork for you.”
I’d been expecting to have to sign my life away, probably in blood, and swear an oath of loyalty, but I just had to sign a copy of the offer Roger had shown me and fill out the IRS paperwork—it seemed that the magical mob didn’t want to get taken down like Al Capone. Perhaps they were saving the serious initiation for my first day of work.
Once the paperwork was done, Marta said, “Now I need to get a few measurements for your working attire. Please hold out your arms.” I waited for her to get out a measuring tape, magical or otherwise, but she merely waved her hand while murmuring something under her breath. “There,” she said with a satisfied nod when she was done. “We’ll have new clothes for you tomorrow. Do you prefer slacks or a skirt?”
“I guess for work I like skirts, and the weather isn’t going to matter, is it?”
“No. You can wear whatever you want to commute. Some people even wear their pajamas. Your changing room has a shower in it. However, if you’re going to do that, we’ll need to adjust your pickup time accordingly.”
“That’ll have to wait until I get the new place. My roommates would notice that something was odd if I headed to work in my pajamas.”
“Okay, I’ll take you back to the changing room and then you can go home. We have you scheduled for an eight fifteen pickup in the morning.”
She walked me back to the changing room, and I waited for
some kind of veiled threat about keeping quiet, but nothing came. I supposed there wasn’t much I could tell anyone so far, just that I’d somehow lucked into a job that would provide housing and a driver, but that required me to leave all personal items, including my clothes, in a locker before I went to work.
I changed and touched up my hair before leaving the room. Marta escorted me back to the reception area, where the blond recruiter waited. “Congratulations, and welcome aboard!” she said. “Ready to go?”
“Yeah, I guess. I have to admit, my head’s spinning a bit.”
“You’ll get used to it.” We took the elevator down to the basement lobby and got into the waiting limo. “Do you want to go home, or is there somewhere else we can drop you?”
“Home is good,” I said.
We took what I was sure was a circuitous route back to my apartment building. When the car stopped, the recruiter made no move to open the door. She gave me a direct stare and said, “Of course, discretion is important. You are not to discuss your work with anyone.”
“I have to tell people I have a new job.”
“But you don’t have to tell them details. You will also need to be very careful about your associates. We keep an eye on our employees.”
“I’m pretty good at hiding things from my friends, considering my work has involved magic for about a year now.”
Her smile thawed slightly. “Yes, it’s like that. You were able to talk about your day at work with your friends without mentioning magic. You obviously know the drill.”
She opened the door to let me out, and I stood on the sidewalk, watching the limo leave. What had I gotten myself into?
*
I wasn’t sure how I could report to the people at MSI. After that warning about associates, I couldn’t exactly run downtown to tell Merlin everything. I couldn’t even go over to Owen’s place after telling them that he and I had split up. I suspected I’d have to pass messages through Marcia, who could get them to Rod. And that would require telling Marcia what was going on.
Gemma came home first, but it was after the time I’d usually be home, so she didn’t seem to notice that anything was up, and she was out the door a few minutes later with her yoga mat and gym bag. That was a bit of a relief because Marcia would be both more difficult and more important to the plan.
She usually worked pretty late, but she came home while I was making spaghetti sauce. “Mmm, that smells good,” she said as she rounded the corner from the living room to the kitchen. “I hope you made enough to share.”
“I did. Feel free to join me.”
“No dinner out with Owen? Shouldn’t you two be planning a wedding?”
“He’s working on something.”
“He’s always working on something.” She stretched her shoulders. “Would you mind pouring me a glass of red while I change? Then we can chat.”
