Page 28 of The Company We Keep

In that odd moment, he wanted to consume Carrow — or maybe to be consumedbyhim. The illogical thought bubbled to the surface of his churning emotions and Dust couldn't manage to punch it down. There was simply something about the man that made Dust want to give his whole self up — to his own mission, yes, but to this score, to The Company, to do anything to be the best at what he was about to do.

It was like being welcomed into a lion's den. You expected fear, but all you felt once you got there was a deep satisfaction, a profound honor at being chosen.

"And that brings us to you," Carrow said, jolting Dust out of his own swirling thoughts.

He couldn't help his smile. He felt like a kid on a rollercoaster. Carrow seemed to lose his train of thought, then, peering at his face and fighting his own smile.

Finally, he was lookingatDust and not through him. The air crackled again. The night before hadn’t been an anomaly —Carrow just hadn’t allowed his concentration to fall onto him until that moment.

What does he see when he looks at me?Dust wondered.

"You with us so far, Dust?" he asked, raising an eyebrow — an unnecessary question. Even as his mind wandered, Dust had been following every syllable of every sentence as it rolled off of the man's tongue.

"Absolutely, boss," he said.

The statement drew a laugh out of the rest of the crew around the table. Carrow wasn't his boss yet. He didn't know where the impulse came from.

"Christ, he evensoundslike one of us already," Wayles said affectionately, slapping Dust on the shoulder. "This one's game for anything."

If he'd made a misstep, Carrow didn't let it show. The man looked pleased, if anything.

"Good," Carrow said after a moment. "Because this piece is new. We weren't planning on having an explosives man handy for the anthro job, but that's not because we didn't need one."

Of course,Dust thought. They would've planned this without Short.

“I’m curious,” Carrow said, his tone going softer. “Tell me: what do you use explosions for?”

It was a loaded question, and all of the eyes in the room had turned to him.

“There are a few major purposes,” Dust started. He held up a finger as he ticked off the list. “Cause mayhem, gain entry, deny entry, destroy assets…” Dust closed his fist. “Or to send a message.”

“Very nice,” Carrow said, his words rolling with a half-purring sound that seemed to connect directly with Dust’s spine. “Your role will be to help us send a message. I’ll leave it up to you in terms of how to do it. There are blueprints forthe museum and several renderings that I’ll give you access to.”

“And what’s the message I’m sending?”

“I want you to tell the museum: ‘The things in these cases do not belong to you.’”

Dust wrote the sentence down in all caps.

“I can do that,” Dust said. “I take it you’ll want to approve my plan, when I have one?”

“No,” Carrow said, smiling and finally taking a seat at the head of the table. “I want you to surprise me.”

Done with his presentation, Carrow waited to walk The Company through any questions they may have.

“Everyone’s clear, then?” he said when no one moved to speak. “Dust, nothing?”

“What do you want me doing, other than demo?” he asked.

“Be redundant,” Carrow said.

“I don’t follow.”

“You’ve got two days with us before the night of the job. Shadow your team and learn what you need to learn to be a backup for each member of it. It’s what you’ll be doing as a full-time member of the crew. Why wait to start?”

Dust nodded, chewed the tip of his pen, and then started to scribble another note.

It felt right, having him here — walking out into his living room to see Dust with their little family. Short had always seemed to chafe under the familiarity, wouldn’t sit out with the rest of them unless there was a reason to be there. Dust seemed to bask in the shared spaces, immediately at home but not so comfortable as to be off-putting.

---