A Cold Day in Hell (15 page)

S
he raced down the marble steps and across the wide foyer, dodging shoppers and office workers as she went. For an instant she lost sight of Angel and almost panicked.

She broke through a clot of people near the front door and cannoned into him.

“Eileen, love,” he said. “What’s happened?” He took her by the shoulders and examined her face as if he expected to find bruises or blood.

“Nothing’s happened,” she said through her teeth, carefully extricating herself. “I was trying to catch up with you, that’s all.”

“You were?” He took her by the elbow and, rather than make a scene, she let him steer her outside. “I was going to come looking for you.”

Eileen had made a personal pact to avoid smart comebacks. For now. “This worked well then,” she said.

They stood on the sidewalk in front of the bike.

“What did you have in mind?” Angel said.

Eileen frowned at him.

He had the grace to look uncomfortable. With his hands stuffed into the pockets of his jeans, he drew up his shoulders and grimaced. “That didn’t sound so good, did it?”

She shook her head. “What I’ve got in mind is to give you hell.” Eileen kept a straight face. His awkwardness made it hard to stay as angry as she wanted to be at him.

His mouth turned down and he nodded slowly. “I was afraid of that.”

She stepped out of the way of people on the sidewalk and Angel took her by the hand. He stood in the gutter by the bike and urged her down beside him. “We can’t talk here, cher,” he said.

Eileen pried his fingers from hers. “Sure we can as long as we’re quiet about it.”

He smiled faintly. “I don’t suppose you want to come back to my place.”

“No. I wouldn’t. Isn’t it a crime scene by now?”

Angel winced. “They’ll have tape everywhere and cops tromping all over the house.”

She nodded. “Then you’ll understand why I pass on that idea. We could go to the library.”

“Now you’re being funny.”

“What’s wrong with the library?”

“Grrr.” He looked at the overcast sky. “We’d have to whisper in the library.”

“So?”

“Forget the library,” Angel said. “Tell me one thing. Are you mad at me?” “Yes, very.” She crossed her arms. “You owe me an apology.”

“I apologize.”

“Oh!” Eileen glanced around and lowered her voice. “That’s a general apology. Not good enough.” And he was doing a creditable job of taking some of the steam out of her arguments.

“Okay,” he said. “Let’s go. We’ll walk.”

This would be easier if she didn’t weaken each time she looked at him.

“You don’t like the idea of walking?” he asked.

They could walk and talk, as long as they didn’t take so long and go so far that getting back became a problem. “I do,” she said. “It’s fine.”

Once out of the main Oakdale complex, they started off toward the south. Minutes passed, stretched to many minutes before she said, “You set me up.”

“That wasn’t my intention. You wouldn’t talk to me—I was ready to do anything to get in the same space with you. Remember me coming to the shop? Remember what
you
did to
me?
”

“I told you we shouldn’t see each other for a while.”

He bent his head until she met his eyes. “You made it sound like you didn’t want to see me again. Period,” he said.

“So you had me walk into a trap with Matt because you figured I wouldn’t make a fuss in front of him.” She stood still. “And look what happened. I’ve never been so embarrassed.”

“I didn’t know you’d say that, did I?” he said. “It went that way is all. Finn and I figured Matt had to be filled in and that you needed to be there.”

She looked up at him. When he looked back, his gray eyes darkened. He stared.

“If you had let me know first—let me know what you intended to tell him—I wouldn’t have made a complete fool of myself. He didn’t need to know about…you know.”

“Yeah, I know.” Slapping a hand onto the trunk of a young sycamore, he swung slowly around the tree. He managed a collision and made an unnecessary effort to steady her. “I do know, Eileen. I wouldn’t deliberately do anything like that to you.”

She wouldn’t allow herself to soften toward him.

“We were interrupted that night,” he said. “The timing was the worst. Don’t you think we should do something about that?”

Eileen made fists on his chest and prepared to tell him what she thought about
his
timing. She sighed and let it go. There was something almost wonderfully childlike about the psyche of some males—or maybe that should be about the way some males blurted out exactly what was on their minds.

“What is Matt going to do next?” she said.

Angel shrugged and frowned. “We’ll see. So far he hasn’t turned up a thing about the attack on Emma.”

“I don’t think he believes she was attacked,” Eileen said. “That makes me mad. I’ve known Emma a long time and she’s the most sane woman I know. Do you think these events are tied together? Whatever happened to Aaron, the guy in Ona’s parking lot and the crazy at your house?”

“This isn’t a big place. All the potential victims know each other. Sure, I think there’s a connection. But I don’t know what it is, yet.”

Eileen looked at her hands on his chest and dropped them. She was allowing him to lull her into his corner. Well, it wasn’t going to work. “You need to apologize to me properly.”

“I already apologized.”

“Not after I told you how you embarrassed me.” The anger freshened.

“I’m sorry about that.”

“Nothing’s changed. I know what my responsibilities are and I won’t be neglecting them again.”

Angel pulled her against him and there was no softness left in his eyes. “Don’t be a little fool. Your son isn’t a child anymore. You don’t have to be there to put sandwiches in his lunch box or to make his dinner or to wash his clothes.”

“He washes his own—”

“You know what I’m saying to you,” Angel told her. “He’s going to move on as soon as he’s through high school.”

Now she was really mad. “You keep tabs on Sonny.”

“You can’t begin to imagine how different that is.”

She wondered if she ought to know exactly how different. “Is Sonny a danger to Aaron?”

He snorted. “I figured out almost at once that you thought Sonny was too worldly for Aaron, but I didn’t think that you were afraid he was dangerous.” Angel closed his mouth. His eyes moved away and he rubbed her arm absently.

Eileen tipped her head to one side. “What is it?”

“Hmm? Nothing.” His expression suggested otherwise. “I’ve already told you why I have to keep an eye on Sonny, but I don’t think he’s a danger to Aaron. I think he’s more likely to take care of him. Not that Aaron needs that, but having a friend who knows the score isn’t a bad thing.”

“What did Matt think about the shooting near Chuzah’s place?”

He put a hand on either side of her face. “I didn’t tell him.”

“Finn must have, then.”

“I didn’t tell Finn, either.”

She didn’t understand. “Then how is Matt supposed to investigate what’s going on? You’ve already said there’s got to be a connection here.”

“I still think there is.” He sounded too reasonable.

“The police can’t do their job with only part of the evidence.”

Angel, looking at her mouth with a distracted air, wound her nerves tight.

“Angel?” she said.

“I think Chuzah could be a good man to have on our side. He doesn’t like cops.”

“That doesn’t make it right to hold things back,” she said. “It’s a miracle I didn’t mention the bayou shooting. I did say the boys had been out there.”

Angel’s expression sharpened. “What else do you think we ought to tell Matt about that night?”

“The whole truth.” She snapped back at him.

“Sonny and Aaron thought they heard someone following them in the swamp,” Angel said. “They did happen to be pretty shaken up because they were lost, but we’ll discount that.”

“Darn it, Christian, I’m going to Matt right now to tell him everything. What are you planning to do? Keep things to yourself about Aaron until someone does shoot him?”

“You just answered your own question.”

“What?” He stood too close and she gave him a push. “You think we should wait until Aaron gets shot, maybe killed?”

“That’s not what I said. Aaron wasn’t shot. There’s no solid evidence that anyone followed him.”

“But they heard a shot. And he collapsed.”

“What did they hear? For sure? Do we know why he collapsed? He wasn’t wounded. There’s no bullet.”

Eileen felt very cold and sick. “So what are we going to do?” she asked quietly.

“We can’t lock those two boys away, can we?”

“No,” she said. “What then?”

“We’re going to be careful, make sure Sonny and Aaron continue to be careful, and we’re going to be vigilant. Finn’s in when we need him and Matt’ll be all over anything he can get his hands on. He might get a make on the bullets I gave him from my bathroom.”

She spread her arms. “This feels like doing nothing.”

“Kind of,” he said. “Only not quite. This guy’s been having too much fun. He’ll try something else. When he does, we’ll be waiting.”

Her scalp tightened. “So we’re putting our money on luck? We’re betting on him messing up again?”

“No. Just betting on him showing up again—and catching him.”

“W
e’re gonna regret this,” Sonny said. “I’ve got this feeling and I’m not into that sort of thing.”

“Having feelings?” Aaron said. “That’s what you’d like everyone to think. This is my decision. The other time we came, you were the one hot to get here. This time I’m going to see Chuzah and that’s it. I don’t want you with me. I
told
you I don’t want you with me. Say the word and I’ll let you out of the car.”

Sonny slid deep in his seat beside Aaron in his Impala. “If you’re going, I’m going.”

Rather than grin because he was glad of Sonny’s company, Aaron sniffed and frowned hard through the windshield. “I need to talk to him on my own. At least for a bit. You gonna make something out of that?”

“Uh-uh.” Sonny shook his head. His head needed a shave and the sharp point at the center of his peaked hairline showed clearly. “He could be somewhere else. If he is there, maybe he won’t feel like letting us in.”

Aaron had already thought about that. “I’m not leaving till I do see him.” He had issues he couldn’t discuss with anyone but Chuzah.

The ancient Impala he had bought from the lady who played the organ at St. William’s Catholic Church moved regally, like a ship through a slight swell. His shock absorbers were shot and the vehicle undulated over every dent and crack in the road. The road to Chuzah’s kept the car in constant motion.

Aaron had painted the car bronze-orange, or so the paint had been called. Everyone hated it except him. He guessed he was the one who mattered.

That lady organist had bought a retractable hardtop Miata, yellow, and it took longer for her to get in or out than she probably spent driving. She smiled a lot more, though.

Sonny grabbed the back of his neck when they hit the next bump. “You’re gonna give me a whiplash.” The black garb settled around his thin body in folds. “You know we don’t have to ask permission to do what we want, don’t you? We’re adults.”

“Sure, I know,” Aaron said. “But I can’t afford to get in any trouble. I’ve got to stay clean and get through school. I’m not doing anything to mess with that now. Mom stuck with me through everything. She smothers a bit, but I can cope.” He thought his mom was pretty cool. She’d stuck with him even when he told her he didn’t want her.

Sonny put his elbows on his knees and propped his chin. “I don’t want any trouble, either. It’s just I’m sick of being treated like a kid on curfew.”

“You aren’t,” Aaron said. Sonny in one of these moods could be a pain in the ass.

“We don’t have to do what anyone else tells us,” Sonny said, like his brain had gotten stuck.

Aaron was already tight all over. “I know what I can and can’t do,” he said. “But I don’t see what it has to do with anything.”

“If we want to hang out together in our spare time, we can. We don’t need Eileen’s permission—or Angel’s.”

Now Aaron got it. “Parents overreact sometimes. Let it go.” He pointed to a broken-down shed. “That’s where we left the bikes last time.”

“Yeah, I didn’t expect to find them when we finally got back.”

“We wouldn’t have if people didn’t stay away from here. Who wants to drive on this when there’s a good road going the same way? Keep your eyes open. It can’t be more than a couple of miles to where I want to go. I haven’t been there in the daylight.”

“D’you think Eileen’s done thinking I’m the enemy?” Sonny said.

Aaron considered. “Could be. She had a shock that night, what with my dad showing up and everything. You’re right about one thing.”

“Like?”

“She’s gotta let go a bit. Not that I don’t want to be around her.”

Sonny blew out a long breath. “But you want her to trust you?”

Aaron glanced sideways at him. “Maybe.” He knew that was it. He wanted back where he used to be and everyone thought he could be counted on to do the right thing. “I like it at Sadie and Sam’s. Never thought I’d get off on sellin’ cheese. And I keep getting odd jobs like I did before, so its pretty okay again. How about you? Sadie and Sam say their deli-sandwich sales go up over the weekends when you’re there.”

They both had jobs at the shop.

“Yeah.” Sonny laughed. “New Yorkers are deli-sandwich experts, didn’t you know that? I’ve got ’em all fooled. Sam told me he’s thinking of doing the sandwiches at lunchtime every day of the week.”

“Brilliant!” Aaron said and laughed. “More money.”

“Miranda was in yesterday,” Sonny said. “You haven’t forgotten her, have you?”

“Hell, no. I’ve been a bit busy, in case you haven’t noticed.”

Sonny snickered. “She said you look like Johnny Depp but she didn’t know if that’s because you wear your hair in a tail and look a bit like a pirate.”

Girls thought Johnny Depp was cool. “She said that, huh?”

“Yeah.” Sonny drew up his knees and his laugh got louder. “She doesn’t like him.”

Aaron gave him a good dig in the side. “I hope something important to you falls off,” he said. “That’s what liars deserve.”

Sonny chuckled on, then cleared his throat. “I told Sam we should try bagels and lox. I thought he wouldn’t know what I was talking about, or he’d laugh me out. But he said it was a good idea. We’re going to do it. He’s also thinking about putting in an espresso machine. Sadie says that’s caterin’ to loiterers.”

Aaron slammed on the brakes and the car shuddered to a slightly sideways stop.

“What?” Sonny hollered. He pulled himself up straighter and looked out. “What d’you do that for?”

“Over there,” Aaron said. The hair on his arms stood up. “Locum.”

“Huh?” That got Sonny’s full attention and he located the Weimaraner, hovering at the side of the road with one front paw raised. “He came out that night I went for Angel and Eileen. To guide us in.”

Aaron watched the dog who stood motionless, looking back at him. “Yeah, so you said. Only this time, Chuzah doesn’t know we’re coming.”

“Creepy,” Sonny said. “Let’s turn around.”

“I’m wrong,” Aaron said.

Sonny rubbed his palms together and checked through the back window. “What d’you mean? We’re gonna get rear-ended if we stay here.”

“When was the last time you saw another vehicle on this road today?”

Sonny glanced around again. “I haven’t seen one.”

“I’m wrong because Chuzah does know we’re coming,” Aaron said. “Don’t ask me how he knows but he sent Locum to show us the way. The dog wouldn’t just come.”

Sonny made a strangled noise.

“Settle down,” Aaron said. “Chuzah didn’t hurt us before and he won’t now.”

“It’s the creepsville stuff with the dog and with the guy knowing we’re coming that I don’t like.” Sonny straightened his back. “That’s all garbage. The dog must have gotten out.”

Ignoring him, Aaron drove forward slowly until he was parallel with Locum. The dog dropped his paw and walked ahead, repeatedly looking at the car over his shoulder. Aaron followed until Locum stopped, raised his head and gave a single bark. Where he stood the grass was long but looked bent and broken. There was a wide-enough space between at least the first trees for the Impala to pass through.

Aaron checked his mirrors and made stately progress from the road onto the faintly marked track that almost instantly took him into the cover of tall trees.

“Shit,” Sonny said with feeling. “This is it. I recognize it now. Last time we left the cars by the road and walked in, but this is where we came after you that night.”

“I’d rather not leave the car by the road,” Aaron said, watching Locum, who continued his obvious guide-dog routine.

“Why not? Because you don’t want anyone to have a clue where we’ve gone?”

“We’re okay,” Aaron told Sonny. “You aren’t carrying, are you?”

“Nah.”

Aaron grimaced. “You are. Chuzah won’t like it.”

“Chuzah won’t know.”

“Wanna bet?” Aaron slowed even more. Ahead, the track ran to an opening between trees and tall bushes. He put on the brakes and switched off. “Stay here. I’ll come back for you.”

“No way,” Sonny said. “I don’t believe in any of this magic crap. I’m only coming with you because I think the guy’s missing some gray cells and you may need backup. You’ve got to stop thinking about him. We don’t belong here.”

“Remember my side?” Aaron said, automatically touching his ribs on the left. “Even the bruises are gone now.”

“I made a mistake, that’s all,” Sonny said. “There weren’t any shots. You weren’t hit. We got worked up out here and imagined a bunch of stuff is all.”

Aaron got out and approached the break. Locum gave what looked like a smile and ran ahead. His paws hammered on the wooden stairs up to the cabin and he sat at the top, his tongue lolling.

It really would be better if he’d come alone, Aaron decided. Not that he could change anything now. Sonny walked slowly along behind him.

The Morgan was parked in its place. In daylight rows of growing things hugged the ground, and crosshatched canes supported vines.

“I don’t think those are flowers,” Sonny said. “Or any vegetables I’ve seen before.”

Aaron gave a short laugh. “You’re building it all up, buddy. You’re from Brooklyn. You wouldn’t know a carrot from a cornstalk.”

“We got carrots in Brooklyn,” Sonny said, deliberately broadening his accent and waving his hand. “We got
cawn.
There’s grocery stores all over. Believe me, those ain’t no vegetables.”

Aaron sniggered.

They stood side by side and looked up the steps to the front door. It was closed. The colored lights were on in the window but were not real obvious in the afternoon light.

“Now what?” Sonny whispered.

“Chuzah,” Aaron yelled, and Sonny jumped. “Chuzah, it’s Aaron and Sonny.”

Sonny clutched his chest. “You about killed me,” he said. “Yellin’ like that.”

Locum stood, his ears perked, and stared at the door.

“Shit,” Sonny muttered.

The dog crossed the gallery, planted a foot and pushed the door open.

“Holy, crap.” Sonny’s voice disappeared up the scale and he held Aaron’s arm.

“You here finally?” Chuzah’s voice, not as loud as before, came from inside. “You sure take your time. Come on, come on, I don’t got the whole of my life to wait for you.”

Aaron broke away from Sonny’s hand and jogged up the steps. He went into the house without looking back. “I’ve got to talk to you alone,” he said in a rush. “Sonny’s here, but I’ve got to talk to you first.”

The inside looked just as it had before, except Chuzah was stretched out on one of the couches and he didn’t wear a turban. His robes were as voluminous as ever, but more subdued, mostly in shades of brown. Short and oiled, his tightly curled hair showed off a perfectly shaped head. Aaron didn’t know a whole lot about these things, but he thought Chuzah would be considered very handsome. The bridge of his nose was narrow, his lips sharply defined, his eyebrows arched and a bit winged above his black, uptilted eyes.

Aaron looked closer. “What’s wrong?” he said and his stomach made a turn. “You look sick. Are you sick? Do you need a doctor?”

Chuzah laughed, dropped back his head and showed his very white teeth. “I am all the doctor I need. Chuzah is not sick. A little tired, perhaps, but that will soon pass. It’s the time for it to pass now. Already I feel stronger.”

Sonny crept into the room and stood just inside.

“The quiet boy,” Chuzah said, holding a long hand, with its silver-tipped nails, out to Sonny. “Come here, quiet boy. You haven’t had many friends, or so you think, but I am your friend. Just as Angel is your friend and this fine Aaron—and even Eileen who sounds like the shrew sometimes. Forgive her, she worries too much.”

Sonny gave Chuzah’s hand a horrified glance, sidled forward with his face averted and reached until they touched fingers. This brought a memorable Chuzah laugh and he clasped Sonny to give a hard shake.

Immediately, Aaron offered his own hand and he and Chuzah locked fingers. Aaron looked into the man’s face and saw joy, but also fatigue.

“Locum needs to run,” Chuzah said, looking at Sonny. “Would you take him for me? He doesn’t need a leash, just company.”

The dog’s head, Aaron noticed, jerked sharply to one side.
Locum doesn’t need company.
Chuzah was paying attention to Aaron’s request for privacy.

“Out there?” Sonny said, hooking a thumb over his shoulder. “In the swamp?”

“No, no, boy. Use your head. Back the way you came in, between the trees. He likes that. Then he’ll make sure you get back.”

Sonny narrowed his soft eyes. “This is to get rid of me. Fess up, Aaron, you told him you wanted me out of the way.”

Chuzah pulled himself to sit up and set his feet on the floor, he stood, like a great tree. “It was I who asked the favor, not your friend. And you have your weapon to keep you safe.”

Sonny’s olive skin turned sallow.

Backing away, Locum following, Sonny left and they heard his footsteps on the stairs.

Chuzah approached the altar where candles burned. He took a small bag from the folds of his robes, opened it and sprinkled what appeared to be dust on the open flames. At first they dimmed as if they would go out, but then burst to brighter light.