“Are you in the right place, ma’am?” The owner, Antonio DiMaio, greeted me formally and with a strained smile. I glanced over his shoulder to find Liam. He lifted a hand when our eyes met and I gestured toward him.
“Yes, I’m meeting someone,” I answered, pointing toward Liam.
Antonio shifted to look behind him and his brown eyes took in Liam. The owner stepped to the side. “Welcome.”
It was my first time in the café. Standard wannabe Italian-café style, frankly. Still seemed like an odd choice for Liam. A genuine smile formed though as I began the long walk through the café. Until I passed a large occupied table (were those elves?) and spotted the secluded booth Liam had chosen. A confused frown replaced my smile. Liam was not alone. Catherine, Mia, Robin, Jackson, and Jacob were seated around him. And Olivia. What the—
I plastered a fake smile on my face. “This is a surprise.”
“Please sit, Councilwoman,” Jacob requested.
I complied, sliding in next to Liam. Tension rolled off of him, mitigating any joy I might have felt in sitting so close. “Councilwoman? I see we’re back with formalities,” I joked.
“It has come to my attention that you allegedly committed criminal solicitation,” Jacob responded.
My gaze involuntarily swung to Olivia, whose face remained impassive, assessing. “Is that so?”
“Don’t disrespect us by denying it, Barbara.” The corners of Liam’s mouth turned down and genuine sadness shown in his eyes.
Guilt flared and I tamped it down. “This is an ambush,” I accused him.
“That’s one way to look at it,” he responded.
“How else should I look at it?”
“An intervention,” Mia answered for him, her soothing voice rolling over me.
“Stop trying to calm me,” I commanded, feeling my eyes burn. Mia nodded but did not deny the implied accusation. The feeling of calm receded. “An intervention?” The word choice hit me. “Are you helping me choose the right path?” I barked a nasty laugh and aimed a mocking grin at Robin, who flushed. She and I had had a similar conversation recently. Something about how I could choose the path of the righteous. Or some such nonsense.
“You always have choices,” Jackson added, with a loaded look at Olivia.
I frowned, perplexed by the missed meaning in that glance.
“Why did you hire Olivia to kill Mark?” Liam asked, a tone of desperation in his voice that further baffled me.
I debated whether or not to admit I committed the… what did Jacob call it? Criminal solicitation.
As if hearing my internal debate, Jacob drily commented, “As an officer of the court, I am ceding our interest in this possible case to the underworld to handle as it sees fit.”
“So you can tell the truth,” Catherine explained.
I stared around the booth at these people, these beings, trying to understand why any of them cared about this. We weren’t friends. Were they just looking for a way to trip me up? My gaze ended on Liam and the hurt there unexpectedly stung.
Why would he be surprised? The memory of our final argument flashed through my mind. After 100 years together, I had grown weary of humanity’s stupidity and wanted to do things my way. Liam tried to argue that I was going through a rough patch and things would be fine. But, no. I yelled at him that being an angel was too limiting and I’d rather put my self-interest first. His eyes almost comically widened, his mouth dropped open. A blinding light bathed me, warmth that became sharp like needles across my entire body. The last I heard was Liam crying out my name while I screamed. I awoke in darkness like molasses. Then, I blanked again, waking a final time as a demon. It was glorious. Not answering to the angel bureaucracy. Not worrying if my choices hurt anybody else. Even the pain of losing Liam faded over time to a dull ache. I’d thought I’d gotten over him entirely, until he appeared at my door.
In any event, my hiring Olivia simply reinforced the decision I made all that time ago to follow my own path. I lifted a single shoulder in a blasé shrug. “Sure, why not? I hired Olivia. Well, I suppose to be accurate, I thought I hired Olivia. To kill Mark Mammon,” I clearly enunciated.
“I thought we agreed to a plan,” Liam protested.
I shrugged again. “I decided to go in another direction.”
“Why?” His disappointed eyes searched mine, as if he thought he’d find some answer in their black fathomless depths. Hardly.
“Expediency.” My clipped tone brooked no argument and nobody tried. I stood. “Thank you for the invitation to discuss this issue,” I stated with a nod at the group. “I obviously did not hire Olivia as I thought I had. And now that I’m on your radar,” I directed toward Jacob, “I will not attempt to hire anyone else. I appreciate your concern for my handling of the situation, I offer my sincerest apologies for any inconvenience, and I will handle my issues on my own.”
With nary a glance at the table – and especially not Liam – I spun in my sensible shoes and strode from the café. I kept my head held high and avoided eye contact.
The café door closed behind me and I walked to my SUV, the cool spring air nipping at the exposed skin on my face. I considered what had happened. A crushing sense of defeat enveloped me.
Either my precognition was still broken, or I massively misunderstood its meaning. Olivia had some importance I just wasn’t getting. And I probably blew any chance I had with Liam. I slammed the door to my vehicle shut. The engine roared to life.
What chance with Liam? That ship sailed hundreds of years ago.
My resolve hardened. I may have blown it with Liam. And I might not have any idea who or what Olivia was. But I could still beat Mark in the primary election and secure my seat and position of power in the paranormal underworld. I had gotten sidetracked by Liam’s reemergence in my life and the strange underpinnings of my evolving relationships with the Paranormal Talent Agency folks. That was done. I’d do this my way.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Bright set lights blinded me and then lowered. I smiled at the brunette sitting across from me. Her own smile’s wattage dimmed slightly. Yeah, my teeth. What’s a demon to do? You made sacrifices to your human form.
“Are you ready?” Elizabeth Addison, host of the morning show, Entertainment Daily, and sometimes anchor for the news, recovered her smile.
“Always.”
She flicked a glance toward her producer and then nodded at me. She faced the camera closest to her. “Good evening, Las Vegas. Welcome to the news at 6.” She worked her way through the promos for that evening’s show, before sobering.
“Last week, a fatal bus crash rocked the upcoming mayoral election, leaving only two candidates for the primaries, Barbara Knollman, a current city councilwoman, and Mark Mammon, the dark horse challenger. Here to answer questions in advance of what has turned into the most-watched regional election on the West Coast, is current councilwoman, Barbara Knollman.” She turned to face me. “Welcome, Councilwoman.”
“Thank you, as always, for having me. Even under such unusual circumstances.”
“Unusual? Interesting choice of words.”
“In my decades in politics, I’m not sure I’ve ever heard of, let alone been involved in, an election where several candidates were killed. I think that qualifies as unusual.”
Elizabeth laughed a fake, newscaster laugh, then grew serious. “Let’s talk about those deaths. I understand that you were interviewed by the police following the crash.”
“That is correct. Both myself and Mr. Mammon were interviewed. As the remaining candidates—”
“Who were supposed to be on the bus,” Elizabeth interrupted and added as an aside for viewers.
“Yes, who were supposed to be on the bus,” I continued smoothly.
“Why weren’t you on the bus?” Elizabeth interrupted again with her question.
My eyebrows rose but I smiled. “I’ve given you that information, remember, Elizabeth? The ni
ght of the accident.”
She lifted her hands in a mea culpa, and continued. “You told me that night that you had a change in your schedule. What was that change again?” She tilted her head and didn’t quite hide her smirk.
“As I told Metro, that is confidential campaign information that I am not at liberty to disclose.”
“And Metro bought that?”
“Excuse me?” I barely maintained my conversational tone.
“You’re the candidate,” she said pointedly. “What reason could there be that you couldn’t choose to disclose?”
“Not everything is intended for public consumption, as much as you wish that wasn’t the case,” I chided her with a fake grin. Time to get back on track. “It was expected that we would be interviewed. Metro did a stellar job, as always.”
Elizabeth cocked an eyebrow. “Have they arrested anybody, though?”
“That’s complicated, Elizabeth. We don’t want them to rush into a wrongful arrest.”
“Do they have any suspects? Did they clear the other candidates?” She pushed with her questions.
I thinned my lips, as if in thought. This was the opening I was waiting for. “I’ve been cleared.”
“What about Mark Mammon?”
“To my knowledge, he has not been cleared.”
“Are you saying Mark Mammon is responsible for the other candidates’ murders?” Elizabeth asked salaciously.
With wide-eyed innocence, I held up my hands. “Of course not. I would never be so incendiary as to accuse someone of something so heinous—”
“But?”
I shrugged. “But he and I were the only ones not on the bus. And the citizens of the Valley have known me for two decades.” I looked away from Elizabeth’s hazel eyes and directly into the camera. “Who is Mark Mammon?”
“And there you have it folks,” Elizabeth said to the viewers. “Not an accusation at all, a concern. Do you share the Councilwoman’s concerns? Let us know on social media.” The brunette newscaster provided the handles for the station’s social media accounts. When the producer signaled the live feed ended, she turned to me with a wide smile. “That was awesome. I’ll bet our numbers will skyrocket.”
“Glad I could help. Thank you for squeezing me in tonight.”
And now for the fallout. In three, two, one…
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“Good evening, Liam. Come on in.” I stepped to the side to allow him entry. His blue eyes met my black ones and with a slight shake of his head, he did as I invited.
We sat on the couch in silence for several long moments. Liam stared at me, probably uncertain as to what he wanted to say. I put him out of his misery.
“Liam, what can I do for you?” I smiled to take the edge off of the question.
“I’m worried.”
“For me?”
“Of course, for you!”
“I’ve taken care of myself for literally hundreds of years,” I reminded my ex-paramour. “I can manage for the three days until the election.”
“Do you not understand you don’t poke the beast? He already killed the other candidates!”
“I’m a demon, too. He doesn’t scare me.”
“He should.”
“What do you know that I don’t?”
“Nothing, I’m just worried for you.” Liam clasped my hands in his, setting off tingles throughout my body in response. He rubbed the tops of my hands with his thumbs.
“Mmm, that feels good,” slipped out before I could censor myself.
Liam’s eyes dilated in response. We savored the moment before reality crashed back in. “This is what we could have had.”
I withdrew my hands. “I know.” Had I made the right choice? I’d never second guessed myself as much as I had just in the past few days. I hated it.
“That day when you,” he swallowed audibly, “declared you didn’t want to be an angel anymore…” Pain shone in his eyes. “I loved you. I thought we’d be together forever.”
Stab me in the heart, why don’t you? I bit my lower lip. “I loved you too.” I shrugged. “Sometimes that’s not enough. I made the choice that was right for me.” My voice sounded much more confident than I actually felt. When I’d woken up as a demon and realized I’d lost Liam with my choice to reject being an angel… well, let’s just say the pain hurt worse than even falling to Hell. But the decision was made, and over the years focusing on myself became even easier. And fun, if I’m honest.
“I’ll always care for you.”
“You will?”
Hurt glinted in his eyes. “Of course, how could you doubt that?”
“I’m sorry. This has been tough.” I was horrified when my voice cracked on the last word. Liam reached a hand toward me and when I didn’t pull away, he stroked my cheek with his palm. His skin was rough; I wondered what he’d been doing all these years.
“Please be more careful,” he begged me.
“I’m not sure it’s in my nature,” I said with a laugh, breaking the tension.
“I suppose not.” Liam stood and smiled down at me. “I should leave.” I stood next to him. “Think about what you really want. Okay?”
“Okay,” I promised, but I might as well have had my fingers crossed. I’d chosen this path a long time ago; and I was so close to cementing my control of Las Vegas for both the normal and the paranormal. I wasn’t giving that up. Though his being here sure was confounding me. We walked to the front door and I opened it for him to leave. “Goodbye, Liam.”
“Until later, Barbara,” he responded with a grin.
“Until later,” I amended, matching his grin.
I closed the door behind him, stood there listening to his engine start and him backing his car down my driveway. I waited a few more moments, awash with uncertainty. About to turn away, I paused when I heard tires on the driveway. Had Liam come back?
“I must not be the visitor you were expecting,” Mia said, her laughter like tinkling bells.
Guess my poker face was slipping. “What can I do for you, Mia?”
“May I come in?”
“Of course.” I repeated my earlier actions and in moments, Mia and I sat next to each other on my couch.
“I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m here.”
“The thought had crossed my mind.”
“I saw your interview earlier this evening.”
“What did you think?”
“Seemed risky to deliberately antagonize Mark.”
Had she and Liam compared notes? Sheesh. “It’s only three more days. I wanted him to know that I’m not cowering, waiting for him to strike.” My eyes burned and Mia’s expression confirmed I was glowing red. I took a calming breath.
“Why didn’t you stick to the plan?”
“Are we going to repeat the conversation from the café? Because that didn’t really go well.”
Mia appeared thoughtful for a moment. “Barbara, we’ve had a checkered history.”
I chuckled. “That’s one way of putting it.”
She smiled. “But that doesn’t have to determine our future.”
“What are you saying?”
“I haven’t been around quite as long as you have. And you’ve been mostly benevolent, if not exactly honest and open.”
“I’m a demon,” I reminded her, flabbergasted by this continuing insistence I be something I wasn’t. Just because a long time ago, I had different priorities. Couldn’t people keep track of that? I put myself first.
“You could still work with us and prove Mark guilty. It still ultimately benefits you,” she said with a sly look.
“Now that’s a better way to entice me,” I confirmed flippantly.
Mia smiled but disappointment shone in her eyes. “Olivia—” She abruptly stopped.
“Olivia what?”
Mia shook her head. “She can help with handling Mark.”
“Is that all?”
Mia glanced down at her fidgeting fingers.
What was she nervous about not telling me? “Does this have something to do with her telling me she punishes and rewards people for their behavior?”
Mia half-smiled. “Something like that. It’s her story to tell, not mine.”
These cryptic comments and half-conversations would drive me batty. I nodded rather than demand she tell me. It wouldn’t do any good.
“We are in the best position to address Mark Mammon,” Mia said. “Please reconsider joining us. For real.”
“I’ll think about it.” And I would. Between my wonky premonitions and my misinterpretations of them, this had become more complicated than maybe it needed to be. I wondered what would come next.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“Good grief, my place is starting to feel as busy as The Strip,” I quipped at the man standing in my doorway the next morning. “What can I do for you, Mark?”
“May I come in?”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
If it was possible, his black eyes darkened. “I saw your interview.”
“And?”
“Seems risky to throw me under the bus like that.”
“Pun intended?”
He flashed a wicked grin. “Why would you do that?”
“All’s fair in love and war.”
“We’re at war?”
“We’re not in love.”
“Not yet.”
I belly laughed. “Are you trying to seduce me?”
His smile turned enigmatic. “This is a conversation better had away from prying eyes and ears.”
I leaned out past him and looked in the direction of my neighbors’ homes. “I doubt anybody cares one way or the other.” I sighed. “Fine, come on in.”
Seated once again on my couch, entertaining a visitor, I waited for him to state his purpose. We stared at each other, and a strong sense of déjà vu rocked me. What was it with all these folks and their meaningful glances? “What do you want?”
Paranormal Talent Agency Episodes 4-6 Page 13