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“Why didn’t you tell me she’d called?” I asked. “You were in the middle of a case with your uncle and people kept trying to kill you and you were just really busy.” Cookie had a point. People had been trying to kill me. Repeatedly. Thank goodness they didn’t succeed. I could be sitting there dead.
Normally I had a totally-for-real laminated private investigator’s license that I could flash to help loosen people’s tongues, but Cookie dragged me out of my apartment so fast, I hadn’t thought to bring it. I hated it when I couldn’t flash people.
With a sigh, I realized I was getting way too much exercise. I’d just have to counteract it later with cake.
He twisted his hand around and wound his fingers into mine. “You’re putting me in time-out?” “Yes,” I said as a shaky sigh slid through my lips. “If I don’t go, do I get a spanking?”
“Angel, you little shit.” He laughed aloud as I examined my filthy hands. “That was awesome.” Freaking thirteen-year-olds. “I knew I should have exorcised your ass when I had the chance.” Angel died when his best friend decided to take out the puta bitch vatos who’d invaded their turf by utilizing the drive-by technique of execution so popular with the kids today. Angel tried to stop him and paid the ultimate price. Much to my eternal chagrin. “You couldn’t exorcise a cat, much less a bad-to-the-bone Chicano with gunpowder in his blood. Besides, you hate exercise.”
“He’s not an it, Reyes,” I said, practically inviting him to argue. “He’s the best skiptracer in the state, and he’s going to help me find you.” The gauntlet I threw at him made me sound like a third grader on a playground challenging the school bully to a showdown. Swings. Three o’clock.
“Who’s Mr. Wong?” Garrett asked. They’d never been introduced. This was all very new to Swopes, and I figured I should bring him into the fold slowly, let him absorb the new information at a comprehensible rate and save all the bells and whistles for later. Then again, he’d asked to be brought in, insisted on it, so screw him. “He’s the dead guy who inhabits the corner of my living room. But I’ve never seen his face. Not a full-frontal anyway, so I really couldn’t say if he’s handsome.” “Not him,” he said, “Farrow. Wait, you have a dead guy living in your apartment?” “Living’s a strong word,
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NEVER BE AFRAID TO DART AROUND IN PUBLIC, HUMMING THE MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE THEME SONG.
day. Praying my luck would hold, yet keeping a weather eye, I clawed and slipped my way to the top of the fence, cringing as the metal wire dug into my fingers. Guys made this stuff look so easy. The only things I liked to scale on a semi-regular basis were those same guys who made this stuff look easy.
I pressed my lips together and jammed my fists onto my hips, hoping I wasn’t bleeding internally from Reyes’s blade. I hated it when I bled internally. If I was going to bleed, I wanted to see the evidence, revel in the heroics of it all.
Who knew Demon Child would have such a normal name? I expected something exotic like Serena or Destiny or the Evil One That Comes in the Night to Make Us Chilly.
“No. She went to look. But she said Rey’aziel should not have been born on Earth.” “So I’ve heard.” “He’s very powerful.” “Yeah, I figured that out a while ago.” “And if his human body dies, he will become what he was born from the fires of hell to be.” Okay, that was new. “Which is?” I asked, my voice edged with a wary dread. “The ultimate weapon,” she said as if she were ordering an ice cream cone. “The bringer of death.” “Well, crap.” “The Antichrist.” “Damn.” “He is more powerful than any demon or any angel that ever existed. He can manipulate the space-time continuum and bring about the
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“Something happened there, Warren. I promise you, I’ll find out what it was.” He took my hand into his. “Thank you.” “But if I die trying,” I added, pointing a finger at him, “I’m totally doubling my fee.”
Dad was at the bar when I made it downstairs for a bite. He tossed the towel to Donnie, his Native American barkeep who had pecs to die for and thick, blue-black hair for which every woman alive would sell her soul. But we’d never really seen eye to eye. Mostly ’cause he was much taller than I was.
I wasn’t particularly fond of being watched. Unless the watcher was over six feet with a hot body and sexy smile. And he wasn’t a serial killer. That always helped.
“Is there anything else on your mind?” I asked. He looked back at me, a mischievous sparkle in his eyes. “Besides the fact that I could make a meal out of you?” The air crackled with Reyes’s anger. I had to wonder if Garrett did that on purpose. Maybe he was figuring out how all this otherworldly stuff worked. “Cannibalism is frowned upon, buddy.” “Are you going to report me for sexual harassment?” “No, but I will grade you,” I said, rinsing out my cup. He winked then closed the door.
All this muscle and metal for little ole me. I felt important. Illustrious. Majestic. Or I would have, had my ass not said “Juicy.”
The deadly one tensed, and I had a sneaking suspicion he wasn’t only there to protect boss man. Damn. I hated torture. It was so torturous.
As if made of stone, Mr. Chao’s expression remained utterly blank. I got the feeling he would enjoy torturing me. And call me sentimental, but damn it, I liked bringing joy to the world.
“I’ll pay anything, Ms. Davidson. I’ve heard good things about you.” That was different. People rarely had good things to say about me, unless “certifiable nutcase” had finally shed its bad rep.
“I’m forwarding all the calls to my cell.” She had a stack of papers, file folders, and her laptop with her as well. “It’s a good thing. I’m not paying you to tour the country like a rock star.” “Do you pay me? I feel more like a slave.” “Please, you’re way cheaper than a slave. You provide your own shelter, pay your own bills.” Ever the multitasker, she stuck her tongue out and clicked her seat belt at the same time.
“Can I just take her home with me?” Cookie asked. “She’s adorable.” “You can, but that’s called kidnapping and is actually frowned upon by many law enforcement agencies.”
“This means that we are about to bring felony charges against a United States congressman. A man who is hoping to be our next senator. A hometown hero and pillar of the community.” Was Cookie having second thoughts because he was a bigwig? Bigwigs had to follow the constructs of the law just like medium-sized and little wigs. She turned a starry-eyed expression on me, her aura brimming with a fiery passion. “God, I love this job.”
I sort of got off on making bad guys sweat. Which was not unlike my love of making good guys sweat, just by very different means.
“When Americans talk of evil, they mean it in a malicious way, cruel and brutal. But that’s not what evil is. That’s simply our take on it.” “What are you getting at?” “Evil is simply the absence of good, the absence of God.”
Once inside, I inched into a corner to allow my eyes to adjust. Why I didn’t carry night-vision goggles on my person twenty-four/seven, I would never know.
I looked at the man’s face, thick and furious, a snarl twisting his features. Oh yeah, he wanted me dead. Which sucked, ’cause I didn’t even know him.
The rookie glanced at me with a frown as he left. Great. Half the police force already thought I was a freak. I guess it was time to recruit the other half as well.
“You’re just going to invite her in?” Amador asked. “What if she’s a serial killer? Or a stalker? I have lots of stalkers, you know.” The woman smiled at me apologetically. “He doesn’t have any stalkers. He just says that to make me jealous.”
He grinned at her. Like grinned. Like flirty-grinned. Ew. I had a concussion, for heaven’s sake. I was already a bit queasy. And she grinned back! Calgon!
Norma tsked and poured us two cups without even asking. I was actually a little worried about drinking coffee with my head throbbing like it was, but still, saying no to coffee would be like saying no to world peace. Everyone involved would benefit from a resounding yes. The moment someone came out with a way to mainline it, I was so in.
