Chapter 11: Buying TimeSeveral minutes later I heard the toilet upstairs flush, followed by the sound of running water, and footsteps coming downstairs. When the G-man arrived in the kitchen, I saw that his hair was wet and freshly combed, and he appeared to have washed his face as well. Or cooled it, I thought, sardonically.
The G-man looked quickly around. “Where is the troll?”
The troll? This sounded so cold, so—well, species-ist—that a black anger rose up in me. But I forced it down. He was only a cog, after all.
“I don’t know,” I said, doing my best to sound puzzled myself. “He went outside, into the backyard. I made a show of looking out the kitchen window and shook my head. Turning back to the G-man I said, “Can trolls disappear?”
“Of course not!” the G-man snapped. He paused, t
