Bound by Legend: A Bound Novel (4 page)

Though his gaze didn’t waver, something in the man’s tone sounded off. “Thank you…what did you say your name was?”

“I didn’t say. If you must know, it’s Jake.”

Lucian nodded. “Thank you for a moment of your time, Jake.” He tossed a handful of hundreds on the table. “Find someplace warm to get out of the weather.”

Jake barely glanced at the money. “I still don’t have any information to give you.”

“I’m well aware of that.” Lucian turned and walked away with Damien right behind him.

As soon as they stepped out the door into the miserable night Damien chuckled. “They were both lying.”

“Jake was, yes. The nun didn’t lie.”

His friend raised an eyebrow. “Oh, how so?”

“She told me she couldn’t help me, not that she didn’t know anyone by that description.” Lucian smiled. “She’s been here. While that’s more than a little disconcerting considering it means she is definitely on the street and in a bad area, it also gives me hope we will find her soon.”

They climbed into the car and as Lucian started it, Damien asked, “Do you want to wait and follow Jake?”

Lucian shook his head and put the vehicle into reverse. “Not tonight. For one, Isobel will be chomping at the bit for your return soon. And for another, we have no way of knowing how long he plans to stay, or if he will slip out another door with the assistance of the nun, or if he will even try to seek Morgan out tonight. I imagine some sort of shelter will be his main concern.”

“I will check around tomorrow and see if I can find out if there are certain places the homeless congregate,” Damien said. “Don’t worry, we’ll find her.”

MORGAN TRUDGED THROUGH
the ever deepening snow along the river toward the tower with Lucy at her side. The tower wasn’t really anything special. It was one of three old industrial buildings that rose several stories. Abandoned for years and completely boarded up in the front, it became a place where the homeless who either didn’t want to go to a shelter or who couldn’t get into one often gathered during especially cold or nasty weather.

She pushed her way through the still-empty branches and crossed the road. Two rusted, sagging chain link gates were supposed to keep people out. Morgan easily pushed through the gap created by the sag then held it open for Lucy before crossing the broken parking lot. Large clumps of last summer’s weeds stuck up through the snow. The matching buildings to the left and right of the tower were mostly crumbled messes of their former selves. A fire had taken the interior and roof of the east building. It wasn’t clear what had wreaked havoc on the west building. The center one, the building named “the tower” by others like her, stood intact.

The narrow alley alongside the building led to a small, rusted door that hung from one hinge. Morgan stepped past the door and into the cavernous space beyond. Several barrels were set around on the cracked, cement floor with fires in them. Anything that could be gleaned from nearby areas to burn, had been. Trash, limbs from along the river, a small wooden chair missing one leg, and other miscellaneous items were piled around to add to the barrels as needed.

Morgan dropped an armful of snow-covered branches, and a board she’d pried from a doorway earlier as her offering near the closest barrel then moved through the space to see if she could locate Jake or anyone else she knew. The scent of old industrial oil and smoke from the burn barrels filled the room.

A couple of older guys nodded at her. Morgan only knew them through Jake. Like him, they were vets who hadn’t been able to adjust back to normal society and had fallen through the cracks.

Morgan dug in her pocket for another of the long butts she had collected, wishing she could just buy a pack. In the fall, she had found a tiny source of income by helping a pawnshop owner keep track of his six-year-old daughter for three hours in the afternoon, twice a week. He’d only paid her twenty dollars each week; it had practically been like winning the lottery for Morgan.

That was gone now, and had been since January when the pawnshop owner remarried.

Patsy stood next to one barrel near the back corner with her cart, full of whatever it was that Patsy deemed important, parked close by. Her cat Rigs, a raggedy, tabby tom cat curled close to the barrel. Morgan headed for them. Though Jake hated being around groups of people as much as she did, if the weather drove him here, the far corner is where he would go. The cat barely blinked at Lucy, they were used to each other.

“Evening, Patsy.” Morgan smiled as she approached the old woman bundled heavily in all sorts of strange clothing and coats.

“Bluebirds sing in the spring,” Patsy said.

Morgan ignored the nonsense answer. Patsy’s mind had a tendency to wander far and wide. Morgan tossed her backpack against the wall then bent and gave the cat a quick pet before straightening to warm her hands by the fire.

Patsy blinked at her in surprise and her eyes widened as if she’d just finally seen Morgan. “How nice to see you. How long have you been here?”

“Not long. Quite a few people here tonight.” Morgan glanced around at those gathered near the barrels. Where was Jake? Hopefully, he hadn’t been jumped or arrested again.

“Not surprising on a night like tonight.” Patsy stared at the fire for a bit then started in a sing-song voice, “Cats, cats, and bats. They fly, they cry, the cats and the bats.”

Jake’s voice filtered through the space, “…no. Don’t worry nothing’s going to happen to you, good grief, man. Come on.”

Morgan breathed a sigh of relief as Jake came through the door carrying several cardboard drink trays stacked one on top of the other. Behind him, a pizza delivery boy followed. In his arms he held a tall stack of what must have been fifteen or so pizzas. They trembled in his grip as he looked around with wide eyes. The delicious aroma of hot coffee and pizza wafted across the large space. Everyone stared, and even Patsy seemed aware.

Jake glanced around at them all. “Well don’t just stand there and stare. Help us.”

Morgan started toward them. Where the hell had Jake gotten the money for all of this? She relieved him of half the stack of coffee trays.

Jake smiled at her. “Help me hand them out would you?”

Morgan nodded and began handing the large coffees out to people. Sips were followed by grateful sighs. After she made sure everyone had one, Morgan set the three extras on a rotted workbench and took a sip of her own. The heat slid down her throat and she closed her eyes, savoring the moment.

After the pizzas were spread out on the rest of dusty workbench along one wall, Jake stuffed a couple of bills into the delivery boy’s hand. “You never saw this place.”

The boy looked at his hand and his eyes bugged. He glanced back at Jake and nodded before leaving quickly. People made a point of passing by Jake on the way to the bench, each one saying thank you. He didn’t acknowledge them.

As steam rose from the open pizza boxes, Morgan grabbed a slice of pepperoni and took a huge bite, relishing the taste. She loved pizza. It seemed like forever since she’d eaten it last. Well, there was that one that she’d found dumped in a parking lot like someone had placed it on top of their car in order to unlock the door and then the drove off with it still there. It had been stone cold, but she’d enjoyed sharing it with Lucy anyway.

With her other hand, she grabbed another piece. “Lucy, come on sweetie. You need yours, too.”

The dog bounded over to her, happily took the slice of pizza, then carried it away where she could lie down and eat it.

After taking another huge bite, Morgan turned to Jake and mumbled around her full mouth. “Ought oo er obbed. Where id oo get da oney or dis? Did oo obb ummone es?”

Jake grabbed three slices for himself, handed her two more and tossed two more at Lucy before answering. “A couple of guys gave it to me at the soup kitchen.”

Morgan finished chewing her mouthful then swallowed and chuckled. “Yeah, because there are so many people with money to give away there. No, really. Where’d you get it? It’s not like I’m going to tell anyone. Did you steal it?”

Jake shook his head. “I’m serious. These two guys came in there asking about someone who fit your description. Sister Becky told them she couldn’t help them. Then they asked me. I told them I’d never seen anyone that looked like you. Then one of the guys tosses a wad of money on the table and tells me to find someplace warm to sleep.”

“You…you didn’t tell them anything after that did you?”

Jake rolled his eyes. “Hell no. Give me some damn credit, Morgan. Do you know who might be looking for you?”

Morgan shook her head, confusion chasing her thoughts around in her head. She didn’t have any family. Even Isobel and Damien had stopped searching for her months ago. She didn’t have any other friends besides Jake and Patsy.

Damn it, that left only one option; her new dark angel was looking for her. Well, he could just keep looking. She knew how not to be found and she knew these streets better than him. Okay, so maybe that was unreasonable. He would find her eventually, of that she had no doubt. She planned to keep that meeting as far in the future as possible.

A memory of Arabrim, lying in a thin sheet of snow with his head rolling away and blood pooling around the stump of his neck in a crimson puddle, danced sickeningly through her head. There were too many damn demons in Denver. She wasn’t going to have another dead dark angel on her hands. She would just avoid him for as long as possible.

She took another huge bite, chewed hastily and gulped it down, then chased it with some coffee. Stuffing more pizza into her mouth, she decided to just live in the moment. And this moment was wonderful with its hot coffee, fresh food, and friends.

“I’ve seen about ten different emotions or so pass across your face,” Jake said and sipped his coffee. “Do you have any idea who it would be?”

Morgan frowned. “I do and if I have things my way, they won’t find me anytime soon.

“Well, I won’t tell them where you are. Hell, I don’t even know where that is most of the time. I’m surprised you’re here tonight.”

“I’m only here for the same reason you are. Too damn cold to spend the night out.” Morgan shrugged and finished her slices of pizza in large bites. She and Jake were a lot alike. Neither liked feeling crowded or trapped and both preferred to be alone. “It’s not like you spend a lot of time here.”

She moved back to the barrel in the corner and untied her sleeping bag from the bottom of her backpack. After shaking it out, she stepped into and worked it up her body. Moving carefully, she sat on the floor next to her backpack and rolled the top of the sleeping bag down to her waist.

Leaning against the wall, she soaked up the warmth that radiated off the metal barrel and nursed her coffee with Lucy curled next to her. Patsy wandered back over and hovered around the barrel, occasionally poking a stick into the fire rather than sit. Jake stopped to talk to a couple of other homeless vets he was friends with.

Listening to their conversation it always amazed Morgan how quickly Jake’s language changed. Though he didn’t swear often around her, or at least nothing too hardcore, once he started talking to the other vets the f-bomb was dropped about every other word. It wasn’t as if Morgan cared about swearing, hell she did it often herself. Jake still seemed to try and clean up his language when he was around her. It was kind of nice in a way that he cared enough to offer that bit of respect even if she didn’t ask for it.

After a while, Jake walked over to where Morgan sat next to the barrel, dropped his duffle on the floor and pulled his own sleeping bag out. Once he had it pulled up in the same way she did, he settled down with his back to the wall. His eyes roamed the room with a sort of nervous tension she wasn’t sure he was even aware of. After a bit, he dug in the duffle.

“Want a smoke?” Jake offered, holding out a pack of cigarettes to her.

“Thanks.” Morgan took one and used the nearly empty lighter in her pocket to light it.

Taking a large drag, she exhaled and closed her eyes as the rush of nicotine moved through her system. It wasn’t the best habit, but when she could get them, they were a stress reliever in a world with very little that offered relief. And a better option than most of the things that could be found on the streets.

Taking another drag, she glanced at Jake. “This isn’t going to run you short is it?”