ANGEL'S KISS (A Dark Angel's Novel) (26 page)

Ottie gave me his best smolder. “Yep, haven’t met a dog or a lady that I couldn’t charm.”

Zeke trotted on through the hall ahead of us. I could hear the screams of alarm as he passed by the offices. We looked at each other, started laughing, and ran after him. I wanted to make sure no one tried to hurt him or had a heart attack from seeing a giant dog running through the office.

We caught up to Zeke in the reception area. He was drinking out of the toilet in the client bathroom, and a startled Kim was standing on her chair at the reception desk.

“Oh, my god, Lexie, we have a bear in the office.” Kim was breathless with shock. “We have to call someone, I know: animal control. I’ll get the number.”

She looked at me and then at the open door to the bathroom and then back to me and over to Ottie. Her expression turned from fear to anger. She stepped down from the chair and put her hands on her hips.

“All right, Ottie, what’s the joke? Come on, you’ve had your fun. What is that?” She gave Ottie a “your ass is grass” stare.

“Whoa. It wasn’t me, for a change.” He pointed at me.

“Lexie, when did you get a dog, if that’s what that is?” Her surprised expression was priceless, and I broke out laughing.

“Sorry, sorry, but seeing you standing on your chair was just too much. I found him night before last, stuck in our rose bushes.”

Zeke exited the restroom, walked over to Kim, and put his wet face under her trembling hand. She immediately relaxed and rubbed his ear enthusiastically.

“Lexie, he’s just a big sweetie! Are you going to keep him?”

Zeke certainly had won Kim and Ottie over.

“I don’t think I really have a choice—he’s sort of moved in. If he can learn to stop licking my face and drinking out of the toilet, we’ll be all set.” Zeke leaned against Kim’s leg and just stared at me with his big chocolate eyes, and his tongue rolling out the side of his jaw.

“All right, you suck-up, let’s get to work.” I motioned for Zeke to come, and to my surprise, he trotted over. Ottie looked both surprised and approving when Zeke obeyed.

“Kim, any messages for me?” Ottie broke the silence with his big voice.

“They’re on your desk, Ottie. Didn’t look like anything that couldn’t wait. I’ve updated your calendar, and all the information is on the slips.”

“Thanks.” Ottie turned his attention to me. “Lex, come see me when you’re up to speed. I’ve got a few things I’d like to go over with you.” He headed down the hall.

“Sure,” I called after him. “Hit me, Kim, what have I missed?”

“Oh, Lexie, I’m so sorry to hear about the fire. Is there anything I can do?” She looked on the verge of tears.

“Thanks, Kim. As these things go, we were lucky. No one got burnt, and it was just the sun porch. The worst thing is I lost some family pictures and stuff. But we’re all safe. That’s what matters.”

“You just keep your chin up, darlin’. If you want someone to talk to, I’m always here. I know how important family photos are. They’re irreplaceable.”

She reached out and touched my hand. I’m not usually a touchy-feely kind of person, but something about her touch reminded me of my mother and I swear I almost started crying right there. What’s wrong with me? I’ve been so emotional. I had to get back to business.

“I really appreciate your thoughts.” I cleared my throat, gave her hand a little squeeze, and stepped back. “Dennis is already cleaning up. If I can’t stop him soon, the new sun porch will be bigger and better than all the rest of the house put together.” I laughed, but even to me it sounded forced.

“So what do you have for me? Sorry I’ve been away so much this week, especially with the Janeck investigation.”

“Who?” Her face pinched in confusion.

“The Janecks.”

Her expression didn’t change.

“All right, stop pulling my leg. The Janecks. The clients who were murdered while we were watching their house.”

“Oh. I’m not sure. I guess you’d better check with Ottie. He’s handling all the active cases.” And then while I stood confused, she just changed the subject. She read off my messages and then smiled up at me.

“Kim, don’t you remember the Janecks?” Zeke bashed me with his head. I looked down as Kim shook her head again.

“Sorry, Lexie, I’m just not sure we have a case file for that name. Do you want me to check?” She shook her head again—not just in answer to my question. She shook as if something was painful. Something was trying to bubble up, but she kept pushing it back down. Zeke bashed me again.

“Hey, stop that.” He nudged me again. Then I thought about it. “Okay,” I said. “I get it.”

“Do you think he needs to go out? I can take him if you have a leash.”

“No, no, he’s fine. I think he just wants to see where he can lay his head. Is everything on my desk?”

“Yes. Oh, I almost forgot.” She grabbed a pen and note pad. “Did you want me to look up a client—J—something?”

Zeke whimpered.

“Nah, don’t worry about it, thanks. I’ll be in my office if you need me.” I made a hasty exit into my office, shut the door, and fell into my seat. Zeke put his big head in my lap and whimpered.

“Zeke, did that really happen?” He gave an almost silent “woof” and looked up at me with incredible intelligence radiating through his big, chocolate-brown eyes. I patted his head and rubbed my eyes. “What am I going to do?”

My door cracked open and Ottie peeked in enough to see me sitting with Zeke’s head cradled in my lap.

“I’m not interrupting, am I? Were you talking to the dog?” He came in and shut the door behind him. He looked nervous. I’ve never seen Ottie nervous. What now?

“Yeah, he’s a good listener. So what’s up?”

“I overheard you asking Kim about the Janeck case.” He tilted his head as if he’d caught me in a lie and was waiting for me to tell the truth.

“What about it?” I tried to keep all emotion off my face, but it was weird to be evasive with Ottie. I didn’t want him involved in any of this. If they were really immortals, it's just too dangerous. Plus, why would Kim forget, but Ottie remember? I wondered who else was having selective amnesia.

“I’ve been hoping you would ask me about it.” He took a deep breath. “No one seems to know anything about the case, and the files have been wiped clean. There aren’t any hard files or computer files at all. It’s like the Janecks never came into the office. Actually, it’s like they never existed. I can’t even find any record of them in the tax records or the DMV.”

He sat back and rubbed his face. “I’m just glad to hear you say their name. I was starting to doubt myself.”

Zeke got up and went over to lie down in front of the door. Ottie watched him and then looked back at me.

“So, what’s up, Boss? And why the hell do you look like you just had a face lift?”

Memory Laps

“Ottie, it’s a police investigation now. Maybe we should just let it go. And of course I haven’t had a face lift. It’s just me. What’s wrong with everyone today?”

“Don’t give me that shit, Lex. I know that you remember those worn-out husks for bodies and that God-awful shiny gold room.” I cringed at the thought of that room before I could stop myself. Ottie stood, putting his hands on my desk, and glared at me. Zeke noticed the aggressive behavior.

“Grrrrowl.” He raised his head, but it was more of a warning to both of us. It felt like he was telling Ottie to be quiet more than he was worried about my safety. Ottie fell back into the chair.

“Tell me what’s going on,” he said. “This is all connected somehow. You were attacked and woke up hours later not hurt at all. Some crazy person or persons murdered our clients, whom coincidentally you were working for when you were attacked. Your house caught fire and now the bodies of our murdered clients have disappeared from the morgue. Detective Maloran has taken a leave absence. Imagine that. And no one knows what the hell I’m talking about.” He sat back, folded his arms, and waited.

I shook my head. How could I explain any of this?

Zeke got up and sat beside Ottie, putting his head in his lap. Ottie un-fisted his hand and rubbed behind Zeke’s ears.

Ottie was my partner and backup. Not telling him would be the hardest thing that I’d ever done, but necessary. I didn’t want him hurt because of me.

“What?” He was angry.

“Look, Ottie. I can’t explain any of this, and even if I could, you’d never believe me.” I leaned forward and pleaded. “Please, let it go.” I could only hope that Maloran and Riley had already forgotten.

“You’re kiddin’, right?”

“No, I’m not. You need to let it go.” To avoid his gaze, I flipped through my mail. “Could you close the door on your way out, or do you need something else?”

I concentrated on the addresses on the junk mail: Pottery Barn, Red Envelope, Lands’ End… Out of the corner of my eye I watched him get up and walk to the door. Zeke watched him, too.

“You won’t forget about it. I tried to get us out of it the other day, but you were adamant about our firm’s involvement. Now you suddenly want me to let it go? You’re mixed up in this somehow, and now you’re scared.”

He took a deep breath. “
Alexandria
.”

Crap. He never uses my full name.

“Your father warned me that a day might come when you would try to go against something so big that you’d need my help. Of course, he also knew you’d be too stubborn to ask for it.”

He pulled a crumpled and worn envelope out of his pocket. “I’m already involved, Lexie. I have been ever since your father gave me these instructions. So I won’t let it go. Hell, even without this,” he shook the envelope at me, “you know me better than to think I’d let you go it alone.”

He patted Zeke on the head. “See ya later, big guy. I’ll be there when this goes down. Whatever it is.” He opened the door.

“If you haven’t seen a plastic surgeon, why do you look five years younger, Lex? Or am I the only one to notice?” He left and closed the door behind him a little too hard.

Zeke came over and put his head back in my lap.

“If you understand everything, why can’t you talk or communicate with me somehow? Tell me who sent you? And what’s up with all the compliments today? Do I really look younger?”

I looked into his big eyes, but he did nothing but stare back.

“Thanks, appreciate it.”

I had a cheap mirror in my desk, so I pulled it out and stared into it. I did look different. My face looked like it had been airbrushed to perfection. How had my little crow’s feet disappeared? I’d always looked young for my age, but this was ridiculous. I wasn’t even wearing any makeup, and my complexion, which is normally freckly from sun and years of beach fun, looked as smooth a baby’s—like the after picture in an ad for plastic surgery. No wonder everyone’s commenting on my appearance today. Well, I’m not a big fan of make-up anyway, so now I won’t have to bother with it.

I brooded for a while, casually flipping through catalogs, trying to pretend that everything was normal, when nothing would be normal ever again. I prayed Ottie would let this go for his sake, but I held out little hope for that prayer. Dad was trying to protect me even after he died. I wonder what was in that envelope. Oh well, life goes on. I picked up the phone and pressed 47,
Devon
’s number.

“Hey, Alex, how are you? I’m so sorry to hear about the fire at your place. If Jerry or I can do anything, just let us know.”

“Thanks,
Devon
, we’ll be fine. The damage was confined to the sun room. Tell Jerry to be ready, though. Dennis is trying to make this a major renovation, and I might need him to help me with the material selections for the new room.” Jerry,
Devon
’s partner, is an interior decorator and has a great talent of making a room suit the owner, not just selling stuff that’s in style at the moment.

“Jerry would love to help, and he’d love to work with someone who can make up her mind for a change. If I have to hear about one more client who takes two months to pick out a toothbrush holder, I think I’ll go crazy.”

“Okay, I’ll be in touch. Hey, back to the reason I called.”

“Shoot.”

“I think our security’s been breached. I need you to do some research. See what the latest security devices are and what we can add to our system.”

“Alex, I assure you I haven’t seen anything to make me think that anyone has been tampering with our system, and I’ve been extra diligent since you lost your phone. I’m sorry I couldn’t trace it. It’s really weird that it would just disappear, what with the GPS tracker that’s in all our phones.”

“I don’t doubt your abilities. But I do think these individuals are funded beyond our level. Truthfully, all I ever cared about was the confidentiality of our clients. Now I’m more worried about our personnel files. So I want to see what systems are available and for what price. Take a look and then let me know when I can expect to see a proposal.”

“I’ll get right on it.”

“Have fun shopping, but before you do that, I need you to change all of our passwords—even the password for the password file. Create some of your weird number-letter combo stuff that I hate. I can never remember it, but I know it works. That should hold till we get the more serious stuff put on the files and computers.”