A Real Angel

by Cassie Miles

  "But what about Nick?"

  "You know the right thing to do." Rafe's blue eyes shone with compelling light. "I'm on the side of the angels."

  Danny's hand clenched the St. Christopher medal he wore on a golden chain.

  "Give me the list," Rafe said.

  Moving slowly, as if in a trance, Danny reached into the hip pocket of his jeans and took out a piece of paper. His hand passed between the iron bars as he held out the list.

  Rafe took it from him and caught hold of Danny's hand. "I feel the courage in you, Danny. Open these gates."

  Danny tried to pull back his hand, but Rafe held tight.

  "I can't let you in here."

  "You know I'm right," Rafe said. "You know that Frank's death should have been reported to the police."

  "Why? He wasn't murdered. He was just real sick."

  "Like Eddy Benson," Rafe reminded him.

  Danny's complexion paled. "I'm scared. I just want to bury my brother."

  "It's all right, Danny." Rafe let go of his hand. "I'll help. Let me in."

  Quickly, Danny unlocked the gates and ushered them inside. "Now what?"

  "We need to get up to the house and take samples from the refrigerated unit inside Hugh's lab."

  "The lab is locked up tight. I can't get in there," Danny said. "Nick can, though. He has keys to everything. Maybe we should find him."

  "No," Rafe said. "We'll find a way."

  As dawn became daylight, they followed the winding road through the gardens in a small golf cart that Danny was driving, the put-put of the motor sounded too loud to Jenna. She was afraid they would attract attention and be stopped before they even got to the house.

  She had never before sensed the evil that Rafe said was inside this place. But she felt it now. Her skin crawled, and she shuddered at the thought of what they might find. What had Hugh done with Frank's body? Surely he wouldn't hide the corpse on this property where the police could find it.

  "Duck down," Danny said. "We're going past a place where there are a couple of security men. They won't pay any attention to me, but if they see you, we're in trouble."

  How could they miss seeing them? Jenna curled up on the floorboards of the golf cart, trying to make herself very small. She still had her gun in her purse, but she didn't want to attempt a shoot-out.

  "Hey, guys," she heard Nick call out.

  Would he betray them? Had he brought them in here so he could turn them over to Hugh?

  But the golf cart kept rolling.

  Miraculously, they reached the house without being discovered, and Danny led them to a side door below the lab. When they were inside, he whispered, "Go down this hallway and take a right. There's a staircase that leads to the lab. But it's locked. I'll go find Nick and get the key."

  "Stay with us," Rafe said.

  "What about my brother? I got to watch out for him, even if he thinks he's the one who's protecting everybody."

  "Be silent."

  Rafe was already down the hall, approaching the stairs. He moved so stealthily that he didn't even seem to disturb the flow of air. Focused on his mission, Rafe was more formidable than Jenna had ever seen him, more impressive than when she came into the room and saw him in his full angelic splendor.

  Though he wasn't an angel, he had centuries of experience in espionage. He was in total control, and his confidence shielded her as surely as when he had raised one of his wings above her head to protect her from the rainfall.

  When he climbed the stairway and reached the door to the lab, he knelt down and studied it. "The lock isn't difficult, and this room isn't wired to the central alarm system. Is that right, Danny?"

  "We unhooked it because Hugh kept accidentally setting it off. But the refrigerated units are connected. There's no way to bypass."

  "What kind of lock?"

  "It's a computerized system. Sometimes Hugh changes the code, like when we have an electrical blackout."

  Rafe produced a set of lock picks, and he fiddled with the lock for only a few seconds. He twisted the doorknob and it opened.

  Inside, with the door closed behind them, Jenna felt safe from detection, yet terrified at the same time. This break-in was like hiding inside a cage with a tiger that might lash out at any second and tear them limb from limb.

  Rafe went immediately to the separate room with the walk-in refrigerator. The lock on that unit looked like it was as unbreakable as the security system on a bank vault.

  "Computerized," Rafe said. He turned to the monitor and keyboard on the shelf opposite the refrigerator. "I hate these things."

  "Can you get it open?"

  "I can try. I'll try to override the security, but there's a good chance I'll set off alarms." He glanced at Danny. "If I can get inside, I'll need something to transport these vials."

  Danny pointed to a black doctor's bag in the corner. "How about that?"

  "Perfect."

  His fingers flew across the keyboard, and the screen flashed with a dizzying series of numerical codes. Jenna had no idea what he was doing, until he went to the keypad beside the door and punched in five numbers.

  She held her breath, waiting for the shrill of alarms. But there was no sound.

  Rafe opened the stainless steel door, releasing a blast of arctic air and a dim glow. The light had switched on automatically when the door opened.

  Peeking around the edge of the door, she saw that the unit was larger than an average walk-in closet. Wire mesh shelving lined the wall. Though Rafe had already entered, she and Danny held back. A premonition warned her that she didn't want to see what was inside the unit. But she had to know. Jenna knew that danger wouldn't go away just because she hid from it.

  Resolutely, she pushed the door wider so she could see within. Stretched out on the cold floor was the motionless body of a man. The skin on his hands was tinged blue.

  "What the hell?" Danny said. "Who the hell is that?"

  She moved closer. There was a bloody wound in the center of his chest. His eyes stared, unseeing, in death.

  "Taylor," she whispered. "It's Taylor Wannamaker."

  Her hand rose to cover her mouth. Her throat constricted, choking back a scream. She was aware of Rafe, moving efficiently among the marked vials on the shelves.

  "The antidote," he said. "We'd better take this, even though it didn't work on Frank."

  How could he still concentrate on his mission? In the face of murder, Rafe was unperturbed.

  Shaken to the marrow, Jenna trembled. Cold, clammy fingers tore at her heart. She felt faint. Her vision blurred. Lurching into Danny, she tried to escape the cold steel walls that felt like they were shrinking to entomb her with the dead man.

  "Careful now," Danny said. "You're going to knock stuff over."

  "Get me out of here."

  He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "It's okay, Jenna. You're okay."

  Danny helped her into the outer room, and she was grateful for his support. Her legs seemed paralyzed, stiff. He helped her to a tall stool, and she balanced precariously.

  "You just sit there," Danny said. "I'll get you some water."

  She blinked slowly. Water. Every time she'd come here, she'd had water. Behind her eyelids, she saw swirling colors, a whirlpool that threatened to pull her down, drowning her in unspoken panic.

  Rafe appeared in the doorway of the refrigerator. In his hand, he carried the black doctor's bag. "Got it!"

  He closed the door. With a few strokes on the computer keyboard, he relocked the system. "Let's get out of here."

  He paused in the lab, looking through the windows toward the barn. Then he clasped Jenna's hand, dragging her forward. "Come on, Jenna. We have to escape before we're found out. Danny, you need to drive us to the gate. Hurry."

  Drawing on a strength she didn't know she had, Jenna staggered after him. She felt numb. Her legs trembled with each jolting step.

  Somehow, they made it back to the golf cart.

  With Danny driving, the
y again passed the guards without notice or incident.

  At the gate, Rafe spoke to Danny. "Will you come with us? You'll be safer."

  The young man drew himself tall. "I can't leave my brothers. I have to find Frank, and Nick needs me."

  Gently, Rafe said, "Nick may be working with Hugh."

  "Then I'll get him to change his mind," Danny said. "The only way I'll leave here is if Nick comes with me. You understand? I can't lose him, too."

  "He may already be lost."

  "No," Danny said.

  "I pray that you're right." Rafe stepped through the iron bars of the gate. "This is very important, Danny. You must tell no one, not even Nick, that we were here. Things may start happening very quickly. The police might be here today. Tell no one."

  The two men clasped hands in an iron grip.

  Rafe said, "You've done the right thing."

  Back in the car, Jenna collapsed in the passenger seat beside him.

  "Are you okay?" he asked as he started the powerful engine.

  "No, I'm not." She was chilled to the bone and sweating at the same time. Their break-in had a surreal quality, as if it were a nightmare, and she wondered if she was suffering from shock. "I'm not accustomed to finding dead bodies before breakfast. What happens next?"

  "First, I'm giving a sample of the virus to the police and the coroner's office. Then, I'm going to round up those pigs."

  He drove efficiently down the hillside, not at all bothered or upset.

  "How can you be so calm?"

  "I can't afford to be nervous. We were blessed today with incredible good luck, and I've got to take advantage of that. It won't be long before Hugh realizes what's happening."

  "And then what?"

  "No one else is going to die, Jenna. I promise you that."

  Chapter Thirteen

  When Rafe went into action, he made a fairly impressive showing. In record time, he'd dealt with the coroner and the police, arranging with Detective Metz to obtain a search warrant for the Montclair estates and to shut down production on Alien Age until further notice.

  Most amazing, Jenna thought, was that no one questioned his authority. Officials—who would normally require dozens of forms to be filed and references to be checked—responded to Rafe as if he were a commanding general and they were his foot soldiers.

  When they were back in the car, driving toward the studio, she asked, "Are you hypnotizing these people?"

  "Of course not."

  "How come everybody jumps to do what you tell them? I'm glad they do, but I don't get it. I mean, they could just as easily dismiss you as a troublemaking lunatic."

  "A lunatic? You know me better than that."

  "Do I really?" There was an awful lot about him that she would never know or understand. "Come on, Rafe. How do you get everyone to cooperate?"

  "Before I started on this case, Mike hinted that it might be more complex than I expected."

  "Who's Mike?"

  "Saint Michael, the archangel."

  "Well, sure."

  "I figured I might need authorization at a high level. So, I kept the cover I had set up for a previous case in the Pacific Rim."

  "Your cover?" Now Rafe was sounding like James Bond, secret agent. "What kind of cover story are we talking about?"

  He flipped open a wallet she'd never seen before and displayed a badge and credentials.

  "Special Agent, C.I.A.? With direct authorization from the Joint Chiefs? Oh, really." She wrinkled her nose. "I can't believe nobody has called you on this."

  "It's backed up. I wouldn't use a half-baked cover story. This holds true, all the way to Quantico."

  "How did you—"

  "Don't question an angel, Jenna."

  "You're amazing," she said. "Arrogant as hell, but amazing."

  "I know."

  "Why didn't you use this stuff before? You could have had Detective Metz do a search of Hugh's labs."

  "I had no evidence," Rafe said.

  "But you could have pulled the special agent story to get the investigation moving in the right direction."

  "Is it absolutely necessary for me to explain every detail of my psyche to you?"

  "I'd say…yes."

  "All right, it was my arrogance," he admitted. "When I still had my angelic powers, I preferred to work alone. I could get more done—at least, I thought I could. Also, Jenna, the avenging business is different from police work. As an angel, when I'm certain of guilt, I don't need a trial and jury to exact justice."

  "And are you sure now?" she wondered. "Hugh murdered Eddy, and Nick Vincenzo is in charge of the cover-up. Right?"

  "Hugh is guilty of many sins, Jenna. But I don't know if murder is among his transgressions."

  "Who else could it be? Whoever killed Taylor had to be inside the estate. And they had to have access to the computerized refrigerator locking system."

  "Not necessarily," he said. "Whoever hid the body was on the estate. But Taylor wasn't killed in the refrigerator. There was no blood except for his wound."

  "So, he was murdered somewhere else. Then, some person hid the body."

  "Correct."

  At the gates of the R.I.P. movie lot, Rafe drove through with only a wave to the guards. Like everyone else, they were delighted to extend special privileges to him. Driving slowly, he navigated through the busy pedestrian traffic.

  "Thanks for coming back here," she said. "I wanted to be sure Mom understood what was going on."

  "And we also need your truck," he said, "to pick up the pigs."

  A policeman was posted at the door to the soundstage. He checked Rafe's credentials and spoke into a cell phone before allowing them to enter.

  Jenna hurried across the empty building to the room where the animals were kept. "Mom? Are you in here?"

  Kate peeked around the edge of the door. In her arms, she held one of the spider monkeys. "Hello, dear."

  "I don't want you to be alarmed, Mom, but there's something dangerous going on, and I think Hugh might be involved. Whatever you do, don't go anywhere with him. Do you understand?"

  Kate's eyebrows arched. "Don't patronize me, Jenna. I'm not a doddering old hen. I've figured out a few things for myself."

  Taken aback by her mother's rediscovered assertiveness, Jenna asked, "Such as?"

  "For one thing, I'm not surprised that Hugh is mixed up in something illegal. The years haven't been good to him. He used to have integrity and a hunger for knowledge." She scratched the monkey between his tiny shoulder blades. "Somewhere along the way, Hugh began to believe that he knew it all, more than anyone. Nobody could teach him anything."

  "I thought you liked Hugh?"

  "We have a bond from knowing each other for such a very long time. I'm concerned about him."

  "So am I," Jenna said.

  "For another thing," Kate said, "I know that your boyfriend, Rafe, is some kind of policeman."

  "How did you figure that out?"

  "Through Hugh. Yesterday he told me Rafe was faking it as a stuntman and he was really a cop. When he said that, I got to thinking. Unless Hugh was up to no good, why would he be worried about the police?"

  For the second time that morning, Jenna found herself pleasantly amazed by the behavior of another. First, Rafe turned out to be as clever as a secret agent. Now, her mother—who had been so depressed that she could barely stand to leave the ranch—was confronting life with her former sharpness and wit.

  "You're doing so much better, Mom."

  "I needed to get back to work." She chucked the monkey under the chin and returned him to his cage.

  "After your father died, I thought I'd never be happy again. And I suppose I never will, in the same way."

  Her words echoed hollowly in Jenna's heart. Never again be happy. Though it seemed preposterous for Jenna to compare her one night with Rafe to her mother's twenty-six years with her father, Jenna knew she'd feel a similar desolation when Rafe left her and became an angel once more.

  "
I couldn't hide from life anymore," Kate said. "Do you remember when you were little and I'd take you to Pacific Ocean Park?"

  Jenna nodded.

  "You loved the merry-go-round. I never got on with you because it made me dizzy. So, I'd stand outside the railing and watch as you and your father and brothers went round and round. I always felt left out."

  "I remember."

  "I was afraid to take a chance on getting sick. Afraid. Do you understand what I'm saying, Jenna? My fear kept me from participating. Well, this job has shown me that it's time for me to buy a ticket and get on the ride, even if I'm alone on my painted pony."

  "You'll never be alone, Mom. I'm here."

  Kate opened her arms, and Jenna stepped into her warm hug. "You don't have to take care of me, sweetie. I think Rafe might be the man you've been waiting for. Buy the ticket, Jenna. Go with him on the ride—wherever it takes you."

  But she couldn't ride on that carousel. Regret tightened her throat, and she coughed. Though Jenna was ready to follow Rafe anywhere, she couldn't go with him. He lived in a place she could only imagine. Someday, she would explain to her mother why she couldn't be a part of Rafe's life. But not right now.

  Now there was too much to do. Though Rafe was nowhere in sight, she could intuitively feel his eagerness for action. She pulled away from her mother. "Are you going to be all right?"

  "Heavens, yes! I have two policemen protecting me." She shrugged. "It's too bad that production had to be closed down, but we weren't doing anything, anyway. Alex didn't show up this morning."

  "What?"

  "You heard me. After all that racing around yesterday, our esteemed director called in sick. Dorothy was so mad that she almost smashed her clipboard."

  "He said he was sick?"

  "The flu." Kate frowned at her daughter. "You feel a bit hot to me. Are you sure you don't have a touch of flu yourself?"

  "I'm fine. Be careful, Mom."

  Jenna hurried through the soundstage where she found Rafe talking with a policeman. "I'm ready," she said.

  "We'll take your truck."

  She tossed him the keys. "Guess what Mom told me. Alex didn't come in today. He called in sick. You don't suppose he's been infected, do you?"

  "I hope not." He turned the key in the ignition, frowned at the chug-chug noise of her aging truck and spread a street map of Los Angeles across the steering wheel. "Is there any way we can reach him? I kept a couple of vials of the antidote."