Roxanne's Role

ROSTOV HAD ORGANIZED GALATINE very carefully, compartmentalizing it into cells so that no one but himself really knew everything--and even Rostov thought that Walford or even Brunn probably had assets they had protected from him. If they were sensible, they would.

Two cells, neither of which was allowed to know of the other's existance, fabricated spurious "magic girl" incidents. One of them did have a fairly convincing "flyer," which, at least at night, looked like a flying angel. It was used sparingly; there was always a danger the contraption, really a small radio-controlled aircraft, would crash and be discovered. That wouldn't be disastrous in of itself; there were people who had no connection with the agency fabricating "angel" appearances. But it would reduce the credibility of the flyer's replacement.

Hiring actresses to impersonate angels was, surprisingly, easier. The standards of performance required were not high, and the risk was minimal. It did not matter much if the actresses were discovered; that, in fact, dovetailed with the GALATINE cover story: the organization employing the "creatures" was also employing dupes to confuse matters. This was the job of the first cell, the larger one.

But there were a few jobs where it would be very important for the actresses not to be discovered. That is, they had to be disappeared once their work was completed. The second cell, much smaller, handled this work. The man in charge of this cell, which referred to itself as "Studio B," was known as Kendall Conners. And Ken did not like what Brunn was showing him for the latest assignment.

"I can't use any of these girls, Mr. Brunn," he said, throwing down the folders. "Junkies, hookers, ex-cons . . . unreliable, and untalented. I need someone who can be convincing."

Brunn pulled another folder out of his attache case. "What about this one?"

Conners glanced at the contents, then picked it up for a closer look. "She's young . . . "

"Yes, but she does have credits."

"Yes . . . maybe too many. She could be recognized."

"I doubt it. Her significant credits are as a child. As you can see from the latest picture, she is no longer a child."

"Yes . . . Are you screwing her?"

"No. I'm not that stupid, Conners."

"I just wanted to be sure you understood that she goes away when we finish."

"I know that."

Conners closed the folder. "All right. You didn't get this one from your usual sources. What's your connection with her?"

"Her mother knows my ex-wife. Frightful stage mother, but Margie thinks the world of her. Anyway, Roxanne had a modest success as a child actress, as you see, commercials, a few TV appearances, even minor parts in two movies. But once she hit puberty early and sprouted up like a weed."

"She won't win any beauty contests."

"No, but she does have acting experience. She's done some gymnastics, and even some martial arts."

"But she has family . . . the mother, and a kid of her own."

"Won't that give you some extra leverage?" said Brunn. "If she's good enough, we can use her for the entire assignment. Having the same one in the role might lend extra credibility."

Conners was normally about as sentimental as a shark, but this was a bit far even for him. "I could take care of her, and the mother, but not the kid. None of my people will do that, and I'm not stupid enough to do it myself."

"Aren't you forgetting someone?"

"Who?"

"My ex-wife, Mr. Conners. I'd hate to have her separated from Margie." Brunn got up from his seat. "But if you would rather decline, I'm afraid I will have to report that you will not be able to fulfill this mission, since none of the other choices meet your requirements."

"No, I'll handle it," said Conners.

Roxanne Rose came home from school and saw that look on her mother's face. She set down her pack and took Louise from her mom before her mom made her big announcement.

"We've got work!"

There was no way Margaret Rose was not going to be involved in work for her daughter. Keeping it a secret was no problem with her for now--she was on Welfare at the moment, and had every reason to conceal possible income. She was also realistic enough to know that income from acting jobs could be problematic.

But the secrecy involved in this job seemed outlandish.

Reading the contract, she found many things she didn't like. "Mr. Connally, you have a lot of loopholes for yourself here."

"Connally" (the alias Conners was using) said, "They aren't loopholes, they are penalty clauses. What they all boil down to is that you or your daughter cannot talk about this to anyone not involved in this production until we authorize you to."

"Why? What exactly are you doing?"

"We are teasing the public a bit. Roxanne will perform in several places to establish her persona. Once she does, we will move on to the next stage."

"Of what?"

"Something that will take advantage of the publicity. And, if you do your job well, Roxanne, you might be part of that next stage."

"Talk to me, Mr Conners!" said Margaret Rose. "Roxanne is still a minor. I make the decisions. And don't think you are going to leave me out of anything. Where Roxanne goes, I go."

"Well," said "Connally," smiling. "That goes without saying." He pulled out a thick envelope from his inside pocket, and laid it on top of the contract. "Signing bonus."

The job was wierd. Roxanne had to fly to different places, put on an "angel girl" costume, and make herself seen. Sometimes she had a few lines to deliver--some pretty strange ones, sometimes in Japanese. She couldn't speak Japanese, but the script was phonetic, and she was given tapes to practice with.

But her mother told her not to worry. The money was in cash, and it was pretty good . . .

Index of Old/Alternative Stuff
The Secret Index
The Main Index