Chapter 2:

  It was hot out, not a big fan of the heat. The heat never does me any favors, just makes the work take longer. And boy was it longer.

  I don't get too many visitors during the day, not that kind of work, but sometimes it just works out that way.

  There was another woman, older this time, maybe bad sixties or good seventies. She came asking about her sister. This and that about things unsaid, things undone, the normal stuff.

  I told her the rules. One and three she had no problem with, but two she said was a bit beyond her. Fair enough. But the rules are rules.

  I stayed firm, she began to cry. Always with the crying. They can't help it, it's a big deal for them.

  She said she would get some help, I told her that wasn't how it worked. It was either she dig, or no job. She called me a name, I've been called worse, then she left.

  There was a man, thirty eight, he told me. He brought me something interesting. Said he had heard of me from an old customer, a rarity. Most customers leave less than pleased, even the ones that leave with smiles on their face tend to keep quiet. I heard him out.

  He told me that there was a guy that he knew a while back passed real suddenly, gone in the night. There wasn't anything that was urgent about it, but he wanted a chance to talk to him one last time, said that he felt he coulda reached out more, maybe spent some more time with him.

  I understand why my previous client told his guy about me. Some people are like this. Low stakes, just missing something, there's a small hole. Why not patch it up?

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  It was my kind of job. I told him the rules and he seemed happy. I told him the price, not so much.

  Turns out that the value of getting to see someone one more time is able to be written down, and it also turns out that sometimes it's a little too high for my clients. He said maybe he'd be back a different time, I told him I'll be here, and he took off.

  There was a regular. Young guy named "Andy." Least that's what he tells me.

  Andy comes in and out a lot, he's got a lot of business with the dead, with me. He tells me the time and place, keeps it short while sliding a pack of cigarettes across my table. When my customer keeps it short, I like to as well. I tell him the rules like I always do, but he knows them. He has his wallet out before I'm through rule one.

  We set up the time, that very night. No point wasting time when you know what you want. He pointed a finger gun at me as he walked out the door.

  "Bang," he said.

  There was a boy, maybe fifteen, maybe sixteen, he came in asking some questions. Thing is, they weren't the questions that a boy like that would be asking. No "what do you do"'s or "where do you work"'s. He was asking grown man questions, like "what time do you leave?" and "do you come back after work?"

  Someone is feeding him questions. I'm not a fan. The way I see it, if you want to ask someone something you oughta do it to their face, right in their gob, but maybe that's the job talking.

  I tell him what he wants to know and he takes off, sweating.

  Man, was it hot.

  Boy left the door open, so I got up to close it, keep some of the dusty-cool inside air in. As I close it a hand catches the edge and pushes it back in.

  There was someone there, and, for the first time in a while, it was someone interesting. A woman, youngish, maybe mid twenties, maybe a bit more or less. She was short, wild hair, so wild it was almost mangy, and she had a sign in her hand, the one from the window downstairs that said "Hiring." Looked like she was having a hard time holding it, one of her shoulders wasn't working.

  She had an odd look on her face, one that was hard to describe. Blasé, if I had to pick a word. Maybe it was the heat, but I didn't think so.

  I don't know why, but I felt myself smile. I opened the door and let her in.

  She looked around a bit before saying anything, she spent some extra time staring at something on my desk, but then she turned and spoke, and what she said made my smile just a little bigger.

  "What is your name?"