Nothing You Can Do

Mindy flinched. The guard’s hand had moved. Quick, precise, it carried intent, like a snake’s rattle or the warbling growl a cat makes in the middle of the night when they’ve cornered a mouse. The next thing to happen would be pre-determined, automatic.

Stopping, Mindy held both hands up, palms forward. She didn’t breathe.

Pulse threading in her ears, she let the adrenaline spread through her muscles and felt the web of her blood vessels. She didn’t try to breathe through it or tell herself that it would be ok. Unfiltered feeling gave her a living. The situation was frightening. Let it frighten her.

The guard’s hand eased. Eyes scanning beyond her, the guard took a step. His thick-soled tactical boots crunched the gravel, and he put himself in a direct line between Mindy and the gate.

“Private property.”

Mindy nodded and drew a shuddering breath.

“I-, I have an appointment.”

The guard pointed over Mindy’s shoulder to the street beyond.

“No, you don’t. Leave.”

“I do. I promise.”

She edged her right hand towards her pants pocket. The guard’s knees flexed, and he turned sideways. His hand hovered over the holster.

With two fingers, Mindy drew out the paper the agency had given her. It had the address and the name: Jeffren Devries.

When she’d read it, Mindy had whistled.

“That Jeffren Devries?”

Will, her agent, had raised his eyebrows and nodded.

“He asked for you.”

“How could he do that?”

Avatars are anonymous. Part of the service is that no one knows who they are or what they do. It’s like being a restaurant critic. If they know a critic is in the restaurant, the critic is reviewing a performance, not the restaurant. For the service to work, it has to be pure and unobserved.

Will shrugged.

“Because he’s Jeffren Devries?”

“No choice then?”

Will flipped his datapad and showed her the figure. It would cover Mindy’s expenses for three years. She whistled.

“Do you want a choice?” Will asked.

“I guess not.”

Will flipped the pad around. Mindy filled out and signed the confidentiality agreement. It vanished into Will’s desk. Will tapped his pad, and Mindy’s phone buzzed. The deposit had arrived in her account.

She’d get the rest on delivery, minus Will’s fee. As Mindy rose, he slid the card across the desk.

“Part of their security. They won’t ask you for it. You show it and do what they say. Got it?”

Mindy pocketed the card and rose.

“Got it.”

He put the pad down as she stood.

“Mindy, make sure I never hear anything about what he asks you for.”

“I never do.”

“Make doubly sure.”

As Mindy presented the card, the guard’s demeanor tightened, lingering at the precipice of lashing out. He extended his forward hand while his other found the butt of his automatic.

Plucking the card from Mindy’s hand, he turned it over and examined the back and rubbed his thumb across it. A moment passed, his eyes flicking between the card and Mindy.

Mindy didn’t move. Her fingers wanted to move, almost trembling with anticipation. Run, fight, anything but standing still.

Then, the tension vanished from the guard’s body. His hand fell away from the holster. He straightened, and he held out the card.

Mindy shook her head.

The guard smiled. The hard killer softened into something that approached apology, like his diligence was something he didn’t enjoy but was required of him. Mindy could appreciate that.

“It’s ok. Take it,” he said.

With slow deliberation, she reached, and as soon as she touched the card, he let it go and retreated to the guard house. The iron gates parted while an electric motor hummed.

“They’ll greet you at the front door. Stay on the path,” he said as he stepped out.

Mindy wondered if this was another test and stood her ground.

The guard sighed and gestured inside the compound.

“You’re safe. I promise.”

Mindy nodded and took a step. The guard nodded. She tried a step, then another.

Waiting for a new challenge, she placed each foot on the white gravel. Walking a straight path, she moved towards the house’s front door.

She started when the gate behind her hummed and clanked shut. Looking back, the guard wasn’t watching. Above the gate post, twin cameras looked inward and outward. Mindy continued towards the house.

A hundred yards to her right, the estate ended on a seawall. Across a stretch of deep blue water, cruise ships lay at anchor at the terminal port. Before it, a variety of sailboats, speedboats, and yachts cut wakes. A sleek yacht nestled against the seawall. A guard lingered near the gangplank.

The modern house was glass, steel, and horizontal lines. Three stories tall with a covered rooftop patio. Its lack of ornament announced the price. The lawn was maintained with the precision of a putting green, and a garage with six wide doors lay opposite the sea wall.

As she approached the covered walkway, the front door opened. A man in a white guayabera shirt with vertical pleats and khaki pants stepped out. He waited until Mindy approached before smiling.

She presented the card and noticed the backing had changed from white to gray where the guard had rubbed it.

The man at the door took the card without looking at it and tucked it into a shirt pocket.

“Mindy?”

“Yes.”

“I’m Hector. Please come inside.”

She walked into a wall of cool air which contrasted with the sultry heat outside. The entryway opened into a broad living room with a fireplace at one end and a big-screen television at the other.

Hector walked past, and she fell in a half step behind.

“Let me get you something,” he said and gestured to the open kitchen beyond the living room.

“Water?”

“A little orange in it? Lemon?”

“What does Mr. Devries prefer?”

“Orange.”

“Orange then.”

Hector pushed two orange slices into a tall glass, retrieved a pitcher from the refrigerator, and filled the glass. He made a second in the same way, then pushed the first across the counter.

“Shall we go up?” he asked after lifting the second glass.

Mindy sipped and shivered at the near-freezing temperature of the water, then followed.

They climbed three flights without pause. Other than Hector’s steps, the house was silent.

At the top of the stairs, he put his thumb to a pad, and a lock thumped. Pushing through the door, the sultry air invaded the stairwell. Hector held the door as Mindy stepped onto the deck at the top of the house.

Jeffren Devries stood with the ocean behind him. Wearing a white shirt, black pants, and shiny shoes, he appeared taller than Mindy had imagined him. His right hand presented a ruin of scar tissue along the back, and his nose bent just off center and seemed to have flattened and spread from being smashed in more than once.

He evaluated Mindy as Hector handed him the water glass. The evaluation continued while he sipped.

Afterward, he lowered the glass and looked to Hector.

“Thank you. Could you make sure we’re left alone?”

Hector retreated and smiled at Mindy as he put his thumb to the panel. The door opened, and it thudded shut after he passed through.

Devries gestured to a chair which faced the water. Mindy approached and sat down. As she passed, she scented his earthy, spiced cologne before settling into the chair.

“Your house is beautiful, Mr. Devries,” Mindy offered.

He looked around, his smile satisfied.

“Turned out ok in the end.”

He settled into the chair next to hers. They’d been turned half towards each other, half towards the ocean with a small table between them. Devries set his glass down and leaned forward.

“I’ve been thinking about your work, and I’m curious. Is asking questions allowed?”

“Of course,” Mindy replied. “Nothing that can identify my clients, though.”

He held up his hands and shook his head.

“Of course not.”

He smiled in a way which made her wonder if there was such a thing as confidentiality with him. He’d found her name. That had never happened before.

“I’m curious which experience was your favorite?”

She’d wondered the same thing. She’d gone into space for an aging fighter pilot. She’d skydived over the Grand Canyon for the wife of a man in a coma; it was her gift and hope that it would bring him out of it. Picking a favorite was like picking a favorite moment out of an entire life. Was there a favorite?

“I visited the Louvre,” Mindy said.

Devries frowned and shook his head.

“Really?”

“He’d lost his eyesight and had never been. I spent an entire day. When I handed over the download, he asked me to stay. I relived it with him.” Mindy looked across the water. A cruise ship was being pulled away from the dock.

“He held my hand, tears running down his cheeks.”

Mindy smiled.

“He said his favorite part was tasting the madeline cookie I had afterward.”

Devries picked up Mindy’s smile. She wondered if anyone had ever seen Jeffren Devries wistful.

“Does that happen often?”

“Reliving it with them?”

He nodded.

“Only twice so far.”

“What was the other?”

Mindy looked from the cruise ship to Devries and shook her head, a finger to her lips. His expression became mischievous.

“I understand.”

He looked at the ground. Mindy waited and let him sit with it before speaking.

“What can I experience for you, Mr. Devries?”

The wistfulness ended, and as his eyes hardened, he looked into Mindy’s eyes.

“Do you keep backups?”

Mindy shook her head.

“I have memories, but after the download, they become impressions more than memories. It’s like it was a dream.”

“What if the memory is lost before delivery?”

“You get your money back.”

“Has that ever happened?”

“Not to me. I don’t know about others.”

“Stolen?”

“No. If you’re concerned, you can be present for the download and take delivery right away.”

“Let’s say I gave you the combination to a safe and a keycode. Could you give me the experience of stealing something?”

“I’m barred from knowingly engaging in a criminal act. We could create a scenario where it seemed to happen, but if I believed it was real, I’d be required to return your money.”

He considered and looked across to the ship moving away from the dock. It had been turned, and the tug boats were retreating.

“You’ve read about me, I assume?”

“I have.”

“Have you wondered what it’s like to be me?”

Mindy hesitated. She looked from the burned hand to the nose. Seeing it close up spoke of violence, which she didn’t want to imagine. The blunt force of it and feeling the crunch of cartilage and bone… She didn’t want to.

“It scares me.”

He smiled and continued to watch the cruise ship. He flexed his burned hand, the scar tissue pulling taut.

“That’s what it turned into. Scaring people. At the beginning, it just hurt, but I figured out that being able to take it made people wonder what else I might be capable of.”

He nodded, his eyes seeing something that wasn’t the cruise ship.

“Ended a lot of bad things before they got started.”

He sniffed, and the vulnerable expression vanished.

“Mindy, you’ve signed a confidentiality agreement, and I expect you to honor it. But understand that it will be enforced by either legal means,” he said and faced her. “Or other ways.”

She swallowed.

“They will be your memories, Mr. Devries.”

He looked back to the ship, drew a deep breath, and drummed his fingers on the arm of the chair. He lifted his glass and drank half of it. Setting it down, he sat straight, his expression taut.

“People in my business fail in all kinds of ways. The one I’ve never understood was how they could let themselves be compromised by a woman.”

He glanced at Mindy. His skin had taken on a flush.

“Women who seemed to get a hold of a man, and afterward, nothing they did made sense. They’d go broke giving her gifts, miss meetings with millions on the line. You couldn’t help them. Something broke inside. They’d throw away wives, businesses, careers, children. It never made sense.”

Mindy listened.

“Like a politician who loses it all over an intern or bartender.”

Devries nodded.

“Never understood it. It’s the one thing I couldn’t see coming.”

She let the words hang. Never interrupt or judge a client’s thinking. No matter how much you thought you knew. When Mindy thought she knew where they were headed, she’d discovered that was when the biggest surprises arrived.

“How can I help you, Mr. Devries?”

“Her professional name is Alexis Winter. Her real name is unimportant. She’s a professional dominatrix in New York.”

“A session?”

He held up two fingers.

“For new clients, she requires an introductory meeting in public. Then, if compatible, they are eligible to meet in private.”

“And what do you want to experience?”

He closed his eyes, and his face became a mask. He gripped the arms of his chair and let out a long exhale.

“I want her to make you feel vulnerable. I want you to feel helpless.”

Mindy mirrored his exhale. Anything other than listening carried danger. She wanted to ask how long he’d struggled to work up to saying the words out loud and how long the desire had gnawed at him. Instead, she just let out a long breath.

When he opened his eyes, another person looked out. Innocent, unguarded, he stared. Mindy waited for him to speak again, but it seemed the interview was over.

“Mr. Devries, the contract doesn’t cover outside expenses. I’ll need-“

“Talk to Hector on your way out.”

Taking that as a cue, Mindy rose and went to the door. Locked, it didn’t move when she pulled on it. Then, the lock thumped.

Devries did not rise. His body made a hulking silhouette, framed by the water beyond. Mindy opened the door and started down the stairs.

On the first floor, Hector met her at the base of the stairs. He handed her an envelope.

“I believe this will cover things, but you may call me if you need more,” he said as he handed her a business card.

“Thank you.”

He gestured to the front door, and they walked out together.

“Good luck,” Hector said.

“To you too.”

He retreated into the house and closed the door.

At the front gate, the guard saw Mindy’s approach, and the gate opened as she passed through. He made a little salute with two fingers. Mindy replied with a smile, continued to the sidewalk, and turned left as she used her phone to call a car.

When she was a couple of blocks away, she stopped and sat on a bench. Her hands trembled. When the car arrived, she slipped into the back seat and returned the driver’s smile. They didn’t speak, and she was grateful as she stared out the window and let her heartbeat settle while the charge of adrenaline faded.

Hector’s envelope held a cashier’s check for a lavish figure, and she deposited it into her working account before sitting on the couch with a bowl of leftover spaghetti.

After indulging in several episodes of a sitcom, she rose, went to her computer, and searched for Alexis Winter, New York Dominatrix.

Two social media feeds topped the results, and a personal website came up third. She started with the website. Black and silver with elegant fashion photography, it presented Alexis as a Nordic blonde in muted colors. The only color allowed was the red of her lipstick. Mindy read every page, reading the rules for contact twice. At the bottom, the last rule indicated that true supplicants would have read this far and would let Alexis know by mentioning cardamom in their polite, introductory e-mail.

Mindy noted it before going through both social media feeds.

Afterward, she wrote an e-mail introducing herself and said she loved cardamom. With a sigh, she rose and prepared to return to the sitcom.

A response appeared.

“You start well, Mindy. You should call now.”

Mindy sat and typed a response.

“Is the number on your site ok?”

“Yes.”

She dialed. An alto voice answered.

“Hello Mindy.”

“Hello Alexis.”

“You’re only the third person ever who has followed all my instructions. My compliments.”

“Thank you.”

“Now, what led you to darken my inbox?”

Mindy thought of Devries. The nerves. The circling what he wanted. The difficulty in saying it out loud.

“I’ve always been curious. Just wasn’t quite sure how to start.”

“And what were you curious about, Mindy?”

“It’s difficult to describe. I worry I don’t have the words.”

“You should try.”

Mindy thought.

“Vulnerability, feeling helpless?”

“And you started with a dangerous woman like me?”

She chuckled, teasing and bemused.

“Yes,” Mindy replied.

“Well, I think we should make you feel those things right away. A coffee tomorrow at 10 am would interest me.”

Mindy looked at her clock. Five pm, and she’d need to fly from Miami to New York. The flight on that short of notice would be insane. There was the hotel too.

“Ten tomorrow would be terrific.”

“Starting so well. Keep it up.”

Alexis gave an address. Mindy wrote it down.

“Is there anything you’d like me to do before we meet?”

“Yes.”

The line fell silent. Mindy waited. Alexis held the silence.

“What would you like me to do?” Mindy asked.

“Sweat,” Alexis said.

The call ended.

Mindy looked at the phone, then began. She found several flights that night but settled on an early morning flight the following day. Wincing at the price, she made the purchase, then found a hotel for the following evening.

She reviewed Alexis’ website and social media a second time before going to bed.

The following morning, she showered, dressed, packed, and took a car to the airport. Relieved when the plane lifted off on time, she dozed and woke when the landing gear thumped on the runway.

She went to the hotel first. It was before check-in, but the bellman stored her bags. It was 9 am.

She found the coffee shop. On the Upper East Side, it lived beneath a tall apartment block. The crowd inside had thinned as the morning rush ended, and Mindy found a table near the window.

At five after ten, Alexis appeared in the window. She wore a long leather coat and dark sunglasses. As she entered, she pulled the glasses off and tucked them into a pocket.

Her appearance matched her website. Cool, Nordic, Blonde with ice blue eyes. She scanned the shop and settled on Mindy.

“Mindy,” she said and smiled.

Mindy rose and extended her hand. Alexis shook it, holding Mindy’s hand for an extra beat, and looking into her eyes. A shiver went up Mindy’s spine.

“Let me get a coffee, and we can talk,” Alexis said.

Mindy waited by the table while Alexis went to the counter. She returned, and they sat. A barista came around from behind the counter and set the cup on the table.

Furrowing her brow, Mindy watched him return to the counter.

“I had to get mine myself.”

Alexis poured a creamer and stirred.

“I do have that effect on people.”

She blew and sipped before settling her gaze on Mindy.

“You mentioned vulnerability.”

“Yes.”

“And what does that mean to you? Being vulnerable?”

“I’m hesitant. I worry it may come across the wrong way.”

Alexis’ eyes sparkled.

“Oh, this will be good. Tell me.”

Mindy swallowed.

“Well, you see men. Smart, intelligent, then sometimes they just kind of come apart. Scandals. Dalliances. It’s like something has gotten hold of them.”

Alexis smirked.

“Yes, it’s grand to watch them unravel.”

“But why? Something’s missing?”

Alexis’ smile turned serious, and her eyes focused on something distant.

“Yes, something important.”

“It seems to be something you enjoy. Getting them there?”

Alexis’ confidence returned.

“Let’s talk about getting you there.”

The ice blue eyes didn’t move.

“I don’t have the words. I’m sorry,” Mindy said.

“That’s ok. You just have to ask.”

“I don’t know what to ask for.”

“Say this. Ms. Winters, I want to feel powerless and vulnerable. Would you please be so kind as to take me there?”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

“What happens after?”

“That would spoil the surprise.”

They looked at each other over their cups. Alexis sipped without breaking eye contact.

Mindy drew a deep breath.

“Ms. Winters, I want to feel powerless and vulnerable. Would you please be so kind as to take me there?”

She rose and moved to the door. Pulling it open, she stood beside it and crooked a finger.

“Come along.”

Mindy rose and preceded Alexis out the door. Mindy paused, not sure which way to go. Alexis approached and put a hand on Mindy’s shoulder, guiding her up the street. At the end of the block, Alexis’ hand turned Mindy towards a stairwell leading downward.

At the basement entrance, Alexis slid a key into the lock and pushed the door open, then guided Mindy in.

Since she had asked the question, Mindy had felt like she’d entered a dream. Alexis’ confidence existed around her like an aura and sapped Mindy’s. The hand on Mindy’s shoulder had started as an irritant she wanted to throw off, but as she walked, the pressure seemed a kind of relief. Just follow its guidance and let things happen.

Jeffren had asked for this, she thought. Let it happen.

A quiet gloom clung to the underground space, and Mindy wondered how smart it had been to ask for it. She knew nothing about this woman other than how she presented herself online. The fear that blossomed told her to resist or back away.

But Devries had paid. The fear, doubt, and the attraction were all his. Mindy’s job was to feel it.

The door closed and locked. Alexis’ hand came off Mindy’s shoulder, and Alexis stripped off her coat. Beneath, she wore an ankle-length corset dress. She hung the coat in a closet and returned to Mindy.

“You probably should strip, yes?”

“I should?”

Alexis came close, the hem of her dress brushing Mindy’s legs.

“Yes. I think you should.”

Throat dry, Mindy began to undress.

Having no conception of the right thing, she folded them into a neat pile and held them before her. Alexis had disappeared into another room. When she returned, she carried several lengths of rope, but she paused upon seeing Mindy.

Evaluating eyes passed over Mindy’s body without apology or comment. She could have been a musical instrument that needed tuning. She chuckled.

Alexis raised an eyebrow, and the laugh ended. She gestured to a shelf with a flick of her finger.

“You can put all that there.”

Mindy flushed as Alexis watched, hyper-aware of the air on her bare skin. Alexis crooked a finger after the clothes were placed.

Approaching, Alexis slipped one of the ropes into Mindy’s hand.

“How vulnerable are you feeling now?” Alexis asked.

Mindy nodded. “Very.”

Alexis coiled the rope, and with a few deft moves, cinched a knot around Mindy’s wrist. Cool against her skin, the hemp slid like silk. Alexis tugged, and as though it belonged to someone else, Mindy’s arm moved.

Repeating the process with the other wrist, Mindy found herself being guided backward until she flinched at the chill of brick that touched her back. The ends of the ropes swished through metal loops over her head. A moment later, Alexis tugged, and Mindy’s hands rose and were tied above her head.

Kneeling, Alexis repeated the process with Mindy’s ankles.

With a gentle press on her sternum, Alexis pushed Mindy against the wall and tightened the bonds. The chill of the stone invaded Mindy’s skin.

Stepping close, Alexis looked down.

“Vulnerable yet?”

“Yes,” Mindy whispered.

“Helpless?”

“Yes.”

“But not the kind of thing that would ruin a life. Arousing, exciting but not quite to that obsession where you need my approval, need to amuse me.”

Mindy didn’t know what to say. Alexis stepped so the leather of her dress pressed against Mindy’s bare skin. The blue of Alexis’ eyes filled Mindy’s vision.

“Relax, Mindy,” Alexis said and petted Mindy’s cheek.

Alexis drew in a long breath, then let it out. She repeated the breath, and Mindy followed the rhythm.

On the exhale, Alexis’ shoulders dropped and Mindy’s relaxed in response.

“All tied up. Nowhere to go,” Alexis whispered.

She blinked, slow and deliberate. Mindy’s eyelids made a slow blink.

“That’s it. Scared, helpless, turned on. What can you do but breathe in, then breathe out,” Alexis said.

Mindy drew a deep breath and let it out. Alexis nodded, then closed and opened her eyes. Feeling a wave of drowsiness, Mindy’s eyes closed, and she pulled them open.

“Perfect,” Alexis said. “Keep going.”

As Alexis took another breath, Mindy blinked and widened her eyes. She needed to experience this, not fall asleep.

Alexis touched Mindy’s cheek.

“It’s ok. You’re doing it just right.”

Mindy began to shake her head. Alexis drew a breath and nodded. Mindy drew a breath in response and discovered that she’d nodded. Alexis’ eyes seemed stars in a dark sky.

“You can’t resist, Mindy. You’re tied up. You’re in a strange place with a strange woman. Nothing you can do.”

Mindy’s eyelids began to droop.

“Nothing you can do, Mindy,” Alexis said. “You can say it.”

“Nothing I can do.”

“That’s right. Nothing you can do.”

“Nothing I can do.”

“Again.”

“Nothing I can do.”

Fingertips found her temples and made slow circles. Her eyes closed, Alexis became a presence. Her fingers swirled, the hem of her skirt brushed Mindy’s skin, and the leather of the corset creaked in time with her breathing.

“Keep repeating until it becomes automatic. You may notice the words come on their own now,” Alexis said.

“Nothing I can do.”

Mindy heard her own voice. It shrank and shrank on each repeat as though her own thought didn’t fill her mind, and the space in her mind left open was filled with Alexis.

“Easy to listen and forget where the words come from. My voice often becomes your voice. Inevitable. There’s nothing you can do.”

Nothing she could do, Mindy heard.

The ropes holding her grew taut as her body went slack, and her neck went limp and leaned forward on Alexis’ shoulder.

The voice in her head continued. Inevitable. Nothing she could do.

She woke in darkness. Still nude, she lay on a table under a heavy blanket. She listened and looked without lifting her head.

It looked like Alexis’ space, and she sat up. Her clothes lay on the shelf where she’d put them, and the ropes which had bound her wrists and ankles hung from the rings on the wall.

Rustling came from another room.

“Alexis?”

The rustling paused, and Alexis emerged from the doorway. She crossed and encircled Mindy in a hug. Mindy relaxed, a wave of drowsiness washing over her.

“You were perfect,” Alexis said. “Jeffren will have quite the experience.”

The warm drowsiness vanished, and Mindy tried to pull away.

“Shhh,” Alexis said. “Nothing you can do.”

The tension in Mindy’s body evaporated. There was nothing she could do. Alexis’ embrace became irresistible.

“Listen carefully,” Alexis said. “You need to come see me again. It’s the most important thing. You’ll fight. You’ll resist. But there’s nothing you can do.”

“Nothing I can do,” Mindy murmured.

“That’s it,” Alexis said and petted Mindy’s hair. “Vulnerable and helpless. You need this again. You’ve always needed this. It was wrong to run before, but you’re back now, and it’s so much better.”

Mindy absorbed the words, not understanding. She’d never run. She’d never been there before.

“Nothing you can do,” Alexis said.

Nothing she could do, Mindy repeated. She needed to return.

Alexis continued petting, and Mindy drowsed.

She woke sometime later, under the blanket again. When she sat up, Alexis looked up from scrolling her phone. Smiling, she gestured to the shelf.

“Ok to get dressed now,” she said.

Mindy rose, unsteady on her feet. Her fingers struggled, then remembered how to move, and at length, she’d dressed and stood in the center of the room. Alexis looked up and rose.

“I wish we had more time,” she said. “I’ve only met two avatars before you. I bet you have stories.”

Mindy nodded, her mind still fuzzy.

Alexis embraced Mindy again.

“Still a little woozy. You’ll feel better after your flight back to Miami.”

“I-. How did you?”

“It’s ok. Your hotel sent your luggage, and a car is on the way.”

Alexis gestured to the door. Mindy’s bags waited.

Wrong. She shouldn’t know any of this. Jeffren. Miami. The bags.

“Mindy,” Alexis’ voice said.

It wiped Mindy’s thoughts, and she went still, eyes finding Alexis.

“This is most important. Are you listening?”

Mindy nodded.

“Treat Mindy very well. Generous and kind. Nothing you can do.”

Mindy repeated. “Nothing you can do.”

“That’s right. Now, Jeffren is waiting. He needs to experience this right away.”

“Right away.”

“Good,” Alexis said and guided Mindy to the door.

She took her bags and floated up the stairs. Alexis stood beside her until the car arrived and helped her get in. When Mindy was settled, Alexis leaned in and kissed Mindy’s forehead.

“Jeffren. Tonight. Nothing you can do.”

“Nothing I can do.”

Alexis closed the door, and the car moved off.

If asked, Mindy could recite the events of the airport, flight, and ride to Devries’ mansion, but it seemed distant as though she was a passenger in her body while her body was a passenger in a series of cars and an airplane.

The car pulled to a stop before the iron gates of Devries’ estate near midnight. A crescent moon turned the white gravel into a ghostly path leading to the square bulk of the house.

A guard appeared out of the gatehouse, hand on his sidearm.

Mindy’s hand lifted the card. The guard took it, and as the gate opened, Mindy floated through.

Hector opened the door and guided Mindy to the staircase. He showed Mindy through.

The lights were off, and the distant lights of the docks reflected off the water.

“Mr. Devries.”

His body was a silhouette.

“Done already?”

“It was important to see you tonight,” Mindy said.

“You saw Alexis?”

“Yes. I can begin the download now.”

He gestured to a chair.

Mindy went to it and opened her bag. The cap fit snugly to her skull with a braided cable and melded to her spine at the back of her neck. She inserted an empty data chip.

Jeffren watched, poised at the edge of his seat.

Leaning back, Mindy started the download. A faint charge jolted her mind, and the image of waking up that morning flashed before her eyes.

Like a dream, the rest of the day raced past and ended with her sitting on the roof of Devries’ house. The charge faded, and Mindy opened her eyes.

Slipping the cap off, she peeled the device off the back of her neck. Devries followed her hand as she removed the data chip.

He reached for it, fingers trembling.

“Mr. Devries,” Mindy said.

The hand closed to a fist, and he lifted a datapad. An instant later, Mindy’s phone buzzed. The money had been transferred.

She handed over the chip.

He stared at it.

“Hector will see you out.”

Mindy packed her things and went to the door. It unlocked, and she’d made it halfway down the staircase before she found Hector coming up. Surprised, he took it in stride and led her down.

“Good night, Miss,” he said as he opened the front door.

“Good night, Hector.”

The gates opened as she approached, and the guard made a two-fingered salute as she passed. She called a car and was home a half hour later.

Ravenous, she had the car stop at a drive-thru on the way home. Arriving at her apartment, she left her bag by the door and went to the couch, falling asleep before half the food was eaten.

Sunlight came through the blinds the following morning and found her eyes. Squinting, she sat up. The fast food wrappers lay on the table, and her mouth felt dry and salty.

A sharp point drove into her ribs, and she dragged it free. Her cellphone showed the time: 8:45 am. There was a notification from her bank.

A second deposit from Devries had arrived six hours earlier. The amount matched the first. A memo was added: Nothing I could do.

Mindy tried to remember. She heard the words: Treat Mindy Well. She saw those beautiful blue eyes. They reminded her of the Madeline after the Louvre, where the impression remained but the force of the moment had gone. Alexis’ eyes had been beautiful, but as she tried to remember the details, they slipped away.

It didn’t matter, she decided. She should treat herself better.

A spa day would be nice. She rose and went to shower.