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Program.”
    â€œBobby,” Agent Reston said, very softly. “Let me let you in on a little secret. While you would certainly be an asset to the Program, our main interest is in protecting you. Also, assets who prove unmanageable become liabilities to the Program.”
    â€œUnmanageable?” Glass said. He had been listening carefully, chin resting on his hands.
    â€œAnyone who compromises The Program and our tactics is a risk factor. We have our own ways of dealing with them.”
    â€œYou knock them off?” I said, shuddering.
    Reston smiled her cat smile. “Of course not. There are far better ways to deal with Renegades than killing them.”
    â€œRenegades,” I said, rolling the word on my tongue. Nausea bubbled inside of me. The floor seemed to buckle and roll. “But what if I do sign up? Wouldn’t my condition still do me in?”
    â€œWhen you’re ready, we’ll talk about it. For now, see what you can do with the information you have. The treatment will keep you from going too deep into a vision, kind of like a tether. Think of it as deep-sea diving. You’ll be hauled back up to safety.”
    â€œWait—you’re leaving? Just like that?”
    Agent Reston smiled broadly enough to reveal her white teeth. “Consider this your audition. I have faith in you, Bobby.”
    I glanced at Jeremy. He simply threw up his hands.
    â€œJust so you know, you passed up your first chance. Second time around, the bar is set higher.”
    I just stared at her, incredulous. “You’re saying I have to prove myself? Or be left to go insane?”
    â€œYou’ve got seventy-two hours to show me what you can do, Bobby. Oh, and boys—did you wonder exactly why I happened to be in New York when my home office is in Washington, DC?” She cocked her head expectantly.
    â€œIt keeps me awake nights wondering,” Jeremy said.
    â€œAlways the joker,” Agent Reston said, shaking her head. “Do you remember what my ability is, Bobby? I can see murders. And there’s a big cluster of them around here. Only they haven’t all happened yet. And I’m counting on you to do something about that.”

18
    Jeremy
    Saturday: 8:13 PM
    I glanced at the clock. It was 8:13 PM. Ten minutes after Agent Reston had left. The girls weren’t back yet and I was edgy. I didn’t like the implied threat from that manipulative blind bitch: that if Bobby Pendell didn’t prove himself useful, they’d make him disappear, kill him or something—whether he planned to cooperate or not.
    Bobby paced the apartment in his stocking feet. He still hadn’t peeled off his rumpled clothes and his hair looked like an oil-soaked crow had landed and died on his head.
    An unexpected wave of big brotherly protectiveness washed over me. The kid had a hair-trigger temper and zero sense of humor. But despite his tendency to want to punch me in the teeth, I liked him. Since most people wanted to punch me anyway, I tended to overlook small things like that.
    Bobby wasn’t talking, though. He stalked back and forth, occasionally texting Gabe, I figured, pretending like I wasn’t there. The apparition scurried along in his wake. Occasionally, he’d whirl around, snarl at her, and she’d scrabble over to crouch near me. But I ignored her, so she’d fall back in line, marching behind Bobby like a semi-transparent majorette.
    I sighed. Tenderness, I realized, wasn’t the best way to deal with a hardscrabble hick like Bobby Pendell. “So, what’s your next move, Pendell? Shrivel up in a ball and die?”
    â€œFuck you.”
    â€œYou really need to work on your vocabulary range.”
    Bobby stopped pacing and whirled on me. “What the hell is your game? Do you enjoy kicking people when they’re down? Is this entertaining to you?”
    I raised an eyebrow. Maybe it was time to drop the act. “Actually, Bobby,