WE WILL MISS YOU

WHEN YOU ARE GONE: VOLUME ONE

A TRIBUTE TO THOSE THINGS THAT WE ALL HAVE LOST IN OUR YEARS

AND THERE ARE STILL THOSE THINGS THAT WE HAVE YET TO LOSE

"What if he doesn't cooperate?" I asked him. I didn't relax my grip.

"He will cooperate with you, I am sure of it," he replied, confidence returning to his voice. "This building isn't secure enough for me to stay here any longer. Someone will contact you later with more information. Will you please release me now?"

I let go of him, and he brushed his coat, flattening out the creases in it where I had been gripping the fabric.
"Your friend, Janine, is it? She's probably getting worried about you," he smiled at me again with that same knowingness that had frightened me before. Just how much about my life and the lives of my friends did these people know? Why were they slipping me information in fragments, when it seemed that they would be able to locate and connect me with her just as easily?

"You're more than a research agent, aren't you?" I asked him.

"It's an appropriate label for the kind of situations my employers allow me to handle," he responded.

"Your employers? You're referring to Synchro Systems, aren't you?"

"Don't make too many assumptions, friend."

"I don't appreciate your games," I said to him, turning to leave.

"Real life isn't a game. There are consequences for all of us."

That didn't explain much, either.