Precision: Concierge, Inc., #0

Congratulations!

Your application to membership in the Concierge, Inc. Network has been approved. As a member, you may access services in any of the larger metropolitan areas in the U.S. Your buy-in and annual dues allow access to the following services. Documentation of Concierge activities is prohibited.

Concierge Services

Auditor – skilled information retrieval

Cleaner – cleaning and disposal

Driver – secure transportation of members and items

Guardian – low-profile personal security

Mediator – confidential, secure facilitated discussion

Technician – security and communications systems installation

Procurer – retrieval of certain items from certain places

Client Responsibilities

Concierges will always be treated with respect and members will comply with instructions in order to benefit fully from our service.

Complaints and concerns should be submitted to the regional Director where the service was accessed. Complaints about Directors should be submitted to the regional Nomad.

Concierge, Inc. does not provide services related to:

Human trafficking (for sex exploitation, labor, or domestic services).

Exotic wildlife trafficking (live animals or parts).

Kidnapping or abduction for ransom.

Domestic or international terrorist or hate groups.

Welcome to the city. If you require assistance, contact the Concierge.

1. 10-52

EMILY – 18 YEARS OLD

Emily, what would you do in this situation?

When everyone in the class turns to look at me, the tips of my ears grow hot and I hear buzzing in my head. I don’t even know what the question was, so I take a risk.

I would submit a report.

A few snickers come from the other interns.

That’s an interesting tactic and seems like it won’t endear you with the motor pool, but okay. The instructor, a Concierge, moves to the next question and my chest finally loosens. When I look to the girl sitting next to me, she enlightens me.

She asked what you would do if one of the Concierges came in with a body for disposal in their vehicle.

I groan, because the main tenet of being a Concierge is to think on our feet and take decisive action. My mind works fast enough in classes—when I’m paying attention—but practical application in drills or during my reception shifts is where I struggle. When things get hectic, I get tunnel hearing and time seems to warp. My mind races while my body freezes and I end up doing nothing, or, conversely, I give in to my adrenaline and drastically overreact.

Case in point: I called 911 when a Concierge came in with a through-and-through bullet wound that our medic could easily have handled. Then the cops got involved because there was a bullet wound in the ER, and the Director had to smooth everything over. Now the other interns call me 10-52, dispatch ambulance, and the Director won’t assign me to reception alone.

I’m one of the Concierge, Inc. legacy interns in the NYC branch, and that Director is my dad. My older siblings, twin brothers and a sister, are Concierges. Aunts and uncles on both sides have come up through the organization. My family traces back to the founders of the Network. Our family is known for nerves of steel, cool tempers, physical prowess, and ambition. All but one of us, that is.

No one would be so crass as to say it, but I feel all of their disappointment weighing heavily on me, which only leads to more anxiety and freezing, more chaotic overreaction, and more incidents that need to be handled when we’re supposed to be the fixers. But will they just let me go to be one of the people who doesn’t become a Concierge? Maybe an Associate with my own affiliated business. A small bookstore with a safe house above it, perhaps?

It doesn’t matter what ideas I want; there’s no way I’m getting out unless I want to truly go it on my own, living like the masses. Student loans, roommates, and car payments—no thank you. So, for now, I’ll keep trying and hope I outgrow this...whatever it is...to join my family in the ranks of the C.I. elite. First, I just need to get so I don’t close my eyes every time I fire my weapon.

Before I squeeze the trigger.

Merrick – 7 years later

Director, what would you like me to do with these signed documents for Tom in San Diego?

Put them in a courier pouch for the Nomad to take down next time he comes through. They aren’t time-sensitive. They can go in your desk safe.

Done. Is there anything else I can do for you before I go? Kim stands with that posture: the one with her hip just a little jutted and her breasts thrust out the tiniest bit. Not enough to ever be accused of impropriety unless, of course, someone wanted to be improper. She is beautiful in a flashy, predatory way, but I’m not even tempted. I don’t shit where I eat, and sleeping with someone who has been with at least a couple of the people I work with is a recipe for drama.

Regardless, the statuesque brunette is nearly knocked off her high heels when my shorter Assistant-to, Trevor, plows through the doorway.

’scuse me, he mutters insincerely, and it takes some effort not to laugh at the pissy look she directs toward him.

You’re excused, she says with just the tiniest bite, and I know if I weren't in the room there would have been a lot more. She walks out, hips swaying in her impractically snug dress, and Trevor and I both watch her leave.

Shutting the door behind her, he says, Anyway, I just heard from Gallo in New York and he said they’re sending a transfer.

We’ll fully staffed. No.

He wasn’t asking.

I grit my teeth at the reminder that, although I’m senior on the West Coast, there are people more senior than me back East.

And what, exactly, does this hypothetical transfer do? Is it male or female?

She, he says, stressing the pronoun, is female. Very much so, after a quick look at employee records. He gasps and suddenly busies himself tidying my desk top and straightening my perfectly arranged shelves.

Is that so? But of course you haven’t seen the employee records because they are so locked-down even I can’t see them, right?

Yes, of course. I saw the last name and looked on social media.

Where Concierges absolutely do not post pictures of themselves. Try again.

Newspaper article?

No way Gallo allowed that to happen.

OH! I know!

I wait for him to spin another lie but he’s tapped out. Damn my geek, Jill. I can’t afford to put the effort into replacing her, but if she’s going to keep pillow-talking with my Assistant-to, something will have to be done. I silently regard him until he starts squirming and can’t stay quiet.

Fine! No more gossiping about other branch Concierges, he says sullenly.

That’s all I ask. So, what are her details? Age? Education? Specialty? A name, perhaps?

Oh, right. It’s Emily Gallo, she’s twenty-five, MA in Political Science with an emphasis in non-violent conflict resolution.

A masters? That’s unusual for C.I. New staff don’t usually have time.

Jilly said—I mean—rumor is, the Director over there kept sending her to school because she had more to offer as an outward-facing Concierge than in the field.

Huh. I’ve never heard of that before. What do you think that means?

Well...

Hypothetically, I add impatiently.

Well, hypothetically, if a person was to accidentally burn a client’s yacht to the water line, let an important transport escape, and allow herself to be documented by an independent journalist who isn’t on the take, all in one week? That would probably be enough to be pulled from the field. Hypothetically.

Fantastic.

2. Exiled

EMILY

You are not being cast away and it isn’t forever. The West Coast is not Siberia or the Gobi. The Bay Area is a hotbed of culture, sophistication, and culture.

You said culture twice, Mom.

The tall, effortlessly chic in a killer sort of way woman mulls over what she just said.

Oh, she says lamely. Well, they have that bridge. And lot of rainbows.

Mhmm, I hum noncommittally.

Oh! And the prison! From that 90’s Bruckheimer movie with Nic Cage and Ed Harris and Sean Connery, on that island. Oh, what’s it called? They’re on that big, um...

Rock?

"Yes. That. Emily, the non-existent paperwork has already been done. You’ll be sent with a stipend to cover moving expenses. I believe the cost of living