Conspircaies

'Are you a member?' she said to Jack.

'Nope. But I'd sure like to be.'

'Oh, dear,' Barbara said. 'I don't think we can allow that.'

'I don't see why not. Melanie's going to be delayed so she wants Mr. Shelby to take her place until she arrives.'

'But Lew,' Barbara was saying, 'he's not a member—'

'But Melanie is, and I'm her husband, and this is what she told me: Jack is to take her place until she arrives.'

'But you can't just give him—'

'Yes, he can,' Jack said, noticing other registrants backing up behind them. Enough jawing. 'Watch.' He took Melanie's registration from Lew and held it before him. 'There. It's done.'

Before Barbara could reply, the monkey screeched and leaped at Jack. It grabbed the envelope and tried to tear it from his grasp. Startled, Jack stumbled back a step. A few of the people behind him cried out in alarm.

'What the—!'

He snatched the envelope from the monkey's paws, grabbed the creature around its chest, and gently dropped it back onto the registration desk. As if bounding off a trampoline, the monkey sprang at him again, screeching shrilly all the while. This time Jack was ready. He caught it around the chest again and held it up at arms length. He stared at it.

'Hey, pal, what's with you? Cool it.'

The monkey stopped its screeching and glared at him. Then it tried to bite his wrist.

'Damn!' Jack said and tossed it—none too gently this time—back onto the table. He looked at his wrist. The skin was scraped but unbroken.

Undaunted, the creature looked ready to spring again when a voice rang out.

'Mauricio!'

The monkey froze. It and everyone else turned to look at the man approaching from the far end of the corridor.

'Oh, Professor Roma!' Barbara said. 'I'm so glad you're here. I don't know what got into him.'

Jack took in Professor Salvatore Roma, founder of SESOUP: a lot younger than Jack had expected, with close-cropped black hair, just this side of a buzz cut, slim nose, dark eyes, and full lips; maybe five-ten with a lean body. He wore a white shirt—one of those collarless jobs—and dark gray pleated slacks. Looked like he'd just come from a GQ shoot.

For some reason he couldn't explain, Jack hated him on sight.

Roma snapped his fingers at the monkey and, after a heartbeat of hesitation, it scampered along the table and hopped up on his shoulder. Roma approached Lew and Jack.

'Hello,' he said, extending his hand to Lew. 'I'm Sal Roma.'

'Lew Ehler. We've spoken on the phone.'

Roma smiled brightly. 'Melanie's husband! So good to finally meet you in person! I've been looking forward to meeting her in the flesh as well. Where is she?'

Roma was handsome and graceful, warm and friendly—why did Jack have such an urge to punch him in the face?

Lew said, 'She's not here at the moment.'

Roma turned to Barbara. 'What was all the commotion?'

'Lew wants this non-member'—she nodded toward Jack—'to use his wife's conference pass.'

Lew launched into their cover story, and did a great job—Jack detected a few murmured oohs and aahs from the people around them. Roma listened patiently while the monkey on his shoulder continued to glare at Jack. In the end, Roma wasn't moved.

'I'm sorry,' he said, smiling sympathetically at Jack and Lew. 'As much as I'd like to include you, Mr. Shelby, the conference is for members only.' He extended his hand toward Jack. 'Please return the envelope.'

Jack shook his head. 'I don't think so. I'm here. I'm staying.'

'I must insist, Mr. Shelby,' Roma said. Sudden fury darkened his smooth features.

Surprisingly, Jack heard support from the other SESOUPers—people saying, 'Let him stay'…'Give him a break'…'One more person isn't going to hurt'…and the like.

Roma glanced around, opened his mouth, apparently thought better of it, and closed it again. The monkey looked ready to hurl itself at Jack's throat.

'Very well,' Roma said finally, with a tiny shrug as he looked around at the SESOUPers. 'If you wish him to stay, so be it.'

Roma's quick about-face surprised Jack; something about it bothered him. The monkey seemed to agree: It began jumping up and down and screeching as if protesting Roma's capitulation.

'Easy, Mauricio,' Roma purred, stroking its fur. His lips smiled as his eyes bored into Jack's. 'I could have security eject you, but it is not worth the disruption. Enjoy your stay at the conference, Mr. Shelby. But if you interfere at all with these proceedings, I shall remove you. Is that clear?'

Jack grinned into the combined glares of Roma and his monkey. 'Does this mean I don't get to call you Sal?'

Roma turned away, but the monkey kept watching Jack from his shoulder, hissing at him as they walked off. Finally the monkey jumped to the floor and ran the other way, as if disgusted with all of them.

'What happened between you and that monkey?' Lew said.

'Don't know. I get along pretty well with dogs and cats. Maybe monkeys don't like me. His master wasn't exactly crazy about me either.'

And vice versa, Jack thought. He couldn't remember experiencing such instant unprovoked animosity toward another human being.

'But you're in,' Lew said, slapping him on the back. 'That's the important thing.'

'Yeah.' Jack shuffled through his—Melanie's—registration envelope, and pulled out the program. He thumbed the pages. 'What now?'

'Not much doing yet. It's too early for me to check into my room. We could have lunch.'

'I'll have to take a rain check. I've got some errands. And I need to see about a room of my own.'

'That might be a problem. The place is booked solid. If necessary, you could stay with me.'

'Thanks,' Jack said, but hoped it wouldn't come to that. He wanted to stay here because this was where the action—such as it was—would be. But being a roommate went against his nature, unless of course the other occupant was Gia.

'Maybe I can go on a wait list, in case there's a cancel or a no-show.' He checked today's schedule in his program. 'How about we meet at this Welcome Address at five?'

That was fine with Lew. They split, and Jack headed back uptown to see a guy named Ernie.

2

Roma watched the stranger leave and fought and urge to follow him and wring his neck. It wouldn't do to have him turn up dead. That might upset the attendees, might even send some of them scurrying back home—the last thing he wanted.

But who was he? And why had Melanie Ehler's husband lied about him, saying that Melanie wanted this newcomer to use her conference pass until she arrived? Nothing, could be further from the truth.

He calmed himself. It didn't matter, really, who he was. The hotel was full, so Mr. Jack Shelby would have to find himself some other place to stay. That was the important matter—that he not replace one of the attendees. If he did that, something would have to be done about him. Roma needed them all here tonight.

Yes. He closed his eyes. Tonight.

3

The sign in the dirty window read: