Rusty Nails (The Dade Gibson Case Files)

by Jason Brannon

  “We’ve got to get our hands on Edgemore’s stash,” Dade said, suddenly determined. “Maybe we can bargain with him if we have that.”

  “Maybe you won’t have to,” a voice from the doorway said.

  All eyes turned to the leather-clad angel.

  “Abbadon?” Pyriel said, confused.

  “I don’t think Samael or Louise Hartwell has as much leverage as you give them credit for,” Abbadon replied, stepping aside to show the two spirits that were behind him.

  “Dad? Jane?” Dade whispered. “How?”

  The angel of the bottomless pit held up the keys that unlocked the gate. “I went and got them,” he said.

  For a moment, Dade didn’t know what to say. It was such a shock to see his father and sister standing there, quivering images from the past like snippets of a home movie.

  “Dad?” he said, tears flowing freely down his face. “I just shot something that looked a lot like you.”

  “Samael may have looked like me on the outside,” Jack explained. “But on the inside we we’re nothing alike.”

  Dade nodded and looked at his sister. “And you didn’t kill yourself?” he asked.

  “No,” Jane said, running an ethereal hand alongside her brother’s rugged face. “I would have never done anything like that, no matter how severe things became. Samael was the one who slipped the rope around my neck.”

  Even now, Dade could still see the mark of Samael burned into Jane’s flesh.

  “I’m sorry, Dad,” Dade wept. “I’ve spent all these years being angry at you. I was convinced that you drove Jane to kill herself.”

  “I’ve made amends with your sister,” Jack explained. “And I understand why you felt the way you did, why you left after your sister died. But there were things going on that I couldn’t share with either of you. Decisions I had made that were coming back to haunt me. I suppose I took my grief out on you and Jane because there was no one else left. I’m terribly sorry.”

  “I don’t understand,” Dade whispered.

  “There’s something that I need to tell you just in case I don’t get another chance.”

  Dade wasn’t sure that he could take any more earth-shaking revelations, but he was tired of living under false pretenses. “Go ahead,” he said, preparing for the worst.

  “Your mother was a special woman,” Jack said. “She gave me two very special children. But there were things about your mother that you never knew. Things about her that I didn’t find out about until the war started and we all became involved.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like the fact that she was a member of the highest order of seraphim. Or that you and Jane inherited some of her angelic talents.”

  “Mom?” Dade said, puzzled.

  “Yes,” Jack said. “I fell in love with an angel…and surprisingly enough, she fell in love with me. Samael saw potential in you and your sister. Even when he was in the plotting stages of this war, he knew there was something about the two of you that he could use. Your mother and I were prepared to fight to keep him away from you. But he’s very powerful. Neither of us could figure out how to battle death and keep him at bay forever.”

  “In the end, we negotiated a trade off. Samael agreed to take your mother when the time was right and leave the two of you alone. It was a decision I wasn’t happy with, but your mother wouldn’t have it any other way. Still, there was a price. You both wear the death angel’s mark.”

  The symbol on Jane’s neck stood out like a cattle brand, leaving Dade to wonder where the death angel had laid his touch on him. Then he felt something under his hairline burn and itch and knew the secret place.

  “Samael went back on his deal after taking mom,” Jane added. “He came for me, hoping I could use my gift of healing to help him win the war. I refused and he killed me for it.”

  “And where is mom now?” Dade asked.

  “A battalion of war seraphim staged a rescue attempt. She’s safe.”

  “Samael’s about to learn what it is to lose a war,” Dade said through gritted teeth. “I think it’s time to take away a little more of his leverage.”

  “What do you mean?” Abbadon asked.

  “I mean it’s time for some psychological warfare. I don’t appreciate anybody playing me for a fool while wearing the skin of my father or murdering my sister. It’s time I showed Samael just who he’s dealing with here. Give me the name of his best assassin.”

  “Midael,” Pyriel said, not giving Abbadon the chance to reply. “The stiletto angel.”

  “Perfect,” Dade said. “Where do I find him?”

  “A place called The Black Cat,” Abbadon said. “I’ve been watching things down here for a while, and he seems to like that joint.”

  “I think Leon knows the place pretty well,” Dade said.

  The big black man smiled. The light gleamed off of one gold tooth. “Oh, yeah, I think I’m familiar with it. I just might be able to get you in without a cover charge too.”

  “You da man,” Dade said.

  Leon smiled. “I know,” he said.

  Chapter 39

  The Black Cat was a den of flesh and flashing neon. It was a place that prided itself on dancers who oiled themselves up under the warm glow of the spotlights and earned their keep from the businessmen of Crowley’s Point. It was a tough place to get into on a crowded night. But doors opened for Leon that didn’t open for anyone else. The girls recognized him on sight and waved despite being in the middle of dance routines. Leon, always the ham, waved back.

  With some argument, Dade had persuaded Pyriel, Abbadon, his father and sister to stay with Liz at the office while he and Leon searched for Midael. Liz hadn’t liked the idea of him going out to look for an angel who made his reputation by pinning his victims to the wall like insects in a bug collection. But she understood the graveness of the situation. She said she could use the time to get to know Jack and Jane Gibson better. It seemed an odd time for making acquaintances, but Dade suspected that this might be the only time Liz would ever see his family.

  Not wanting to seem too out of place and draw unwanted attention to themselves, Dade had suggested that they change clothes. He should have known better. While he had dressed in conservative black, Leon had opted for tight red leather pants and a red feather boa. In other settings, Leon could have been a construction worker or a bodybuilder. But here, with his fingernails painted in a shade to match the boa and a diamond stud in each ear, Leon looked like he belonged to the club. And everyone noticed him. So much for incognito.

  Dade considered drawing his guns and charging in. But he knew that that was about the quickest way to get himself killed and decided against it. That was when an idea occurred to him.

  “Just how well do you know these ladies?” he asked, rifling through his pockets for what money he had left.

  “As well as you need me to,” Leon replied. “They work for me.”

  “Good. Then I need three of your finest girls for about five minutes.”

  Dade told Leon of his plan and then waited until the bouncer had informed the girls of what they were to do. On his cue, Leon sent a dancer named Raven into the VIP section where Midael and an auburn-haired female were having drinks.

  Even with the lights dimmed and the hazy cloud of cigarette smoke, Dade could see the smile spread across Midael’s face like a cancer. He also saw Midael’s companion reach into her handbag and pull something out. It gleamed brilliantly in the spotlights, but in the dimly lit club, he couldn’t tell what it was. He would have to be careful of her.

  “You want a private show?” Raven whispered. “There’s two other girls in the back besides me who have their eyes on you.”

  This time the light hit the object in the woman’s hand at the right angle, and Dade saw the razor-tip on one end. Just from that alone, he knew this was going to turn out badly. But he knew that there was no other choice except to proceed. Fortunately, Midael was going along with the plan. At Raven’s suggesti
on, he was already out of his chair and heading toward a private room in the back of the club.

  Taking their cue, two blonde dancers stepped out from the unlit corners of the room. Midael willingly began to shed his gunslinger-styled overcoat, his boots, his denim shirt. His pants, however, he left buttoned.

  While Dade normally would have thought that a large black man with a red feather boa wouldn’t be all that hard to spot, he never saw Leon as he slipped out a back door, circling around the building to come back in through the entrance. He wouldn’t have even noticed that the woman named Lilith was gone, but he kept his eyes on her until he saw two enormous hands emerge from the darkness, one covering her mouth and the other wrapping itself around her throat. For his part Midael never knew anything that was going on around him. Raven and her two girls were making doubly sure that the angel was well occupied.

  “Those aren’t real wings, are they?” one of the girls asked him playfully, rubbing her hands across his muscled chest. Midael closed his eyes and laughed. That was when Dade made his move.

  Fortunately, the girls knew exactly what he was needing them to do and giggled to cover up the sound of his footfalls on the hard cement floor. For his part, Midael looked like he was in Heaven. One moment, he was kissing Raven hard on the lips. The next his mouth was filled with the cold, acrid taste of blue steel. Having let down his guard, Midael’s eyes immediately snapped open, and where there had been the glazed over look of unadulterated pleasure there was only rage. But he couldn’t say a word.

  “I wouldn’t move if I were you,” Dade suggested. “I’m sure you would make a terrible mess.”

  Midael didn’t have to be told twice. The barrel of the .45 was more than enough persuasion.

  Chapter 40

  Lilith tried hard to have a look at the man who was dragging her by the hair. But it was dark and so was he which presented some problems.

  Her abductor had taken the stiletto from her immediately so she guessed that he had some experience in dangerous situations. His hands also seemed strong enough to rip the New York City phone book in half, and Lilith saw no reason to make him angry just yet.

  Although her head remained mostly down as she was being pulled toward the door, she could see enough to tell that people had stopped watching the dancers and were focusing on her. Which gave her an idea.

  “Just because I wouldn’t give you my phone number doesn’t mean you have to throw me out,” she screamed. “Let me go!”

  Leon gave the handful of hair a mean jerk. “What did I tell you?” he asked, not really wanting an answer. “If you open your mouth again, you’re going to have a big bald spot where all that pretty hair is.”

  “Would some of you men please help!” Lilith shrieked, digging her nails into Leon’s meaty forearm. “This man is going to take me outside and rape me.”

  Enraged that things weren’t going as he had planned, Leon jerked Lilith off of her feet. He could feel some of the strands of hair breaking under the girl’s weight. Her screaming made him feel just a little bit better about the whole thing. And then he saw a couple of the club’s more liquored up patrons stagger to their feet in her defense. He sighed knowing that this was going to get messy.

  “This ain’t got nothing to do with you boys,” he said, his voice a thunderous rumble in the still silence of the club. “You should just all sit down while you’ve still got your teeth.”

  But chivalry and Johnny Walker were motivating the men, not fear. They were simply too drunk to be afraid.

  “If you can get this baboon to put me down, I’ll do anything you want,” Lilith shouted. “And I do mean anything.”

  Leon shrugged his massive shoulders in disgust as the two advanced on him, but he didn’t put Lilith down. The more sober of the two, threw the first punch, hitting Leon squarely in the jaw. But it was like running his fist into a brick wall, and Leon looked at him calmly before grabbing him by the throat and throwing him backward onto an occupied table. The two men who were sitting there jumped out of the way, but they were none too happy about having their evening ruined. Leon tried to fend off both men with his one free hand, but Lilith wouldn’t stop thrashing which made things a lot harder. Frustrated but knowing he didn’t have any other choice, he threw the woman to the floor and started breaking noses.

  Chapter 41

  Dade heard the commotion in the front of the club, and knew that things weren’t going to go as he had planned. They rarely did. But for the moment he still had the upper hand. The barrel of the .45 was still firmly implanted in Midael’s open mouth.

  Although he couldn’t tell for certain what was going on in the next room, Dade was fairly sure that Leon and Lilith weren‘t getting along. Women were shrieking, tables were splintering under the weight of large, heavyset businessmen, and glass was shattering. From all indications, there was an all-out brawl going on, and Leon was undoubtedly at the center of it. Which meant that Lilith probably wasn’t with him anymore. Unwilling to take any unnecessary risks, Dade drew his other pistol.

  ******

  In all the excitement Leon had lost track of Lilith. It was only when she drew a stiletto across his abdomen that he realized where she was. Although he knew that he should be going after her, the cut was deep, and he sank to the floor with a thud, his legs suddenly feeling like worn-out pipe cleaners. His blood was spilling out onto the floor like a drink that had been turned over, and he knew that he needed immediate medical attention. Lilith waved at him once and smiled as she headed toward the bar. Leon groaned, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to help his friend.

  No one challenged Lilith as she poured herself a stiff shot of gin. But one drink soon turned into two and then three as Lilith intermittently closed her eyes and ran a shard of broken glass along the lines in her palm. Soon the blood was trickling onto the bar and onto her abdomen as she tried to make herself as enticing as possible for her several familiars.

  Thinking the cuts in her hands to be insufficient, Lilith then ran the glass lightly along each forearm, going all the way up to the bicep, drawing thin lines of blood. The shadows began to respond almost immediately, swirling and shifting in the scarcely lit club like slicks of oil.

  Although he was weak from the fight and the loss of blood, Leon knew that his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him. He touched his wound gingerly with his fingertips to make sure that he was awake, and it felt like he had poured kerosene into the cut. But he didn’t cry out. He wasn’t going to underestimate this woman twice and presume that she wouldn’t hear his pain. Instead, he bit his lip and waited until the pain had returned to a dull ache before opening his eyes again.

  The shadows were still there, dancing with Lilith, touching her with midnight hands. The black forms were vaguely human, and it was impossible not to see them as such. Leon watched in amazement as Lilith whispered secret thoughts to them. The writhing shadows responded like a nest of frenzied snakes, slithering along her skin, chilling her with their touch. Lilith opened her mouth in ecstasy and waited for the kiss of death to touch her warm lips like a sensual wine. Tendrils of darkness wafted near her nostrils like black smoke, and she breathed it in willingly. She whispered her plans to the wind, to the sky, to any dark swirl of shadow that would listen. Then, having said all she needed to, Lilith reluctantly released the night and sent it off in search of the man responsible for so much chaos. The only mistake she made in all of this was turning her back on Leon and presuming him dead.

  Chapter 42

  Dade felt the presence of darkness before he ever actually saw the shadows shifting and melding into each other. He could feel it gliding between crates, around the dancers’ lockers, and across the floor, heading in his direction. He tried to convince himself that it was nothing to be afraid of, held on tighter to his gun for the calming effect it had on his nerves. And still the shadows kept rolling toward him like a dark tide.

  A midnight flood, the shadows thundered silently toward Dade, quiet yet ominous. He tried not to flin
ch as the darkness reached his boot and began to slither up his leg like a constrictor. He could feel the burn of thousands of black, rotten teeth sinking into the flesh of his leg, and it was all he could do to remain on his feet. From somewhere close by, he could hear Lilith laughing silently to herself.

  Dade’s hand shook like that of an old man afflicted with a palsy as the darkness moved past his calf and headed up his thigh toward his chest where a heart beat quickly, fiercely despite the creeping death. Still, he didn’t take the gun out of Midael’s mouth.

  ******

  Leon howled in agony as the darkness tore at his gut, inflaming the wound and invading him like a parasite would an unwilling host. Irritated that the man who had nearly torn out most of her hair was still alive and crawling weakly toward her, Lilith pulled a stiletto out of her boot. She had mistakenly left this man to die, but it was a mistake she wouldn’t make again.

  Grabbing at one of the tables, Leon tried to haul himself off of the floor. The table turned over on top of him with a dull thud, and an ashtray shattered into a million translucent blue pieces. Yet, it was the smoldering cigarette that had been resting in the ashtray which did the real trick. Many sections of the floor were covered with puddles of hard liquor and the weakly glowing cigarette was the catalyst that set at least a dozen fires burning, dispelling the shadows in the room and creating a barrier between Leon and Lilith.

  Leon knew he would only have one chance.

  Although he felt nauseous and weak and scarcely capable of standing, Leon mustered every last bit of strength he had and launched himself at the sorceress, driving her into one of the fires. The shadows that were clinging desperately to her like needy children shrieked and fled to the other end of the club. Lilith shrieked right along with them as the flames licked up her body like insatiable lovers.