Free Council of Peacocks by M Joseph Murphy Page B

down his back. ‘Besides, I can’t go back home.
The police are looking for me.’
    The doors opened to a busy corridor. Men and
women in dark suits walked in every direction. Over by the
reception desk a man in a brown uniform delivered flowers. Another
man in a rumpled grey suit shouted at the receptionist, something
about rescheduling an appointment.
    David got out of the elevator and looked
back. He expected the giant man to get out and guide him to
Wisdom’s office. Instead the man let the doors close and
disappeared.
    He started toward the reception desk. A group
of men in almost identical suits nearly crashed into him. They
swerved mid-conversation without so much as an apology. Then, he
felt a tickle in his skull and stopped. He turned in a circle until
he saw a woman dressed in a tight, black business suit. She had
long, straight brown hair but it was her eyes that captured him.
They were emerald green like his, luminescent like a cat's at
night.
    “A word of advice, Mr. Ross,” she said. “Most
women do not take a gaping jaw and drool as a compliment. My name
is Garnet. I’ll take you to Wisdom. Follow me and try not to set
anything on fire.”
    David swallowed. “Does everyone know about
me?”
    Garnet turned and walked away from David. He
rushed to catch up to her. His eyes drank in her body, the way the
fabric hugged her curves.
    Garnet stopped and glared at him.
    “Sorry,” he said. “I’m not used to people
reading my mind.”
    “Work on that,” she said. “And, to answer
your question, only a few of us know what you did back in Nova
Scotia.”
    They passed several white doors that he
assumed led to offices. All the doors were shut and there was not a
window to be seen. It felt less like walking through an office
building and more like being filed away in an archive.
Occasionally, as he walked on, sounds came from behind the doors.
He heard moans, laughter and muffled conversation. Once he had an
impression of something large and not quite solid moving behind one
of the doors. After that he kept his eyes forward.
    “Is it much further?” he asked. His voice
sounded pale and insubstantial in this place.
    “Do you have another appointment, Mr. Ross? I
do hope we’re not keeping you from something.”
    The green-eyed woman slowed her gait.
    David slowed his as well. He did not want to
walk beside the woman. There was something about her that scared
him as much as the unseen things behind the doors.
    At the end of the hallway was a second
reception desk. An old woman with grey hair typed at her computer.
She was dressed in a bright dress of pastel flowers with matching
gold necklace and hoop earrings. Garnet led him past the
receptionist to a black door. She did not knock. She simply placed
her hand on the face of the door for a moment and then pushed the
door open.
    David followed her in.
    ***
    Wisdom stood from his desk as Garnet entered
with David. “Right on time,” he muttered under his breath. He
walked over to the newest arrival and shook his hand.
    “Pleasure to finally meet you, David,” he
said. “I’m sure you have a million questions. First, realize you
are amongst friends here. No one will judge you on your past.
Certainly not me. Garnet, can you pour us some drinks?”
    Garnet bowed her head and went to a table
covered with crystal tumblers and bottles of liquor.
    “I don’t even know where to start,” David
said. He glanced around the room, eyes wide in wonder. The room was
luxurious, with thick carpet and mahogany furniture. Then he saw
the wall of framed photographs to his right. He fixated on one of
them – Wisdom sitting with a group of men on a beach – and his
mouth dropped.
    “Is that JFK?”
    Wisdom smiled. “Yes. I met him a few times.
Charming fellow. Always beat me at tennis.”
    David looked at Wisdom from the corner of his
eye.
    Wisdom smirked. “I’m older than I look.”
    “Who are these other people?”
    “You wouldn’t recognize their names,