Phoenix (10 page)

"Gotta lay down," Brad managed to choke
out.

Mort agreed and they shuffled toward the
guest room. Trying to help Brad up the stairs was a joke. He
finally let go and steadied Brad as he crawled up the steps, one at
a time.

These
visions
are
taking
more
and
more
out
of
him
, Mort thought.

Once upstairs, Brad begged him off. "Go. I’m
fine."

Mort still had his hands on Brad’s back. He
looked up and saw the bedroom door at the other end of the hallway.
"I’ll help you down the hall."

"Goddammit, I’m fine." He swatted Mort’s
hands away and pushed back until he sat against the wall.

Mort squatted down so he could stare Brad in
the eye. "Gonna give me that attitude again?"

Brad sighed and wiped the sweat from his
eyes. His head felt like it was going to split wide open. "Just go,
okay? You’ve got—" He made a face and flapped his hand at the
staircase. "That. So go deal with it."

"Can you walk?" Mort asked.

Brad rolled his eyes and worked his way up
the wall until he was standing.

"Good." Mort grabbed an arm and led Brad the
rest of the way to the guestroom. "You picked a hell of a time to
have one of your spells." He let go and Brad collapsed on the
bed.

"Yes, please, go apologize to our guest."

"You shouldn’t have lost your temper with
him. He dropped everything when I called and hauled ass here to
help."

"Help?" Brad rolled over and sat up.
"
Help
?" He winced and rubbed his temple. "He’s got a lot of
balls coming in here and telling you about all the ways you’ve been
fucking up."

Mort looked at the ceiling. "You’re
exaggerating."

"Yeah, well. What’s it to him if you’ve lived
here half your life? Who’s he to say you should’ve been moving
around like a damn hobo?"

"It doesn’t matter. I knew what he was
talking about, and if you’d given him half a chance, you’d
understand."

"No, I do understand." Brad laid back and
stared at the ceiling. "For whatever reason, the Suits find us if
we stay in one place too long. I’m not stupid, Mort."

"I didn’t say you were."

"He pissed me off because he might as well
have said we’re the reason Mister and Missus Henderson are
dead."

Mort moved closer to the bed. "That’s not
what he meant."

"That it’s our fault, because we’re not
vagrants. No, it’s not
his
fault, that old bastard with his
perfectly pressed suit and perfect hair.
Our
fault. ‘Cause
you decided to settle down and have a life." Brad turned his head
and Mort saw a tear in his friend’s eye. "You decided to have a
life, and it ended up taking the lives of two others."

"No." Mort shook his head. "That’s not true,
Brad. It’s not. And that’s not what Jonah meant. Not really."

Brad rubbed his eyes and rolled away. "I’m
gonna get some rest."

"Alright." Mort heaved a sigh. "Alright. I’ll
be downstairs if you need me." He waited for Brad to answer, but
when he didn’t make any sign of continuing the conversation, Mort
left and pulled the door shut behind him.

* * *

Mort padded downstairs and huffed out a
breath when he fell back on the couch. He leaned his head back and
rubbed his face, then sat like that with his arms limp at his sides
until Jonah finally spoke.

"When did it happen?"

"Huh?" Mort jerked his head up. "Oh." He
rubbed his face again. "Yesterday?"

Jonah cocked a brow. "You answerin’ a
question with a question?"

Mort chuckled. "Sorry. I just haven’t slept
for a couple days, I think? Was up all night, then the cops were
here." He waved a hand. "Yeah, it was yesterday."

Jonah grunted and considered his friend.
"Need help tracking, then."

"Yeah. Whoever this is, he’s cloaked. We
can’t see or feel any sign of him. Our two precogs have dreamed of
this guy, so that tells me he doesn’t stay cloaked for long.
Otherwise he wouldn’t show up even in their visions. I just don’t
know when he’s going to turn it off, and I was kind of hoping…"

"Right, right." Jonah nodded and smiled. He
was silent for longer than what was necessary.

It caught Mort’s attention. "What is it?"

Jonah sighed and sat up. "You know who this
is. He’s an agent. Most likely know who he works for, since they’ve
only ever answered to one group of people as far as I know. Agents
have always been here. Watchin’ us."

"We have a group now. It’s not just you and
me." Mort jerked his chin toward the staircase, indicating Brad.
"He’s been having dreams of something that’s about to happen, and
it involves the sonofabitch who’s been watching us from across the
street." He motioned toward the window, to the Henderson’s home.
"He killed my neighbors, Jonah."

"Course he did. You know how they work. And
the more of us you gather together, the more likely they are to
notice. The more dangerous they get."

Mort snorted. "Yeah, yeah. I get it
already."

"Not sure you do."

"They’re trying to
end
the
world
. What part of that don’t you understand? What do you
expect me to do? And now this agent is cloaked." Mort made a
whistling sound. "Gone. He bugged out the second Brad made
him."

"You get some sleep. I’ll go see what I can
find."

"I’ll go wi—"

"No. You need to sleep. I’ll handle it."
Jonah didn’t wait for Mort to argue further. He stood, put on his
hat, and showed himself out.

"
Goddammit
,
Jonah
."
A
young
man
,
younger
than
Brad
,
slammed
his
hand
of
cards
down
onto
a
cooler
someone
had
rigged
into
a
makeshift
table
.

"
C’mon
now
,
don’t
be
sore
,"
the
cowboy
said
.
Brad
watched
as
Jonah
swiped
his
hand
across
the
top
of
the
cooler
and
pulled
back
his
hard
-
earned
winnings
.

Brad
didn’t
know
where
he
was
,
or
when
he
was
,
but
he
was
conscious
that
this
was
a
precognition
.
One
that
involved
Mort’s
friend
,
Jonah
.
While
he
watched
the
card
game
,
he
decided
that
meeting
the
cowboy
today
must
have
been
what
triggered
this
dream
.
He
wasn’t
going
to
complain
;
it
beat
the
hell
out
of
the
ones
he
normally
had
.

"
You
sure
as
hell
didn’t
learn
to
play
poker
from
your
Grandma
,"
a
pretty
,
dark
haired
woman
said
.
She
was
sitting
across
from
Jonah
and
next
to
the
younger
man
.

Brad
recognized
her
.

"
Eat
it
,"
the
young
man
said
and
took
a
long
drink
from
a
bottle
of
Bud
Light
.

Jonah
gathered
the
cards
and
shuffled
again
,
wearing
the
same
smirk
Brad
had
seen
earlier
in
Mort’s
living
room
.
Brad
turned
,
even
though
he
didn’t
actually
have
a
body
,
and
looked
around
him
.
It
was
some
sort
of
complex
and
they
were
on
top
of
a
wall
.
A
really
big
wall
.
He
noticed
people
everywhere
,
along
the
rooftops
of
the
adjacent
buildings
,
milling
around
in
the
courtyard
below
him
,
and
they
were
all
armed
.
The
general
mood
seemed
to
be
tense
,
then
he
heard
it
.
A
low
sound
,
like
a
faraway
engine
.
He
turned
back
toward
the
card
game
,
but
instead
of
watching
it
,
he
looked
past
it
.
He
saw
a
fence
in
the
distance
.
Spotlights
on
the
roofs
lit
up
the
grassy
field
between
the
complex
and
the
fence
.
The
noise
was
coming
from
beyond
the
light
,
where
he
couldn’t
see
.
He
stepped
closer
to
the
edge
,
straining
to
hear
.

"
C’mon
,
Daddy
needs
a
week
off
from
cleanup
duty
,"
Jonah
said
in
the
background
.

What is that noise?
Brad
thought
.

He
focused
,
wondering
if
he
could
use
his
danger
sense
in
a
dream
.
He
didn’t
have
to
ponder
it
for
long
.
Everything
else
drowned
out
in
a
split
second
,
leaving
only
his
radar
screen
and
a
droning
noise
.

Except
it
wasn’t
droning
.
It
was
moaning
.

A
lot
of
moaning
.

Oh, God,
he
thought
,
horrified
.
He
stumbled
backwards
,
and
if
he
had
been
corporeal
,
he
would
have
knocked
over
the
woman
standing
behind
him
.

"
I’m
gonna
stretch
my
legs
a
bit
,"
she
said
.

Jonah
said
something
and
tipped
his
hat
in
her
direction
,
but
Brad
wasn’t
paying
attention
.
He
was
glaring
at
the
curly
-
blonde
woman
walking
away
,
toward
a
staircase
that
led
to
the
courtyard
.

"
Fuck
you
,
cowboy
,"
the
young
man
said
and
laid
his
hand
down
. "
Two
pair
,
kings
high
.
Hope
you
enjoy
burnin’
deadheads
,
Jonah
."

Brad
barely
heard
any
of
it
.
He
stared
at
her
,
watched
her
light
a
cigarette
,
watched
her
make
her
way
to
the
building
on
their
right
,
the
one
with
a
lot
of
windows
,
and
watched
her
disappear
inside
.
He
stood
,
ghost
-
mouth
agape
,
for
what
seemed
like
an
eternity
.
Behind
him
,
the
young
man
was
cursing
Jonah
again
.