Tori raised an eyebrow and pulled out her iPhone. She punched in the number and waited,<br/><br/>"Hello, Mrs. Whitmore. Tori Morissette with PSI. We have a young man here, a Simon James, and he wants to work with us on this investigation. I  know you have strict regulations on who we can and cannot bring in. I just wondered if he is on your list?" Tori said, staring at the guy. Jacob just stared at her, kind of cool, like this was standard procedure and like, WTF?. She acted normal, even though her heart was pounding.<br/><br/>"Yes, ma'am. Yes, okay, thank you, One more quick question. He claims to have worked with the carpenters on the psuedo paranormal and I didn't want his prior knowledge to jeopardize our credibility." Tori continued. She nodded.<br/><br/>"Yes, ma'am. Yes, I see. In the event that we did hire him, would that in anyway compromise our evidence? Thank you, I appreciate it." Tori punched the phone again.<br/><br/>"Okay, here is the scoop. He is on the approved list. He did work with the carpenters, however, he was only the 'dogsbody'." Tori said and then snickered. "A dogsbody? anyway, I gather, just a guy that runs errands.The carpenters had to sign a secrecy clause and none of them would have told anything. She said that hiring him would not put us at risk and that any knowledge he might have 'ferreted,' out would be minimal. She said, that she would note on our application that we have reported this incident and are acting in good faith." Tori sat down at the table and looked at the rather smug but shocked expression on Simon's face.<br/><br/>"If we hire you, here are the ground rules. We are professionals, all of us and we will act accordingly. You will be Albert Fish's assistant. Your skill set sounds like it would complement his. You will answer to him in all things technical. You will address us by our first names as we will you. If we make good on this, your name will be part of the credits in Time magazine.  If we do well on this and you prove yourself, then we can discuss a permanent position with us."<br/><br/>Tori stood up and resisted the urge to hold Jacob's hand. If she did, she figured that Simon would view her as some vapid brainless chick.<br/>"Think about it, Simon, Let us know what you want to do. The job is yours if you want it, but blackmailing shit doesn't work for me. If we are a team,then we work together, not as hostages."<br/><br/>She and Jacob turned to go, he said,<br/>"What the fuck?"<br/><br/>Tori leaned her head close to him,<br/>"Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. I hope he accepts so we can keep an eye on him."  she said, softly,<br/><br/>"Hey," Simon called. "Hey, TOR EEE"<br/><br/>"What?" she asked, turning around.<br/><br/>"Yeah, I want to investigate. I will do whatever." he swigged the beer in the closest container. "When can I meet Albert? the dude I'm supposed to help?"<br/><br/>Tori glanced at Jacob and said, "Tonight,we will call a staff meeting before we go over to the Society's headquarters. Be back here in two hours." She turned back to Jacob, "Now, let's take a walk."<br/><br/>Tori and Jacob stepped out of the genteel quiet of the lobby onto the quaint Ursaline street, where plants hung dripping water down onto the cracked sidewalks. Cars were parked on either side of the street, leaving only a narrow corridor for passing taxis. They walked down the narrow sidewalk. Tori felt like Jacob was irritated with her,<br/><br/>"Did you want me to just tell him to fuck off?" she asked, referring to Simon. "Truth be told, I was a little afraid to after the insinuated threat he made. A guy like that could do a lot of damage if he isn't where we can keep an eye on him."<br/><br/>They walked down two blocks and turned right onto Bourbon Street. All semblance of shabby chic was gone. The streets were ablaze with tawdry shop signs and music of every genre pouring out from open door. People, mostly men, stood with signs and boldly directed the public to the bars and girlie shows they represented.<br/><br/>"They are like carnival hawkers," Tori pointed out. She couldn't keep the smile off her face. The police force was on the streets, patrolling from horseback and foot patrols. A woman broke from her group to pull a girls gone wild move to a cop while her friend snapped a picture with her cell phone. The cops just chuckled good naturedly.<br/><br/>"I guess what happens in Nawlins,stays in Nawlins," Tori heard a fat tourist say to his wife who evidently was a little offended at the display of nudity.<br/><br/>Jacob, in answer to Tori's question finally said," Tori, I had hoped you realized that you just can't be as  trusting as you are. You can't just wave your hand and have problems go away. Life is not like that and I know you know it." He took her hand.<br/><br/>Tori nodded her head. "Maybe you need to be the lead on this case." she answered, not at all upset. "There is too much hanging on our success."<br/><br/>Jacob laughed, "Oh, no you don't. Let's go in here."<br/><br/>Tori looked up just in time to see a sign that said, Men and Women performing love acts. The hand made sign looked less than professional. The lobby was dingy and dark. An indifferent bar hosts checked IDs and pointed to the five dollar and a drink, cover charge sign.