Watcher

by Andrew Weis

  “Hi, Jessa,” Dad said.

  My body jerked into a panic-induced contortion, and I almost fell off the sofa. After catching my breath, I felt like I’d sprinted a mile.

  “Jeez, Dad, you scared the hell out of me,” I said.

  “Sorry about that. How are you doing? I see you secured Daniel.”

  “It wasn’t easy, but yeah.”

  “ARVs are like abstract art. You’re presented with the case, but you’re on your own to interpret.”

  Perfect. I never understood abstract art.

  “Coz almost killed me. About an hour ago, Akio tried like crazy to kill us. Luckily for us, he was the one who died. So, why am I still here?”

  “You haven’t left yet because the threat on Daniel remains.”

  “What’s the threat?”

  “The influences determined to take Daniel’s life. Until you remove those, you’re staying put.”

  I stood and sighed.

  “Great. Get this, Daniel said he could smell me,” I said.

  “Despite your excellent disguise, your true human signature remains. He’ll zero in on you at some point. You two are in love, which doesn’t mask your true identity completely.”

  I put Daniel’s picture back on the wall, then lowered my head.

  “You seem annoyed,” Dad said.

  “I thought this ARV would last at most a couple of days. I could be here for weeks.”

  “That’s true. Some cases can go on for months or more. The longest was thirty-seven years.”

  “Why so long?”

  “Events have to play out as they occur before making the best move. You can’t rush things. Tyrone is up to something big, maybe something bigger than a bank robbery. All you’re doing now is delaying him. If you let him play through, the solution to your problem will arrive in due course.”

  I paced about the living room as I wrung my hands.

  “So, I should do nothing? That’s not a plan, Dad.”

  “Let’s call it an exercise in patience. You have Daniel so that’s good. However, you stepped out of bounds disclosing to him that you’re an angel, and that’ll cost you.”

  “He cornered me. Besides, I’m a crappy liar. I’m doing the best I can with what I have.”

  Dad took a nervous breath.

  “What?” I asked.

  “You need to do better. Your involvement with Coz amplified matters with the angel hierarchy.”

  “What are you talking about?” I asked.

  Dad took a nervous breath.

  “We’ve determined, at least on the surface, that you might not be the right angel for this ARV.”

  “What does that mean?” I asked.

  “There’s talk of withdrawing your promotion.”

  Chapter 21

  “WHAT? YANK MY ARV? Why the hell would they do that?” I asked in total disbelief. “I’ve been chasing Daniel all this time. I’ll admit he can be slippery, but I don’t think I’ve screwed up that badly.”

  “I did more digging, and I confirmed that an angel has illegally manipulated you, but we don’t know who,” Dad said.

  “I think I know when that was. On my last day, I gave Daniel back his book during school hours along with a love note which I normally wouldn’t have done. I knew it felt strange when I wrote the note. Was that it?”

  “I believe so. The timing of the note and your death coincide right.”

  I entertained the possibility that maybe Lucifer played me without my knowledge. Crap. The more I thought about that, the more I doubted everything I believed since my death.

  “Dad, I promise you, I’m not involved in anything like that.”

  “All right, Jessa. Many others are watching you more closely, which means you’ll sense more pressure. You have to be careful but keep one thing in mind.”

  “What?”

  “You have a good heart. Follow it and you’ll do no wrong. You need to believe in yourself.”

  “That doesn’t help me much. Why can’t any angel cops help me? Oh yeah, they don’t exist.”

  Dad smiled and gave me a reassuring hug.

  “You’ll do fine, Jessa.”

  He then inrepped and left the house. Angels could eat, drink and sleep but we didn’t need to. We did those things to hide what we were and blend among the humans.

  Sex worked the same way, but I heard on rare occasions even female angels got pregnant by humans. A power or a dominion would then take the unborn child and place it with a human somewhere in history. I didn’t know the details, nor did I care. Life as an angel was a sweet gig, but sometimes thinking about the past made us yearn to be human again.

  Since I knew I wasn’t the smartest kid at the science fair, I wasn’t sure about going up against a more powerful angel who manipulated my love note.

  The only explanation I came up with was that maybe someone spread lies about me to make me fail. I didn’t think I pissed off anyone in training enough for them to do something that extreme to me. An image of Coz’s eyes when they turned red on the night we fought at Daniel’s house came to mind. He was still human as far as I could tell. He also wasn’t an angel of any kind either, or was he?

  While I stretched out on the couch sorting out my theories, I wondered what the day might have in store for me. I realized several hours passed since I last checked on Daniel.

  The morning sunbeams filtered through the leaf-laden trees and into the front room. I looked at an ornamental clock with a square brass frame on the wall. It read nine thirty-six.

  I inrepped, passed through the ceiling to Daniel’s bedroom, then materialized. He was in the same position as when he first fell asleep. Daniel looked as sexy as ever, even first thing in the morning. I gushed at his defined but not over-inflated muscles.

  “Daniel?” I whispered.

  He stirred and rolled over onto his back then let out a deep breath. I wasn’t a fortune teller, but I saw a date with a toothbrush and mouthwash in his future.

  “Were you here all night?” he asked.

  “No, I came in a second ago. Did you sleep well?” I asked, separating the drapes and filling the room with daylight. I lifted the window sash, and a warm breeze flapped the curtains.

  “Yeah,” he said in mid-yawn.

  “Do you want to eat anything?” I asked.

  “Yeah, I’m hungry.”

  “Okay, I’ll meet you downstairs.”

  I cooked up an egg breakfast while he took care of his morning ritual. I liked being an angel and not having to deal with morning business which took an hour or more to complete when I was human. For a short blissful time, I fantasized that I was his wife making him Sunday breakfast. I’d never know the domesticated life of a housewife, but I could dream.

  “Smells good,” Daniel said, flashing his perfect smile. I wanted to kiss him so badly.

  “Tastes even better,” I said, smiling back like a loving wife would.

  There was no point being a bitch all the time. I figured we could get on better terms for at least one day if I was nicer, like Nemo and Nero suggested. I poured a little milk onto the eggs and stirred them in the iron skillet. My mom showed me how to make scrambled eggs and a few other easy dishes. She was great like that.

  “What’s the plan for today?” he asked as he sat at the table.

  “I need to see Nemo and Nero again to find out more about Tyrone’s game plan.”

  I slid the eggs onto a paper plate beside two slices of toast, not quite burned.

  “Do you trust those guys?” Daniel asked as he poured a glass of milk.

  “I trust anyone screwed over by Tyrone. They’re okay,” I said.

  “Yeah, I suppose,” Daniel said.

  “How long did they have their muscle car shop?”

  “Beats me. Seems like forever though.”

  “What about Tyrone? What’s his story?”

  Daniel cut into his eggs and put a chunk on the corner of a slice of toast. He chewed while stealing looks back at me. He glanced do
wn, covered his mouth with a paper napkin and swallowed.

  “What’s wrong? Don’t you like the eggs?” I asked.

  “It’s creepy with you standing there watching me eat. Aren’t you eating anything?”

  “Huh? Oh, sorry,” I said.

  He set down the napkin. I set the skillet on the stove then shut off the gas.

  “Tyrone and my father were friends before they enlisted in the Army. Tyrone was always, well, shady,” Daniel said.

  “In what way?” I asked.

  “He has that vibe, you know? His eyes tell you he’s up to no good.”

  “Did he ever rob a bank?”

  “Not sure. Why do you ask?”

  I didn’t know how much Daniel knew of his father’s relationship with Tyrone, so I tried to play this hand like a Chicago politician.

  “I heard your father tell him once he saved him from a life of crime by joining the Army,” I said. “Tyrone said something about robbing banks being easier than a military life.”

  “If he’s talking that jack, then I wouldn’t put it past him to rob banks. He runs drugs around the neighborhood and corrals prostitutes. He wasn’t a big time player of any kind seeing he had only Coz and Akio helping him.”

  “With Akio gone, Tyrone seems short-handed, but with his ego, he’ll get more aggressive. Let’s see what Nemo and Nero have to say.”

  Chapter 22

  THE LINE OUTSIDE Xtremes wouldn’t form until later in the afternoon, so after Daniel ate, we decided to evaluate what Reggie did in the basement. We spent hours going through Reggie’s notes and learned that he invented himself into a risky business with his silent bomb. Sure, it had enormous safety benefits for legitimate businesses, but once in the hands of criminals, it had huge consequences.

  Reggie’s well-intended invention proved that evil was on the job around the clock. Some people had a fetish for taking good ideas and ruining them so the blame shouldn’t fall entirely on Lucifer and his minions.

  We left Daniel’s GTX in the garage since the car was a hot ticket after last night’s excursion. Xtremes wasn’t more than a mile away, so walking there suited us fine.

  We approached Xtremes and saw Nemo at the door. The Chevelle wasn’t present, so Coz might not be here. Nemo looked up from his smartphone as we approached the club entrance.

  “What’s up, girl?” Nemo asked as he put away his phone.

  “We need to talk about Tyrone, but I don’t want to do it here,” I said.

  “Meet us around back.”

  Daniel and I walked around the block-long building and down the alley toward the club’s back entrance. A homeless man crouched beside a dumpster looked at me as we passed.

  “Hey,” I said.

  “Hello again,” Dad said, standing.

  “You know him?” Daniel asked.

  “Yeah,” I said.

  Nemo emerged from Xtremes’s back door.

  Dad and Nemo nodded at each other.

  “There’s been a lot of chatter about Akio,” Dad said.

  “He died in a car wreck last night,” I said. “That’s good enough for him if you ask me.”

  “Perhaps, but that doesn’t help you.”

  “What you mean?” Nemo asked.

  “Is Tyrone still dogging my dad?” Daniel asked.

  Dad looked annoyed with Daniel.

  Daniel starting with questions made me understand why angels shouldn’t say too much about themselves; the ensuing inquisition would never end. This was a hard-learned lesson for me.

  “They took Akio down and, from what I’ve gathered, repurposed him,” Dad said.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “What are you guys talking about?” Daniel asked.

  “I’m sorry. Excuse me for a second,” Dad said.

  Dad’s eyes flashed blue. Daniel and Nemo stood as still as mannequins.

  “I don’t have the time for unnecessary questions,” Dad said. “I’m not sure what purpose Akio has now, but his turnaround was fast. That’s never a good sign. An evil angel in our midst orchestrated Akio’s transition. I have no doubts that this will complicate your situation.”

  I didn’t need more complications.

  “Was it Lucifer?” I asked.

  “He’s the usual suspect, but he’d probably see your case as nothing more than a side project not worth his immediate attention. Lucifer wouldn’t get involved in your case any more than God would.”

  That’s wonderful. One thing I needed to learn was that whatever Arlen told me about ARVs, I couldn’t take them at face value. A promotion to archangel required me to think much wider than I thought. The new details that surfaced added to my frustration.

  “That’s what I don’t get,” I said. “Daniel’s out of danger and—”

  “Wrong. His life is still on schedule to end early unless we can intercept the evil that’s targeted his life.”

  “But I have him,” I said.

  “Jessa, listen to me. When I say his life, I’m talking about everything his life touches, which includes you, Nemo, Reggie and everyone connected to them. Your assignment wasn’t to save just Daniel, but his entire world.”

  The longer I was on Earth, the more this ARV sucked! I wondered if becoming an archangel was even worth the effort since humans will follow their own stupid agendas regardless of the risks anyway.

  “God, this ARV keeps getting better,” I said, looking at Daniel. His eyes blinked.

  “Tyrone and Coz are planning to rob a bank with Reggie,” Dad said.

  “My father ain’t a bank robber,” Daniel said.

  Daniel’s outburst startled me. I never froze people like that and never thought to try. It seemed like a desperate yet useful move suitable for providing angels an escape should they need one. Since Dad used that ability now, a small internal alarm went off inside me. People didn’t stay frozen like that for more than a few minutes.

  “Of course, he’s not,” Dad said. “He’s being held against his will.”

  “What do you want us to do?” Nemo asked. “I can take out Coz. I ain’t killed anybody before, but in his case, I’ll make an exception.”

  “What do Coz and Tyrone plan to do next?” Dad asked.

  “No idea, but I can ask Nero,” Nemo said as his phone emitted the sound of machine-gun fire.

  Nemo read a text message on his smartphone.

  “Nero needs a sit-down. I got to go,” Nemo said. “I’ll let you know what shakes.”

  Nemo went back inside Xtremes.

  “So, are you an angel too?” Daniel asked.

  Dad looked at me, almost horrified.

  “What?” Dad asked.

  “Well, Abbey’s an angel. From the way you’ve been talking, you sound like you might be one too.”

  “Abbey?” Dad asked with his eyebrows raised.

  “Yeah, her,” he said, nodding toward me.

  Dad’s eyes glowed, and Daniel froze again. Uh-oh.

  “Why would he ask me that?” Dad asked with his arms crossed.

  When my dad was alive, he rarely raised his voice in anger at me, but when I did something that pissed him off enough, he’d let me have it.

  “How should I know?” I asked. “He has angels on the brain since he figured me out,” I said. “He doesn’t know my real identity so I’m still safe. I think him knowing angels exist acts like a security blanket for him.”

  “It doesn’t matter how bad a human has it in life, angels never show themselves under any circumstances. That’s a rule violation, Jessa. You’ll spend time at the Outer Edge because of it.”

  “What? Dad, that’s dog crap! I’m doing everything I can here. Is there anything else I should know? Will I blow up the sun one day too?”

  This nightmare seemed to roll on and on with no end in sight.

  “I was in Hali reviewing your actions when you paused at the Hali portal. Something happened that scared you. Closer examination showed you escaped death with Coz. What did he do?”


  “He missed putting a bullet in my head,” I said.

  “What else? I can’t help you if you keep breaking the rules, and you won’t be able to sweet talk your way out of punishment either.”

  I listened to Dad, but I was so mad I couldn’t think straight.

  “Coz’s eyes turned red, okay? I got a little scared because I thought he might be a demon. He caught me off guard, so I took time to rethink my situation. I was so freaking close to quitting this impossible gig.”

  Dad stepped closer, his eyes intense and serious.

  “Why didn’t you?” he asked.

  “Because I’m not a quitter. I told Arlen I’d do this job, and I’ll see it through to its ugly end even if I have to do time.”

  “So many watchers quit, Jessa. There’s no shame in it. There are millions of guardians and watchers. But do you know why there are far fewer archangels?”

  I shrugged.

  “It’s hard being an archangel,” he said. “It’s a title with great responsibility, a hundred times more than a watcher’s.”

  “What are you saying? I’m so far in over my head that I’m screwed no matter what?”

  “I’m saying if you keep up the way you are, you better strap yourself in for one helluva ride.”

  “If I have to go beyond the rules, I will. I don’t care anymore.”

  “Jessa—”

  “No. My promotion is shot to shit, but I’m moving forward anyway. I have a job to do and the rules are in the way. Screw it.”

  This felt strange. I never stood my ground when arguing with my father. I’m sure by now they have a cell waiting for me, but I’d at least serve time knowing I succeeded at the job, albeit expensively.

  “Jessa, please, understand that you’re not alone in your ARV,” Dad said. “Not only is this a test of your abilities to save a human under dangerous conditions, but it’s also to see how well you interact with other angels.”

  “What other angels?” I asked and crossed my arms.

  “Me for one. It’s a team effort. Good against evil. Perhaps you heard of that little struggle?”

  I didn’t care about the big picture stuff so much anymore. My anger and frustration seemed to rule my little world.

  “Why didn’t they tell me that from the start? For a while, I roamed like a lost dog.”