California Demon (38 page)

“Yes, but he’s going to be there.”

“I’m not a baby, Mom. And I’m not about to give him the satisfaction of not showing up.”

“Yeah, Allie,” I said. “You are.”

She blinked at me. “What?”

“I don’t want you going anywhere near that exhibition. Do you understand?”

“Do I understand? No! I don’t understand. Mom, I
have
to go.”

“No, young lady, you don’t.” I stood up, working to keep my voice calm and level. “I don’t want you anywhere near that boy or near Cool. We talked about this once already.”

“God, Mom! All I’m going to do is stand around serving food and perform a couple of cheers.”

“No, you’re not.”

“That’s so unfair! Everyone’s going to think I’m a total slacker!”

“Then we’ll get you a doctor’s note. We’ll tell them you have Ebola or something, but this is one argument you’re not going to win.”

She spun around, then stomped up the stairs and disappeared. A few seconds later, the house shook with the force of her slamming door.

Well.

Someday I’d explain how I’d kept her out of harm’s way. In the meantime, I figured I’d earn some brownie points by renegotiating my stand on eyeshadow. But later. Right now I needed to get dressed and go to the exhibition that I’d just prohibited my daughter from visiting.

I took a quick shower, got dressed, then gathered my weapons and backpack-style purse. On my way out, I tapped on Allie’s door. No answer. I debated, then decided to go on in. “Al?”

The lump on the bed moved.

“Are you still mad at me?”

No answer.

“So I’m getting the silent treatment?”

Still no answer, but the lump moved again.

“Fine. Sulk if you want, but I’m going to go run some errands. Stay home, keep the alarm set, and call Mrs. Dupont if you need anything. Okay?” Eddie was at the hospital with Father Ben, but I’d give him a call from the road and get him to go home and stay with Allie.

A hand emerged from under the blanket, flashing me a thumbs-up sign. I stifled the urge to roll my eyes, then gathered my things, strapping a utility belt on under my leather jacket, and arming myself as best I could without being too obvious.

I was checking the lock on the back door when I noticed two of the water pistols Allie had bought for Timmy.

I grinned, considering the possibilities. And then I opened the door, grabbed the things, and shoved them in my backpack.

l found David in the thick of things, giving directions to a cluster of parent volunteers. He caught my eye, then signaled for me. As soon as he was free, he came over and steered me to a quiet spot.

“Lots of people here,” I said. “I’ll do what I have to, but I hate having this thing go down in front of so many people.”

“Is it too late to cancel?”

“I thought about that yesterday, but what if Asmodeus and the others scatter? At least now, we know where to find them.” He frowned. “Or we thought we knew where to find them.”

“What do you mean?”

“The surfers were supposed to have been here by now. I’m starting to wonder if we called this wrong.”

I turned and looked out toward the sea. At least six kids dotted the horizon, riding the waves. “Aren’t they here?”

“Not the captains,” he said. “And not Cool.”

“Well, hell,” I said. “Maybe they’re invisible?”

“I don’t think so,” David said. Honestly, I didn’t believe it, either.

“They can’t perform the ceremony until noon,” I said. “Maybe they’re waiting to come at the last minute.”

“Or maybe they’re somewhere else entirely,” David said.

I frowned, but didn’t say anything. He was right, of course. But where else would they be? Why plan out this whole thing and not use the beach? Not questions I could answer, and I fought a wave of helplessness. “No,” I said. “There has to be a way to figure this out.”

With David following in my wake, I headed down toward the surf, staying far enough back from the froth of the incoming waves to keep my shoes dry. One of the team members was climbing out of the water, a wide grin splitting his face. He held his arms out for a blond girl, who applauded and laughed. The blond, I realized, was Susan.

“Susan!” I called out for her, waving my arm over my head to get her attention.

She turned, then smiled broadly when she saw me. She grabbed the boy’s hand and the two of them came over. “Hey, Mrs. Connor! Hey, Mr. Long! Did you see that? Wasn’t it awesome?”

“Pretty nice,” I said.

“Good job, Andy,” David said, giving the boy a pat on the back. “I’m impressed.”

The boy, who looked to be about Allie’s age, blushed furiously. “Thanks. I’ve been practicing. Too late for today, you know, but I wanted to show Coach that I coulda been a team captain, too, you know?”

“He’s
so
much better than Troy Myerson and Brent Underhill,” Susan said loyally.

Andy ducked his head. “Nah, those guys are awesome. But I’m doing pretty good.”

“You looked great,” I said. “And believe me, there are a lot better things than being the team captain.” Especially under the circumstances. But talking with Andy had proved one thing to me. The captains had been handpicked. Asmodeus had done his homework, selecting only boys he knew would be susceptible to his suggestions. Andy’s sweet temper and modest nature may have kept him from being selected team captain, but it had also kept the eye of a demon off of him.

I would have liked to have told him that, but I didn’t quite know how to phrase it. Instead, I just asked where the team captains and Coach Cool were.

He shrugged and looked at Susan. “Dunno,” he said. “They were here at ten. I saw Brent talking with JoAnn. And then the next time I looked for ’em, they were gone.”

“Gone where?”

Andy shrugged. “Didn’t say. They’ll be back soon, though. I mean, we start in about half an hour.”

“Why?” Susan added. “Are you looking for Allie?”

“No, Allie’s not coming today.”

“Sure she is. I saw her with Troy Myerson less than an hour ago.”

The force of her words pushed me back, and I think I would have fallen had David not caught my elbow. “Could you say that again?” I asked.

Susan must have realized she’d broken some sort of car-pool buddy’s secret code, because she fidgeted, clearly uncomfortable. Andy, who I’d already decided was a stand-up guy, stepped up to the plate. “She was talking with Troy Myerson. Giving him a pretty nasty dressing down, actually.” He flashed a wide grin. “She’s got a mouth on her, Mrs. Connor.”

David took a step up. “But you said she left with Troy. Did she look like she wanted to go with him?”

Susan shrugged. “I dunno. I guess so. I mean, she looked a little stiff, but I thought she was probably still just pissed off, you know? Or she’s been working out too hard. Or something.”

“Where did they go?” I asked, hearing the edge of hysteria in my voice.

“Honestly, I don’t know.”

I turned to David, who pressed a finger over my lips. “Thanks, guys,” he said to the kids. Then he took my arm and led me away, his steps quick and defined. His hand on my arm was hot, and I could feel his panic seeping into my body to mix with my own. She snuck out! Allie had never once disobeyed me! So why did she have to pick today?

Honestly, as soon this was over, she was going to be so grounded.

“Kate?”

I fought back tears, desperately hoping I’d have the chance to ground her.

“I don’t get it,” I said. “They have the book. They have the human assistants. They have two demons. Why risk coming here? And why take the girls?”

“I don’t know,” he said, his voice tight.

But I did. All of a sudden, I knew for sure. “Nephalim,” I said. “Oh, dear God, when the demons rise up they’re going to . . . they want to . . .”

I clenched my fists, unable to give voice to the thought.

David took me by the shoulders and looked into my eyes. “It’s not going to happen, Kate, because we’re going to stop it.”

I nodded. Right. He was right. Allie wasn’t even old enough to date. There was no way she was going to end up the single mom of a superhuman demonic baby. No way in hell.

We Were just about to climb into David’s Jeep when Marissa Cartwright ran toward us. “Kate! Wait!”

“In a hurry, Marissa! I’ll be right back.” A lie, but she didn’t need to know that.

“Wait! I’m trying to find JoAnn!”

I stopped, suddenly overwhelmed with compassion for this woman I didn’t much like.

“I don’t know where she is,” I said honestly.

“The last I saw, she was with your daughter.” There was accusation in her voice, and I stiffened against it. I didn’t say anything, though. I’d been accusing myself just as harshly.

“I don’t know where they are, Marissa. Maybe they’re off practicing a cheer.”

Her face tightened. “I’d hoped you kept better track of your daughter than you did of poor Mr. Sinclair.”

That
did it. I stepped forward, every muscle poised to pummel this woman. To tell her that she’d lost track of her daughter, too. And that if she wanted JoAnn safe she needed to get off my back and let me do my job.

I couldn’t say any of it, though. I might consider Marissa the spawn of Satan, but I knew in my heart it wasn’t literal. And right now she was just a mom who was concerned for her daughter.

I drew a breath and put a soft hand on her arm. “I’m sure JoAnn’s fine,” I said. “And when I see Allie, I’ll be sure to tell her you’re looking for her.”

That didn’t satisfy her, I could see that much in her eyes, but I’d spared as much time for Marissa as I intended.

“Can you take charge of the parent volunteers?” David asked her as I slid into the car. “I need to run a quick errand.”

Marissa’s face was still pinched, but she nodded. And then, full of newfound power, Marissa marched back toward the exhibition tables.

“Go,” I said, but David already had the car started. He backed out of the parking lot and pulled onto PCH.

“Where?”

To that, unfortunately, I didn’t have an answer.

While David drove as slowly as he could manage down the Coast Highway, I looked out toward the ocean. Maybe they’d simply gone down the beach, looking for a less crowded spot to perform the ceremony. I saw nothing, though. And, honestly, that didn’t feel right.

“Think,” I said to myself. “Where could they go to perform a ritual?”

I looked at the clock. Twenty to twelve.

Time was running out.

My cell phone rang, and I snatched it up.
Laura.

“Allie’s gone!” she said without preamble. Then rattled off a story about how she’d come to find Mindy and found her asleep in Allie’s room—alone.

I kicked myself, realizing that the lump in Allie’s bed had been Mindy. The possibility hadn’t even occurred to me.

I cut Laura off, though, because none of that mattered. “She’s with Cool,” I said. “And we were wrong. The ceremony’s not at the beach. We don’t know where it is. Can you get online and find every article you can about Cool? Especially after the wipeout?”

“What am I looking for?” she asked.

“I have no idea.”

I heard her tapping in the background. “Nothing so far. Just a mention of the exhibition. Involved in the community. Blah blah blah.”

“Nothing else?”

“Still looking. Wait. Here’s a picture of him and a woman. The caption says she’s his girlfriend. Maybe they’re at her house?”

“Does it say her name? Can you find an address?”

“Looking.”

I fidgeted in my seat, wishing I was there looking over her shoulder. Wishing I was driving. Wishing I was pounding something sharp through that bastard demon Asmodeus’s eye.
Anything
but sitting helpless in a car while my baby was in danger.

Allie.
Dear God, Allie.

Beside me, David didn’t look much better. His mouth was firm, his face hard, and his hands were so tight on the steering wheel his knuckles were pure white.

“Nothing,” Laura said. “I can’t find a reference to an address, a job or anything. Do you want me to—”

“Wait!” I turned to David. “The Danvers Museum. Head to the museum.”

“Kate?” That from Laura.

“Allie said that Cool’s girlfriend was a museum docent. That she was mousy, and so he must be a nice guy, because why else would he hang on to a mousy museum docent when he could have a
Baywatch
babe.”

“For that matter,” Laura said. “Why does a demon need a girlfriend at all?”

“Unless he
needs
her,” I said. “The museum’s closed until January. But if she can get inside, it would make sense for him to keep her around.”

“Yeah,” Laura said. “They’re setting up for some Macedonian artifact exhibit.”

“I saw that exhibit,” I said. “One of the display cases was filled with stone tablets covered with geometric shapes.”

I was looking at David when I said that. He’d already been flying through town, but now the car seemed to go even faster.

“Call Eddie,” I said to Laura. “Tell him and Father Ben what’s going on. And,” I added, “tell them to pray.”

Twenty

There Were no cars in the museum parking lot when we arrived, and when we tugged on the front door, we discovered that it was locked.

“We could be wrong,” David said.

I looked at my watch and fought a shiver. “No,” I said. “We don’t have time to be wrong.”

I turned around, fighting panic as I looked for something large and heavy. “There,” I said, pointing to a large clay planter.

I watched, numb, as David hoisted it, then slammed it against the glass doors.

Nothing.
Not even a scratch.

“Goddamn it!” he screamed, as my body turned hot, then cold. I clenched and unclenched my fists against the alternating urge to pummel someone and to curl up into a ball and cry.