The Blood Eagle In The Big Easy Part 3

The Gatekeeper stood and addressed me. His voice was wheezy and slightly higher pitched than a man's voice should be as it cracked, as if his b.a.l.l.s were finally dropping after fifty plus years.

"If you are so very concerned about, *the crazies' as you call them, then why aren't you out there doing something about them instead of here?" He threw up his hands in mock surprise. "Wait a minute! Let me guess!" as his face suddenly contorted into a sneer. "You want the council to do your job for you. Isn't that right?" Anger and hatred filled his voice. "Are you not the mighty and all powerful Viktor Engel Warden that we have heard so many stories about?" He waved a hand at me as if dismissing me. "I would appreciate it if you would just get to the point and allow the rest of us to get on with our day!"

I could have sworn I heard him stamp his foot under his desk as he finished his tantrum. Invoking my right as Progenitor must have p.i.s.sed him off more than I had expected. That and the fact we have been at each others throats for most of the last two decades probably didn't help. We rarely see eye to eye on anything other than our mutual displeasure of each other. At one point in 2005 he even tried to have me removed from the court.

That didn't work out well for him and it weakened his position within the courts. Because of his demand for my removal Orpheus fractured and now operates as two separate courts. The Gatekeeper remained as the figurehead of the court, but within his own Krewe was forced to share power with Nathan. The Gatekeeper remained in his position only because his supporters held all the cash flow and are more prominent members of Orpheus, while Nathan controlled the foot soldiers and the day to day people who made the court function. One without the other at this point would be a non ent.i.ty.

My smirking only seemed to p.i.s.s him off more as I stood there in disbelief. "You know very well that I am here out of courtesy to the courts." Stepping to the side and turning I was able to get a better view of the stunted little man before me. "It is my sworn duty as a va.s.sal of Comus to report any crimes of this nature" Glaring at the idiot I didn't even try to hide the contempt in my voice for the man. "As you know it is my sworn duty to serve the court as well as the community at large. If you have an issue with how I carry out my duties," giving him a contemptuous smirk before moving on "perhaps we can discuss it on King's Day with Comus himself!"

The Gatekeeper turned several shades of red, veins bulging out around his neck and face. "What I disagree with *Viktor'" his voice cracking once more as his anger made him nearly horse, "is the fact you summoned a conclave for nothing more than a single murder that involves only you and perhaps the ailing Rex." He stuck a stubby finger in my direction, shaking it at me wildly. " The rest of us shouldn't have to clean up your mess. How dare you summon them here without asking my permission?!"

"I didn't summon the conclave for starters..." I started.

"Oh don't even try to make excuses! I know it was you! You are always trying to undermine my authority!" The gatekeeper screamed.

I saw Rex lean forward in his chair about to speak but I waved him off before he could do so. He leaned back in his chair, anger obviously welling up inside him. "Leonard, I'm sorry you feel that way. I a.s.sure you that isn't the case." It really wasn't. The man was incompetent enough to screw things up himself without my help. "While it's true we rarely agree on anything I have never tried nor will I ever attempt to undermine what little authority you possess."

"You will address me by my t.i.tle!" Nearly in tears, Leonard slammed his fist into his desk. "You don't deserve to clean the soles of my feet let alone address me in such a common fashion!" Leonard sprayed spittle across the room as he screamed.

Shaking my head in pity I sighed. "We have greater problems here than our personal differences Leonard." I was tired of his constant whining and continued interference. It was times like these when I thought about moving to another city. "What I came here for was information. I would like to use the eyes and ears of our people to find the hole that these sleazebags are hiding in as quickly as possible." Closing the screen on my phone the lights gradually returned to normal. Frustration built up inside me as I resented the constant bickering and backbiting.

Leonard turned several deeper shades of red and purple, causing his voice to go an octave higher as he spoke. "So it is information you need! What if I say no?"

Taking a step forward Leonard fell back in his seat as he tried to scramble out of my way and even failing at that minor task. "You would risk more lives over your pride? Dear G.o.d Leonard you are pathetic. With ever increasing repet.i.tion you demonstrate that you are nothing more than an over indulged child!"

Leonard turned a sickly shade of green and white as his face twitched uncontrollably. "You overestimate your worth Viktor! Now that this chapter of your life has come back to haunt you everyone else will see you for who you are, a small insignificant manling with visions of grandeur." He shook with anger as his voice came out seething with hatred and dripping bile as he spoke. "You have no place here and I am hereby withdrawing the court's official support! Let's see how well you do without us at your beckon call. As is my right as the Gatekeeper I hereby declare Viktor Engel Warden persona non grata. No official support shall be given in this matter and anyone who wishes to challenge my authority will be brought before Comus for summary judgement! Am I clear?"

The room went silent for a moment, then a very sultry laugh came from the Queen of the Nine Muses cutting through the stillness like a bullhorn. Her long red hair flowed around her face as if it were alive with wind as she tossed her head back laughing. When she got to her feet, all five feet three inches of her, her face lost all of its humor as she caught Leonard in her gaze.

"Little man, make whatever proclamation you wish!" She paused to brush her hair over her shoulder for dramatic effect. "You only think you wield the power of Comus!" She sneered at him as she spoke. "You are the most reprehensible Gatekeeper in the history of the courts!" She seethed. "Bring me before Comus!" She held her delicate wrists out daring anyone to try and slap her in irons. Thankfully no one was dumb enough to take the bait. "You don't have the b.a.l.l.s for it you spineless sack of s.h.i.t!"

Looking around the room to ensure she made her point she finally leaned forward putting her hands on the desk giving those of us in the front row an excellent view of her feminine form. "Officially or not, I'm sure Viktor will receive whatever help he needs. It isn't as if *you' could stop any of us!" Sitting back in her chair all prim and proper she gave him one last insult. "What are you going to do, march the entire conclave before Comus? It is you who overestimate your worth!"

Leonard again stamped his foot and clenched his fists as he slammed them down onto his desk. "I commanded you to stand down and leave Viktor to his own devices or you will all pay!"

As I mentioned earlier Leonard doesn't care for me in the least. I believe that if I were on fire and he had water, he would drink it! Raising my hand I whistled to get everyone's attention before giving Leonard a quick wink. "Not to worry Leonard I'll help you out here" He started to stand but quickly fell back as I advanced on his position. "My offices are open for anyone who needs my help. Otherwise please do not jeopardize yourself on my account." As I headed for the exit I turned to Leonard giving him a wicked little smile. "Oh, and Leonard, I look forward to our meeting with Comus." "I don't think it will turn out the way you would like." As I turned to leave the room I gave him the finger, just for s.h.i.ts and giggles. "Oh, not to worry Leonard I am on my way out of the building now."

As the door closed I heard voices from the room explode with furious accusations, almost running over Nathan as I made my exit. He and three of his guards had escorted Gregory off the third floor. "Wow do you ever know how to p.i.s.s someone off!" Nathan observed, shaking his head as he took the stairs two at a time. "You two need to get the h.e.l.l out of here before he decides to have you arrested."

I nodded at Gregory asking. "You alright?"

Gregory was obviously confused as to what was going on but tried to hide it. "I am not sure what the h.e.l.l happened back there but I am suspecting it isn't good. As far as the other stuff goes, Nathan says I scored well."

Nathan looked back at me as he guided us through the back halls to a stairwell. "His scores are some of the highest I have ever seen. But since you have negotiated the sixty days I am sure he will have his pick of krewes. That is if anyone will have him after today's fiasco. For f.u.c.k's sake Viktor, haven't you ever heard of playing nice?"

I shrugged. "I've heard of it, I just don't really believe in it with some people."

Nathan shook his head. "I am supposed to tell you that until the will of Comus is known to us that you are no longer welcome. Your security clearance has been revoked and you are to be arrested on site if you try to enter the building."

Smiling broadly at Nathan I a.s.sured him. "Don't worry so much. I am sure it will all turn out the way it's supposed to." Before giving Nathan a hard look as the humor left my face. "Not to worry Nathan I wouldn't put you in the position of trying to arrest me."

Nathan visibly relaxed. "Thank you for that."

With very little fanfare we were led out of a nondescript door on the side of the building facing the French Market and unceremoniously dumped on the curb like yesterdays trash. I heard the door close with a loud thud just after Gregory pa.s.sed through it.

"So what the h.e.l.l happened?" Gregory asked curiously.

"Oh a child had a temper tantrum and threw us out on principle, which means we shouldn't expect any help from the courts anytime soon." I laughed shrugging my shoulders. "I should drop you off at the Federal Building before heading to the office. Once you conclude your business with Smith, why don't you join me at Warden Industries?."

Gregory nodded. "We will talk about this later, but for now we do have work to do I suppose."

We got back to the car only to find it booted. I'm sure that this was one h.e.l.l of a f.u.c.k you message from Leonard. Gregory and I walked a block over to the French Market where we each hailed a cab. I have to give Leonard credit, but his present was a particularly low blow. The rotten b.a.s.t.a.r.d booted my car! What an a.s.shole!

Chapter 6.

The cab pulled up to 1225 Rampart, my place of business and the current headquarters of Warden Industries. I bought the building from a funeral home many years ago. It was a gleaming white multi-level wooden structure with eight Doric columns spanning the forty feet between the ground floor and the roof. Due to Leonard's gift of a boot to my car the private parking lot at the rear of the building would be of absolutely no use to me until this afternoon at the earliest. Between the time it would take to remove the boot and the tow truck's arrival I was looking at several hours to do office work, which would thrill my second to no end. She was always requesting some sort of paperwork to be signed in triplicate, all of which I hated doing. h.e.l.l I always thought that your subordinates were there to do all the stuff I hated to do. She's informed me on several occasions that no matter what I believe, someone misinformed me somewhere along the line.

Stepping out of the cab I stopped at the pa.s.senger window to give the driver his fare. Before I made my way up the steps of my office, I stretched for a moment while admiring the building. The basic layout was the same since its days as a funeral home. The double bra.s.s doors were in the center of the building which I took a moment to admire. Modern buildings rarely had the flare and style of historic ones and these highly ornate gleaming bra.s.s doors were a prime example. Pulling the door open I stepped inside the bustling office.

The old dark and highly polished hardwood floors creaked slightly as I walked across the room. Just to the right of the door was a semicircular mahogany desk containing a stunning young woman in her mid twenties. Justine, my receptionist, could easily make a living as a prettier though shorter stand in for the lovely Kylie Minogue. She barely glanced up to see my ID as a formality before waving me on. Cameras outside were used to gain facial recognition before I ever entered the door. Scanners embedded in the columns out front scanned my electronic ID tag verifying the facial recognition. And as a last line of defense the scanners in conjunction with a live feed from the cameras created some sort of biometric imprint of me as well as all of my employees. Everything from my carriage to my heart rate were calculated to make it nearly impossible to impersonate anyone working here. After you encounter a shapeshifter once or twice you get a little particular. The one place more advanced than the council chambers of the courts was this building. Where do you think they got all the cool gadgets from? Did you seriously think they came up with that stuff on their own?

Thinking about it for a moment I stopped and turned back to Justine. "Could you put the word out that we are looking for any information about the murder in City Park this morning." This is New Orleans after all and the only thing more motivating than free food and booze is money. "Offer a reward if you think it will help. Take it out of the discretionary fund." Security would need to be tightened until things calmed down with the case and the courts. "Also, could you please place a call to security and ask them to step up the patrols until things settle down?"

"Will there be anything else sir?" She flashed a bright smile at me.

"Not at the moment." Her smile was infectious as I smiled back. Suddenly the thought of my second, Kira, waiting for me flickered through my mind and the smile faded. "Is she waiting for me?"

"Of course sir" Justine smirked as she glanced up at the second floor balcony. "And she's in a mood, even for her!" I saw pity in her eyes as she looked at me. "She came flying out of the conference room about thirty minutes ago in a huff." She mentioned as she pulled an expense voucher from under the counter and handed it to me. "Could you sign this now, just in case you don't make it back down...ever"

I quickly signed the voucher approving her use of the discretionary fund. "You inspire me with such confidence Justine." Sighing heavily, I returned the paperwork. "Thanks for the heads up."

As I turned to leave I remembered that the Queen of the Nine Muses might stop by. "Oh h.e.l.l I nearly forgot. Katherine and perhaps a few others from the court may pa.s.s by." I looked up at the balcony and shook my head. "It might be safer to show them to the conference room and call me right away."

"Safer? For who, you or them?" She laughed. "More likely you want a way out of whatever trouble you have landed in!"

"I am glad I can amuse you." I grumbled.

"I should thank you for it more often than I do." She quipped.

"You would think you would want to thank me for keeping you employed." I joked.

"Oh, please." She looked at me without a hint of amus.e.m.e.nt. "No one else would take this job, so you're stuck with my smiling face." She gave me one of those sultry smiles that made men stop thinking with their brains. "You're welcome for that by the way."

Biting my tongue I resisted the urge to say things I shouldn't before waving and moving across the room to the polished hardwood double wide stairwell on the north wall. About three quarters of the way up I saw the gleaming cherry hardwood floors spill across the second floor and the thankfully empty oversized desk belonging to Kira, my second. Her highly ornate antique mahogany desk sat just outside my office on the furthest side of my office door, which currently stood ajar. On the opposite side of the room was an empty waiting area with six empty heavy wooden chairs. I started scanning the room looking for Kira. I know that she was lurking somewhere and would be upon me without warning if I weren't careful.

No sooner had my foot hit the landing I heard the click, click, click of Kira's high heeled shoes storming towards me. She emerged out of the office with a head full of steam. Kira who had recently turned twenty eight, towered over most people at six foot four with a whole lot of lean muscle ma.s.s. Her dark brown eyes flashed with annoyance as she made a little hmmp noise at me.

Knowing that nothing I said would appease her, I gave her my best smile as I nodded. She wore a smart navy blue business suit, the cut of it accentuating her height. She was never one to be self conscious about it, and had commented on several occasions that it made meeting girls much easier, especially out in the clubs. She was the epitome of the perfect lipstick lesbian.

She looked down at me giving me a half sarcastic smile as she held in her perfectly manicured hands a fist full of paperwork which she shook at me. "So was that really necessary?"

Her tone caught me by surprise as it was raw and gravelly. "I take it you were snooping again and watching things you shouldn't." I strode past her into my office and she quickly followed me in.

She rolled her eyes as she gave me one of those big *eat s.h.i.t and die' smiles. "If by snooping and watching things I shouldn't you actually mean doing my f.u.c.king job by watching your back and trying to minimize the damage you do? Then, yes I was snooping and watching stuff I shouldn't!"

"I didn't give you access to the courts video surveillance system so you could spy on private meetings." I retorted, stepping around my desk and pulling the chair out to sit.

She stopped suddenly and stomped her heel of one of her overly priced stilettos in frustration into my nice hardwood floor as she spoke. d.a.m.n that was sure to leave a divot.

"Since I installed that system you hardly *gave me' access!" She placed one hand on her hip while pointing the other accusingly. "I was simply trying to save time by having the Delta team receive the briefing along with the courts."

G.o.d bless it! How the h.e.l.l can she be so d.a.m.n practical when it comes to business and need so much help in the rest of her life? "How did that work out for them?" Its really hard to sound indignant when the other person is making so much d.a.m.n sense.

"They got what they needed." Turning she closed the door before giving me her full attention once more. "They were wise enough to vacate the room when things got personal." No matter how hard she tried she wasn't able to keep the mirth out of her voice. "What the h.e.l.l is wrong with you?"

"You act like it was my fault." Throwing my hands up in disgust. She knew that there was bad blood between me and Leonard for as long as we had known each other. "Don't you have something better to do than sit here and lecture me about things you don't understand?" She hated the guy too, so I was at a loss as to why we were still discussing the matter.

"Oh, like I don't understand that you feel the need to randomly p.i.s.s off the Gatekeeper as often as possible." Turning loose of the paperwork she sat down and slid it across the desk too me pointing at it. "For the life of me, I don't know how you think you can fix this!" Taking the opportunity to distract myself as she ranted I grabbed the file and opened it. "You may have pushed things too far and Comus will have little choice but to throw you out on your a.s.s!" All the mirth and joy left her as she spoke. "As you can see Leonard is doing his best to tie up the court's resources with useless and time consuming jobs outside the city limits."

To be honest not a bad plan on his behalf I thought as I shrugged and said "It wasn't as if I actually expected them to fall in line and help in the matter." Waving off the situation dismissively as I slid the file across the desk. "I was reporting to them out of duty, not out of respect or need."

"There is that, and the fact you couldn't help yourself by insulting the Gatekeeper." She sighed and she looked worried. "You may not need the courts protection but others do." She looked at me with genuine concern in her eyes. "What will happen to them if Comus finds them guilty of a.s.sisting you?"

That made me feel like a complete a.s.shat. "I admit the fact that I do relish the opportunity to insult the little s.h.i.t." I looked up at her rea.s.suringly. "I doubt Comus would side with Leonard." I closed my eyes and leaned back in my chair as I thought about the situation. If I had to guess a decision would have to be made concerning Leonard when Comus arrived on King's day.

She sat back in her chair satisfied she'd made her point. "I have word from Rex, Zulu and the Muses that they want to meet with you as soon they are able to tear themselves away from Leonard's riveting lectures about how things will proceed from here on out." She rolled her eyes in disgust, loathing the man perhaps even more than I. "He is very intent on having Comus formally remove you from the courts." She leaned forward as she lost herself in thought. "And having you put in chains afterward or exiled from the city at the very least." She shook her head as she smiled sweetly at me. "You should count yourself lucky that Comus only shows up once a year, or he might throw you out just to shut Leonard up!"

Her phone chirped alerting her to a new message and saving me from more of her lecture. As she read it she lit up like the cat who ate the canary. Pushing herself out of her chair she moved toward the door. "One last thing, Rex has sent word that there has been some unusual inquiries about a certain Francisco Galvez M.D."

My curiosity peaked as I completely forgot about Leonard and the MCC. "Do we have anything else on the man?" I honestly hadn't expected for anyone to have a lead for me this fast.

"We will know more shortly. I'll let you know when something pops." She shrugged once more and as an afterthought looked back. "In the future when you plan on p.i.s.sing off the Gatekeeper please give me a heads up so I don't have to scramble."

Chuckling at the comment I gave her a quick thumbs up. It isn't as if I go in there with a plan to p.i.s.s the guy off. "I am sure that my continued existence is a thorn in his side. So rest a.s.sured, for future reference if he see's that I still draw breath he is going to be p.i.s.sed off!"

She rolled her eyes as she flipped me the bird. "G.o.d, I know how the man feels on a daily basis." She shut the door before I had a chance to say something else annoying, or as I see it, funny and incredibly witty. I sat down at the desk and started reviewing the twenty year old notes of the previous encounter. About five minutes later my door opened and without lifting my gaze from my tablet I reminded her, "And you think I'm funny and incredibly handsome too."

That actually got a smile out of her. "In your dreams, but back here in reality we have some information on Dr. Galvez."

That shut me up as I quickly looked up from my reading. "Tell me! From the tone of your voice it would appear you have something interesting for me."

She glanced at her tablet as she spoke. "I just sent you the file. Mr. Galvez is a native of Puerto Rico who moved to the states in the early seventies. After arriving he attended medical school at Tulane here in New Orleans." She walked around and took her seat once more before continuing. "He specializes in geriatric psychiatric care and this is truly an odd combination, renal failure." She looked up at me as if she were expecting me to say something. Seeing no reaction from me she continued. "Dr. Galvez owns a facility on the Lakefront out in the East on Hayne Blvd. The place has a clean track record according to the state inspections."

My hopes were quickly being dashed with each word she spoke. "I don't see anything special about that in the least. I think you might be losing your touch..." She rolled her eyes and cut me off before I had a chance to finish a zinger I had been waiting to use for weeks.

She pointed at her tablet. "If you were reading the file that I sent to you a couple of minutes ago you would have already found the coup de gras!" But since you are waiting for me to spoon feed you I guess I should continue." I bowed at her magnanimous gesture and waved for her to continue. "You should note I never said he always practiced here in the city. In the early 80's he had a satellite office in Maine which didn't close down until 1993."

That caught my attention, hitting me like a ton of bricks. This man was possibly one of the five cult members that got away. The sc.u.mbag always had ties to the very city I lived in and I never caught wind of it. Maybe I was the one losing my touch. "Kira can you pull all the records for both the city in Maine and New Orleans to see if we have any other people in common? You may have found the common thread that has always eluded us till now."

Kira beamed at my praise. "It is already underway. It will take a bit longer than normal since the records in Maine may be hard to acquire. It would seem that someone burned most of the city to the ground. For the life of me I don't have a clue who that could have been. You wouldn't happen to have any ideas, do you?"

I squirmed uncomfortably as I thought about the possibility of losing our best lead due to something I did twenty years ago. "Those were trying times. I admit that I might have gotten a little carried away in my haste to eliminate the enemy."

She was clearly enjoying my discomfort as she chuckled at how I was trying to downplay my zealous pursuit of the enemy. " You think?" She held her side as she laughed. "You? You would never get carried away in your haste to it eliminate the enemy."

As much as I hated to admit it she had a point. "What are you trying to say?"

"I dunno?" She giggled. "You're trigger happy? Perhaps even a bit of a firebug at times." She was nearly in tears at this point. "You make the term shoot first and ask questions later feel inadequate on a good day."

I waved her off. "Like you have any room to talk."

She smirked. "Where do you think I learned it?" As she pointed at me.

"Fine I surrender." Throwing my hands up I conceded her point. "Just find something we can use and all kidding aside thanks, you did a great job."

Something in my voice must have alerted Kira as she looked at me for a moment, her expression turning somber. "Are you feeling alright?"

I shrugged. "I've been having trouble sleeping. The dream is back but this time there are more details in it."

Kira leaned forward in her seat, as her full of pain and worry. "Like what?"

"There's fire and smoke and I swear I think I hear someone calling to me." The words left me as a mere whisper and I wasn't about to tell her what I heard.

Her forehead furrowed slightly as she spoke softly. "You don't think it's the "other thing" do you?"

Leaning against my forearms I drew strength from feeling something solid underneath me. "Nah that hasn't changed. That's just an open frequency with a repeating signal of some sort every two weeks."

"At least it's consistent I suppose. You will let me know if anything changes right?" Kira inquired.

Holding up three fingers on my right hand like one of those scouts I gave her my most serious look. "I promise."

Let me explain. About a year ago I started hearing something strange that no one else could hear. I couldn't figure out what it was on my own so I had my firm's staff doctor run an MRI. I am not exactly partial to lending my body to the local medical facilities for several reasons, privacy being among them. Since the staff doctor is also my a.s.sistant Kira, I was fairly secure in the fact that whatever was going on wouldn't be leaked. What she found was a tiny gemstone no larger than the head of a pin embedded deep in my ear ca.n.a.l.

Without being too intrusive she was able to discern the stones composition. We both recognized it as a miniscule version of a gem I kept safely tucked away at home. After calibrating the machine to a more sensitive level to perform a full body scan and several hours later we had our results. There were hundreds of millions of microscopic crystalline stones throughout my entire body. They coalesced and pulsated throughout my entire being as if they were alive, and we theorized that something must have recently activated the crystals higher functions triggering new abilities in me. Without too much effort we determined that they were the source of my shields and possibly much more. Since their activation I have been able to tap into data streams, access and control computers or even cell phones after touching them once. It was as if I was suddenly hardwired into the internet. Most of the time I now used tablets or phones merely for show or habit since I more or less absorbed the knowledge I needed.

Due to the information overload that I received the first two weeks nearly killed me and now Kira and I were wary of how this would affect me long term. There was also something more worrisome that I had kept to myself. There was old information stored inside of me, information I felt I should recognize but when I tried to access it, it slipped out of reach of my minds eye. The one thing I had told her about and regretted almost immediately was the fact that there was some sort of open frequency with a repeating pattern transmitting every few weeks, like some sort of SOS.

Lately the large crystal I had hidden away at home glowed every time I went near the thing. I don't actually know what it is. I found the crystal in my jacket pocket all those years ago while hiding in a cave, trying to stay warm and survive, while attempting to remember who I was. After Kira discovered crystals, I retrieved the items that I'd possessed when I first woke, including the large crystal from my secured research facilities. The sudden urge to find from whence I'd came was upon me. Again I thought maybe these trinkets of my past might hold the key to the knowledge I sought.

Nearly all of the advanced technology used by my firm had been reversed engineered from these items. Some of them were so advanced that not even the most brilliant of today's scientists could comprehend their inner workings. Several of my applied science divisions worked around the clock trying to unlock their secrets. For now they would have to be happy with the detailed scans and notes until I could find out the truth of the matter. There were two things they agreed on. First the technology was based off of some type of crystalyn fractal mathematics which allowed the items to hold untold power on a scale unheard of by today's standard. Secondly the earth's collective knowledge could fit in one of the smallest of the crystals they discovered. They promised me that one day they would unlock the crystals secrets and when they did the untold knowledge and power that it held would be available to whoever wielded the items. That made me less than comfortable when I thought about it for too long.