The Devil Is a Gentleman (10 page)

“You keep telling yourself that,” he said, “but I know what I saw back at the bar. The way he looks at you, the way he talks to you, the way he talks about you…just please listen to me for once. I always follow your lead, you know that. Just this once I need you to follow mine.”

“Sure,” I said. “Okay. Fine. I’ll go change my clothes and be right back.”

I was in and out quickly, and managed to avoid most of the ghosts. I was almost to the car when they mobbed me again, and the whiskey from the Deep Blue Sea came bubbling up at the touch of the ghosts. I wiped my mouth as I finally slipped into Gage’s car.

“Mint?” he said, offering me a tin.

“Thanks,” I said. All his anger seemed to have dissipated. I didn’t think it was possible for Bobby Gage to get angry. I’d seen him scared, sick, and powerful as hell. But angry? Either I didn’t know Gage as well as I thought, or Sam really was dangerous.

“Nice jacket,” he said.

“I had to ditch the other one,” I said. “Covered in blood and bullet holes.”

“So we really doing this?” he said. “Going to investigate the cabin for a job we ain’t getting paid for, is dangerous as hell, and will have unpredictable consequences?”

“What’s not to like?” I said.

“You killed four people this morning,” he said. “You sure you’re okay?”

“Three,” I corrected him. “I’m fine. Getting a headache from all this yakking, but other than that, I’m peachy.”

“How’s your arm?”

I flexed my bicep for him. “Right as rain,” I said, fighting a wince. “Can we go now?”

“You should eat something.”

“Jesus, Bobby, I’ll get a damn sandwich on the way. Let’s go, already.”

We stopped at a drive-through window, and after eating a greasy, flattened cheeseburger, I dozed off, the morning catching up to me. When I woke, we were bumping along a dusty, potholed road winding through a field, dotted with trees. Looking ahead I saw the trees thicken and soon we were driving into stands of trees hanging with moss, so thick and unkempt that the branches scraped across the top and sides of Gage’s car with a grinding squeal. He grimaced.

“You owe me big for this one,” he said.

“It’s not like anyone will notice the scratches,” I said. “This thing’s falling apart. You can see the road through the floor in the backseat.”

“Nicer than your car,” he said. “I can’t believe you bought that thing.”

“I needed something cheap,” I said. “Besides, it’s a fixer-upper.”

“I don’t really think you can say that about cars, sis,” Gage laughed. “We’re almost there.”

The trees were fanning out a little now, and ahead I saw an old stone chimney, leaning horribly to one side. Gage slammed the brakes suddenly, making me lurch forward. “Almost ran into that damn thing,” he muttered. I looked to see a fallen tree lying across the road, almost invisible in the shadows cast by the trees around us. I got out of the car.

The house, I could see now, was also leaning, and blended into the background like it had been made to do so. It was made of logs, which as I got closer, appeared to be rotting, the wood turned black and falling apart. Bright green weeds grew up around the house, growing tall enough to cover the one visible window, covered in a layer of dust.

The door seemed solid enough, the thick wood still in one piece and firmly on its hinges, but as I turned the handle, it swung in, unlocked. I took out my Beretta and motioned for Gage to stay behind me. Before I even entered the smell of bleach wafted in my face, making my eyes water. I took a step inside, holding the collar of my shirt over my nose, and holding my gun out with the other hand.

I realized there was another smell mingled with the bleach as my eyes became accustomed to the dimness of the cabin: the smell of burnt wood. In the middle of the floor of the sparse, scrubbed cabin was a large, circular burn mark, a starburst of charred wood. I looked around. Everything was clean, like it had recently been scrubbed. There was a metal bedframe with no mattress, part of the rusty metal black from the heat of whatever fire had burned here, but otherwise the place was empty of furniture. There was a fireplace, the stones matching those of the leaning chimney, but the grate was completely free of ash.

I looked back at Gage. He was frowning at the room trying to make sense of it. “Not what I was expecting,” I said, putting my gun back in its holster. I let go of my collar and ran a finger over the surface of a short counter that ran next to a tiny kitchenette. It came away clean. Not a speck of dust.

“What the hell happened here?” he said, walking over to the burn marks on the floor.

A shadow moved in the far corner of the cabin that was not reached by the light from the dirt-filtered light of the window. I reached for my gun. “Don’t bother,” said a deep, cold female voice. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

“Eliza?” I said. The commissioner stepped out of the shadows, the blue-tinted glasses veiling her eyes. Even in the dim light her golden hair was shockingly bright. Tight ringlets coiled down her neck.

Gage grunted, as if her presence didn’t surprise him in the least. I couldn’t say I shared that feeling. “What the hell are you doing here?” I said.

Eliza stepped into the light and looked down at the charred floorboards. She took off her glasses and put them neatly into the inside pocket of her jacket. She looked up at me. “I’ve been trying to call you, Niki,” she said. “Been busy this morning, haven’t you?”

I narrowed my eyes. “You here to arrest me?” I said.

“Of course not,” she said. She crouched down and put her palm down on the blackened wood. “I’m here to help you.”

“Why would you do that?” I said.

“Because we want the same thing,” she said.

“And what’s that?”

She sighed and looked up at me. “We both want to find The Blood. Why do you think I was trying to hire you?” she said.

“What do you want with them?” I said.

She looked at me coolly for a second, then looked down. “They’ve got my angel. I want him back.”

“Why don’t you just go get him?” I said. “What’s a bunch of old men compared to an angel?”

She arched an eyebrow at me. “You’ve talked to Sam, haven’t you?”

“Yeah, I did,” I said, “even though you threatened to kill me.”

“You told Sam about her?” said Gage.

“Yeah,” I said. “Didn’t you?”

He shrugged. “Didn’t see a reason.”

“An angel tried to hire you and you didn’t think it was pertinent?” I said.

“Nope,” he said.

“I’m not going to kill you,” said Eliza, standing up to her full height. She took a step toward me. Her eyes were dark and strange, just like Sam’s. “The way I understand it, Sam will make anyone that hurts you very sorry.”

“What does that mean?” I said.

“She means he’s sweet on you,” said Gage. “For what it’s worth.”

“Stop saying that, Bobby,” I said. “You’re starting to piss me off.”

“Only ‘cause it’s true,” he said. Seeing my expression, he raised his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay, I’ll stop. But get a goddamn clue, Slobodian. You’re a detective for Christ’s sake.”

Eliza sighed. “Mr. Gage, would you mind leaving us alone for a moment?” She smiled at Gage, an expression that only made her face tighten slightly. “I have a private matter.”

“He stays,” I said.

She looked from me to Gage, and pursed her lips. “Fine,” she said. “Have it your way. For starters, I cleaned up your mess this morning.”

“My mess?” I said. I kept my voice calm, but I could feel my heart start to pump faster. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Really?” she said. “So you weren’t involved in an altercation in your father’s old warehouse?”

I fluttered my eyelashes. “What sort of altercation?” I said.

“Oh, Jesus,” Gage muttered.

“You might want to work on your innocent look, Miss Slobodian,” said Eliza. “No matter. It’s done. I took care of it. As far as anyone knows, including your friend, Ron Smithy, the men shot each other.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. “Why would you do that?” I said.

“You’re welcome,” she said.

“That’s a good question,” said Gage. “Why would a police commissioner cover up a crime? Especially for a known Abby. Don’t make sense. You wearing a wire or something?”

“Really, Mr. Gage,” she said. “You watch too much television. I don’t operate that way.”

“How
do
you operate?” I said. “You’ve threatened to kill me. Your predecessor had my father arrested, had me put on trial and slapped onto the Registry, and then tried to have me re-arrested multiple times. Excuse me if I’m suspicious. Why do you think it was me, anyway?”

“Please,” she said. “You’re like a bull in a china shop. You bled all over the scene, sprayed a couple of thugs with bullets, I could smell you there. And forensics would eventually out you. I did you a favor. I also thought you might want this.” She held something out to me. It was my Makarov, the gun that the police had taken after I shot Bradley in my apartment.

I took the gun from her hand and looked at it, checked the clip. It was the only gun I’d ever held that felt like it was a part of me. I pocketed it.

Her dark eyes darted from me to Gage and back again. “I think you can help me,” she said. It looked like it pained her to say it. She looked at the ceiling, then took another step toward me. She was taller than me, almost as tall as Gage. “I need your help,” she said, her voice softer. I saw a movement in her eyes and realized they were shifting, just like Sam’s. It was disconcerting.

“Do you know what happened to Frank Bradley?”

She raised an eyebrow. “Why do you care?” she said.

“I met his wife,” I said. “They have a daughter. I think she’s got a right to know why.”

She looked down at the floor and gestured to the burnmarks. “You can see what happened to him,” she said.

“What, he burned up?” said Gage.

“Obviously,” said Eliza. “He was a good man. Deep down.”

“You knew him?” I said.

She nodded. “Frank Bradley was working for me,” she said. “And that’s why he died.”

Gage was watching her with interest, a frown creasing his brow. I wanted to ask him what he was thinking, but it would have to wait.

Eliza sat down on the bedframe, avoiding the charred patch. Gage leaned against the wall and I sat on the small, wobbly countertop, my boots dangling. “Okay. Let’s hear it,” I said.

She looked affronted, and flashed a look of anger at me, but it passed in an instant and she looked at her hands.

“I came here, as I said, to find an angel,” Eliza said.

“Why?” I said. “Sam said you were The Creed where you come from. Seems like an important job. You could have sent somebody else to find the angel.”

“Yeah, I’ve seen a couple angels over the years,” said Gage. “What was it about this angel that got you to leave an important job and show up in this town?”

“I’d rather not say,” she said quietly.

“You want our help?” I said.

She pursed her lips. “He was special to me,” she said. “I won’t say why.”

“I think we can guess,” said Gage.

“Daniel committed petty crimes,” she continued, ignoring Gage. “Not terrible crimes, just black market stuff, smuggling, things like that. It was enough to embarrass me. Many knew of our involvement, and Daniel used this to secure illegal items. Weapons, mostly. I was furious. I was so angry with him.”

“Hell hath no fury,” said Gage.

“I wanted to teach him a lesson,” she said. “I sent him here. Banished him from his home. It was only ten years, but I thought he would appreciate it when all was said and done.”

“You sent him away for ten years and expected him to appreciate it?” I said.

“Ten years is the blink of an eye for my kind,” she said. “It means nothing. Like a month in your jails. I thought his time in this world would make him appreciate our world more. He would be good if he saw how your people lived.”

“Thanks for that,” said Gage.

“Then what?” I said.

“The decade passed and he did not return. Two more years passed and he was not back. I came looking for him. I learned he had been working with Nazar Polzin. The more I learned about Mr. Polzin, the more I became convinced that I had made an error in sending Daniel here. I felt responsible for whatever had happened to him. When I found out about The Blood, I just knew I could find Daniel through them.”

“Why?” I said.

Eliza shrugged stiffly. “They were obsessed with angelwine. I knew they had their eyes on all the shunned.”

“Shunned?”

“The banished ones,” she said. “The ones sent to your world as punishment.”

“You really need a better correctional system,” I said.

“How’d you find out about The Blood?” said Gage. “They’re supposed to be secret, ain’t they? Disappear everyone who knows about them.”

Eliza closed her eyes and frowned. “I’ve done many things in the past few years I’m not proud of,” she said. She opened her eyes and looked at Gage. “One of them was befriending a man that worked for Mr. Polzin.”