DEA has no knowledge of or connection with the gorilla woman. Her malicious and illegal destruction of private property is a matter for the local police. Do you understand?â
âUnofficially?â asked Harris.
âUnofficially theyâre reading your report in the menâs room for light entertainment,â said Harrisâs superior. âYouâll see bits of it on the wall in the second stall.â Harris already had.
Item six: I donât know where she got the body
. Scratched with a penknife or the fingernail-cleaning attachment on a clipper, just above the toilet paper dispenser.
His superior leaned forward to engage in actual eye contact with Harris. It took Harris by surprise; he drew back.
âUnofficially we were impressed with the report the General gave us. We were impressed enough to interview some of the Miami eyewitnesses. Theyâre not the sort of wing nuts in sandals you might expect to find in the tabloids. Our agent spent two hours with a Mr. Schilling, who owns the Miami bar. Heâs a pretty savvy guy, and he says she performed feats of superhuman strength. How did she get into the Vatican embassy? No one ever sees her come or go. She took out a crack lab in Raleigh, North Carolina, a week ago. Did you hear about that?â
Harris had not. He was alarmed to hear she was already as far north as Raleigh. He rechecked the map. There it was, a black pin through the heart of North Carolina. âUnofficially the DEA doesnât give a damn where she came from. Unofficially the DEA expects you to take care of her.â
Harris nodded. He had always seen that the burden of responsibility was his. With or without the DEA, he had never intended to shirk it. He had already been spending his sleepless nights making plans. âWith support?â Harris asked.
âAt my discretion. And certainly not visibly.â
It was more than Harris had hoped for. He moved to the map on the wall. âShe seems to be moving directly north. Sooner or later, I figure sheâll hit here.â He drew a line north from Raleigh to Richmond, a small circle around Richmond. âSomewhere in here. So. We concentrate our forces in the larger bars.
âNow, the body is the real issue. Is it a real body? If so, itâs doable. If not, weâre in trouble. If not, we need expert help. But letâs say that it is. She shows herself, we attack with the bufotoxin/tetrodotoxin package. This could be a bit tricky. She wonât drink, of course. The potion can go right through the skin, and sometimes the bokor simply sprinkles it on the doorstep, but Iâm guessing sheâs the sort who wonât remove her shoes. We might try a Shirley Temple, load the tetrodotoxin into the cherry. Even if she wonât drink the ginger ale, Iâm willing to bet sheâll eat the cherry. The dosage will be guesswork, and someone will have to take it to her. Of course, Iâm volunteering.â
âNo hallucinogenics,â Harrisâs superior said.
Harrisâs mind was filled with cherries. He had to blink to clear it. âI donât understand. Weâre just trying to persuade the loa to abandon the host body.â
âYou summoned a weapon. This weapon served us at the Vatican embassy. Itâs a useful weapon. We donât want it destroyed.â
âYou donât understand,â Harris said. âYouâre not going to control it. You canât talk to it. You canât reason with it. You canât hurt it. It doesnât feel pity or remorse or self-doubt. It makes no distinction between drugs and liquor and nicotine. And it will not stop. Ever.â
âWe want it on the team,â Harrisâs superior said.
âYouâre tying my hands,â said Harris. His heart had never beat faster except for maybe that time in Mexico when Rico had slipped and used his real name during a buy, and that time above the Bolivian mountains when two