Secrets of the Harts

15 December 2009

Presently, I found myself back in Owens’s room, trying not to show how much I wanted to strangle him for being here. Instead, I said, “Remind me why I’m waiting for you.”

“Because we’re taking all the same classes and since you have nothing to do before Creative Writing with Jane Kellogg, we should hang out.” He dropped the phone he had been furiously typing into, probably communicating with Calloway, and then looked at me. “We have a lot to catch up on.”

“So what do you want to know?” I felt like the fifteen year old I had been when I was around him—surly, frustrated and nursing an awkward crush...

...and that thought only fuelled my irritation further.

“Let’s start with the mafia case.”

I frowned. It figured that he would start with the hardest question. I didn't protest though. In some way, I needed to talk about it. It helped, in an ironic way, that it was Owen I was speaking to. He knew me better than anyone else.

“Calloway assigned the case to me a few weeks after you left. The aim of the mission was to infiltrate the mafia, get whatever information I could about them to land them into court, especially since Sean Fuller has always been released due to insufficient evidence of his crimes. Besides, our moles told us that there were whispers that Sean was about to hand over his entire estate to a trusted aide. If the Agency didn’t act then, the opportunity would be lost.” I paused, gauging his reaction. He didn’t seem surprised by any of this. Perhaps Calloway had already told him this much? “I was the only one assigned to this case because it would be difficult to assemble a team without the mafia becoming suspicious. Anyway, I didn’t have any objections so I started training with the Professional Agents for about a year or so, learning more about Sean Fuller and the mafia, like what crimes they committed and their hierarchy. Basically, Sean was at the top of the food chain. He had two trusted right hand men, Cain Johnson and Vic Leonards. And then there were the state chiefs who had to report to Cain, followed by the city chiefs and so on. It actually worked a bit like a franchise, except Sean had the power to close one anytime he liked. Cain was in charge of the day-to-day running, handling the small problems, like ordering the state chiefs who to pay off so they didn’t attract too much attention while Vic was the visionary of the group—he made the long term plans with Sean and left the smaller fry to Cain.

“But then, about three months before I was to infiltrate the mafia, Cain was quietly killed by his own men. What we heard was that Cain had been getting too friendly with the police and gaining too much respect and power amongst the city chiefs. Apparently, Cain had it in his brain that he could overthrow Sean and kill Vic such that he became the new head. Somehow Sean found out and ordered Cain’s murder, which made my job harder because Sean Fuller was becoming even more cautious than before now that his own friend had tried to betray him.

“I did manage to get in by pretending to be a new member though, joining the Chicago branch. From there, I worked my way up. Of course, I lied about my age, pretending that I was already legal when I wasn’t. And of course, there were suspicions amongst the men about my real age and my ability to lead. But I always managed to find evidence to land those who doubted me in jail with Calloway’s information. They started to think that I had friends in the Chicago police and became more careful about their words around me. I gained quite a reputation, actually, for being young, capable and efficient.” I flinched at the memory.

“After that, I got promoted to the head office, which changed every few weeks. My job there was to help with the day-to-day running of the east region, especially since after Cain’s murder; Sean had yet to choose a replacement. It was a small and unimportant job in the grand scheme of things. But with that position, I managed to send quite a few files to the Agency and we were getting closer and closer to finally nabbing Sean. I had one last document I needed to find before I could do so though.... And then, I caught the attention of Vic and Sean.”

I wrapped my arms around myself, before continuing, quietly, “The rest you should know. Calloway would have told you.”

Owen was quiet for a long time. “I don’t understand something. Why did Calloway send you?”

There was something hidden in his words, something I had never liked but understood very well—Why would she send you? You were an inexperienced child.

Closing my eyes, I let an enigmatic smile develop on my lips. “She never told me.”
***
“This is for you.”

I glanced at the flowers in his hands and back at Dylan’s composed face. Somehow, I had not thought that the next time I had seen him; he would offer me purple lilacs. “Um, thanks I suppose-”

“It’s to replace the one you left in my car.” He slid in the seat next to mine, seeming more relaxed than usual.

I didn’t bother to ask him how he’d managed to get fresh lilacs in the middle of winter or how he’d managed to get his hands on them while we were stuck on school. With Dylan, asking and not asking made not much difference, since he never gave you a straight answer anyway.

“So how you’ve been?”
“W-what?”
“How are you?” He smiled at me.

His politeness unnerved me.

“Tia told me that you missed me,” continued Dylan, smiling his infuriating smirk.

I could only imagine how ridiculous I probably looked trying to conceal my embarrassment. It was amazing how he always managed to throw my composure off. But still, I struggled and said, “Tia’s mistaken about a lot of things, including that.”

“Whatever.” He shrugged, dismissively. But his eyes told me that he didn’t believe a word I said. Then the expression in his eyes changed; grew pensive. “Did Tia tell you about the party?”

“No. What party?”

Dylan looked away from me, suddenly very interested in Jane and our Creative Writing class. “Luke and her engagement party. Next Saturday.”