Black-Winged Tuesday

by Alicia Ryan

  “Gerald-“

  “No. Jez, I won’t do it. It’s too risky.”

  “And murder isn’t risky?”

  “Not the way I’ve got it planned. I’ve even figured out how to do it without you. I’m just going to leave him a note to meet you at the motel. As stupid as he is, it ought to work. Then I’ll slit his throat, and that will be that.”

  Jez put her hands over her ears. “Don’t do this, Gerald. I’m begging you.”

  “Are you going to go to the police, Jez? Do you want us to lose our house? Do you want me to go to prison and leave Emily without a father?”

  Jez shook her bowed head. “No,” she whispered.

  “Good. Then back me up, and if anybody asks say I was home by six, and was here until you left for work.”

  She nodded in silence.

  ***

  Back at the car, Price and Tuesday climbed in and sat staring at each other for a long moment.

  “So…” Tuesday began.

  “Is this really so bad?” Price asked. “I mean our assignment was to help Jez. She’s not planning to be a part of the murder. I don’t think not ratting on her husband qualifies as a major sin. Maybe we should just make sure he gets caught. If he goes to prison, she can get on with her life – North Dakota might be good for her.”

  Tuesday sat thinking. “Can we do what Judas was doing?” he asked after a moment. “Can we influence our ward’s thoughts without actually materializing and having a conversation with her?”

  Price nodded. “Usually takes some practice. I’m not real good at it, but you’re welcome to give it a shot. It sort of involves materializing inside your ward – just enough so that your thoughts feel to the ward that they come from somewhere within.”

  Tuesday wrinkled his nose. “I don’t like the idea of haunting people, but I think it’s worth a shot to try to get her not to lie to the police. She needs to leave here free and clear. And, God knows, she’ll be better off without Gerald.”

  “Have at it,” Price said. “It’ll probably be easier when she’s falling asleep. I’ll take the car back to the hotel. I could use some shut-eye.”

  “Okay.” Tuesday patted the steering wheel. “Be careful with my baby.”

  ***

  Tuesday settled invisibly and weightlessly down alongside Jezebel on her double bed, moving over so that his form was partly joined with hers. Unlike his joining with Ariel, there was nothing seductive about it. It was just a little weird and tingly – like half his body had been asleep and was just starting to wake up.

  “You’re no murderer. You’re no liar. Emily can’t have a murderer for a father, even if he gets away with it. You can take care of yourself. You don’t need Gerald. You’re not a murderer. You’re not a liar.”

  Tuesday continued his litany to Jezebel all night, or rather all morning, long. At nine, she got up to rouse Emily and make her breakfast. It was a small kitchen, papered in what was now a dingy light yellow. The table was old enough to have become fashionably retro, he thought, with its formica top and the grooved metal band around the edge. She and Emily sat in wooden chairs that were worn almost down to bare wood in places where hands and bottoms had rubbed the stain thin. But Jez looked newly peaceful and rested, and Tuesday thought he might have gotten through.

  He stayed with her the rest of the day, watching her play with her daughter in their small living room and even smaller back yard. Emily had her mother’s red hair and bottle-green eyes, and Tuesday hoped she would come out of this mess okay.

  At four o’clock, they were back in the kitchen, and Jezebel picked up the receiver of their wall-mounted phone. She looked at it, started to dial, then put it back down.

  Out of the corner of his eye, Tuesday saw a spot on the wall paper grow darker, and a shadowy figure began to form. He backed up quickly, slipping through the thin ply-board wall that separated the kitchen from the master bedroom. Praying Judas hadn’t moved, he grabbed up his bow and the feather-arrow.

  He fired one shot, sending the arrow through the thin wall, causing a deep gasp on the other side. Slipping back into the kitchen, he quickly yanked out another of his feathers and ran toward Judas, skewering him with it before Judas had time to pluck the other arrow from his wing.

  The result was the same as when he killed Red Bull, only there was no blood this time, and Judas made no move to grab for the wound in his chest. He looked up at Tuesday with surprise and…possibly…relief. Then he was gone, and Tuesday was standing, holding a black feather and a silver arrow, in the kitchen of a shocked Jezebel. Emily, to her credit, seemed to take it more in stride.

  “Are you an angel?” the girl asked.

  In his desperation, he’d forgotten to keep himself invisible. They could see him, see his wings.

  “I am,” he said, talking only to Emily. “I’m sorry to startle you. There was a Bad angel here a moment ago. He wanted to hurt your mom. I was sent to stop him.” He held up the feathers. “That’s what these were for. That Bad angel won’t be bothering you anymore.”

  He turned to Jezebel. “I know you’ll find this harder to believe.” He stretched his wings out as far as they would reach in the small kitchen. “I think you know what it’s about, though.”

  She reached out a hand and slid it across the black feathers nearest her arm. “And how do we know you’re not the Bad angel?”

  Tuesday pulled his wing forward and lifted up a few black feathers to expose the white underneath. “I’m here for the good of you and your daughter. For the sake of my charges, I sometimes have to do bad things.”

  She nodded. “You’re here because of Gerald?”

  “Yes,” he said, “though it was you I was sent to protect, not your husband. He’s made his plan, and my only concern is to see that you aren’t harmed by it.”

  “What should I do?”

  Tuesday thought for a moment. “Whatever you can. Call the police, turn him in, take your daughter some place where you can do right by her and give her a better life.”

  “What if I don’t know where that is?”

  “You’re a good mother, Jez. You’ll figure it out. I know you will. You’ve always put Emily first. That’s the right thing. Just keep doing what you’ve been doing. Keep loving your daughter and putting her first. That won’t lead you astray. You know a few extra dollars aren’t more important to her than not being involved what her father has in mind.”

  She smiled for the first time that day. “I don’t know if you’re real or if I’m dreaming, but I guess you’re right either way. I don’t know how I got so mixed up. Hearing it out loud, well…maybe you just know the right thing when you hear it.” She frowned. “Still…Gerald…”

  “If he goes through with it, he’s not the man you and Emily need. You know that, Jez.”

  She spun around to pick up the phone, but then turned back to him. “Thank you, whoever you are.”

  Tuesday nodded. “You’re welcome.”

  He leaned down to Emily. “And you – always remember to say your prayers.”

  Wide green eyes looked back at him, their tiny owner nodding emphatically.

  Tuesday took that as his cue to leave.

  Chapter Seventeen

  He woke Price up to tell him the good news, and Price, despite being groggy and somewhat inebriated, seemed genuinely pleased. Pleased and proud.

  “So while I was out saving the day, you were raiding the mini bar?”

  Price laughed and lay back down. “I can’t imagine why you find that surprising.”

  Tuesday flopped down on his own bed and flicked on the tv. The local news told him a murder had been committed in a hotel on the outskirts of town, but that the police had already taken a suspect into custody. Allegedly, the police received a tip from the suspect’s wife, but didn’t arrive in time to thwart the murder. No names had yet been released.

  “Oh my god,” Tuesday yelled, sitting straight up. “Did you hear that? She was too late!”

  “What?”
>
  “Gerald must have decided to do it earlier in the day. He went through with murdering his partner.” He looked over at Price, who still had his eyes closed. “Jez must be devastated.”

  Price sat up slowly. “Yeah, well, we did right by our charge. The fact that her murdering husband decided to have a little afternoon delight instead of waiting to clock out really doesn’t concern us. You heard the report. Jez is totally in the clear.”

  Tuesday shook his head. “You’re hopeless. Go back to sleep if you want. I’m going to go check on her.”

  ***

  At Jez’s house, no one was home. All the lights were off, but he heard Emily’s voice coming from the open window of the house next door. She was asking if they could have pizza for dinner.

  “Does your mother let you have pizza?” returned an older woman’s voice.

  “No.” Emily sounded disappointed.

  “Well, then I suppose once won’t hurt,” the woman answered kindly. “What kind would you like?”

  Glad to see Emily was in good hands, Tuesday figured Jez must be at the police station.

  “Try the top of the MGM Grand.”

  The voice was unmistakable, and it ricocheted around in his head like a spiked pinball. Lucifer was sending him a message.

  He flew as fast as his wings would allow and landed on the roof of the MGM hotel. Unfortunately, the MGM had three towers. On this one, there was no one in sight.

  He moved to Tower II and spotted them there - Jezebel sitting on the edge of the roof with Lucifer semi-translucent, beside her. His head was bent, and he was whispering something to her that Tuesday couldn’t hear.

  As his heart began to race, he spared a moment to wonder why Lucifer’s presence didn’t cast the black shadow that Judas’ had. Jezebel seemed on her own, not enveloped. But he knew Lucifer’s power. He also knew he couldn’t compete.

  “Jez, don’t!” he called out, knowing he at least had to try.

  She turned to look at him, smiling.

  “You were right, you know. Everything you said. I am a good mother, and I’ve decided this is the best thing I can do for Emily. I’m going to trade my life for hers. Having her is the only thing I’ve ever done right. Everything else…” she waved a hand to encompass the brightly lit panorama of the city. “It’s just been a waste. I’ve wasted my own life. I’m supporting my daughter as a thief and a prostitute.” She shook her head. “I let a man I once loved commit a murder, and I let another man die. But this…” She looked down. “This I’m going to do right.”

  “Jez, you can’t. Emily needs you.”

  “She doesn’t. She’ll be better off without me. I can see that now, and I won’t stand in the way of the future she can have.”

  She wasn’t making any sense. “You’re her mother, Jez. You can’t do this!”

  “I have to do what’s best for her. You said so yourself. You’re an angel, and you’ve given me the courage I need.”

  Lucifer whispered something else to her, and Jezebel smiled and pushed herself off the roof.

  “No!” Tuesday rushed forward, but was far too late. When he leaned over the edge, he couldn’t even see her body, though he could make out a crowd starting to gather.

  He looked open-mouthed at Lucifer, who smiled serenely back at him.

  Unable to bear the sight, he turned his eyes back to the ground. Disgust and nausea rose in him, and he closed his eyes against the world.

  “Why?” The word choked him.

  “For you.”

  He turned, aghast and horrified to face what he now knew was the darkest angel of them all. “How could you? Was all this just to teach me some sort of lesson? Show me how powerful you are?”

  Lucifer shook his head. “I sent Judas so you could see a dark angel in action. Whether you become as he was is up to you. He had his reasons; you may find yours. You proved yourself well, by the way. Judas is not easily caught off guard.” He frowned slightly. “You did cost me a fine soldier, but you’re becoming quite the killer yourself.”

  “I’m not-”

  Lucifer cut off his objection. “But this…” he gestured to the red and blue flashing street below “…this was an olive branch.”

  Lucifer put an arm around him, but Tuesday squirmed out of his grip, moving several paces back from the roof’s edge. He didn’t want to see any more. No more death, no more devil.

  “What kind of olive branch do you think this could possibly be? Jez didn’t deserve to die.” He damped down the lump he could feel rising in his throat.

  “Do you know what will happen now?” Lucifer asked.

  Tuesday nodded, reluctant to face the truth. “Jezebel becomes one of your dark angels, and her little girl goes into foster care knowing her father is a murderer and her mother a stripper who didn’t love her enough to stay alive. That’s what happens. Just what you wanted all along.”

  “Wrong. All wrong, in fact,” Lucifer retorted. “Jezebel is filled with love, remorse, and guilt. She will choose the Good and bask in the love of the Father and the ability to share that with others. She is very loving by nature, just not so great at the practical side of it. She wouldn’t have been able to provide a decent life for Emily.” He looked askance at Tuesday. “Not even in North Dakota.

  “But she has a sister in Indiana who is a schoolteacher, married to a lawyer, who can’t have kids of her own. The sister will adopt Emily, who will grow up in a strong, loving family. How she deals with her father is anybody’s guess, but she’ll never know the truth about her mother. They’ll tell her she died in a car crash because she was so upset about Gerald she wasn’t paying attention to the road. That’s probably as close to a happy ending as anyone could have wished – even you. Jezebel could see it; she wouldn’t have jumped otherwise. Now her future and Emily’s are both brighter. They both have a chance to start over.”

  “So you can see the future now?”

  Lucifer nodded. “Sometimes - when it’s fairly immediate or the path is clear.” He smiled a cold smile. “I have many talents.”

  Tuesday was right back to his earlier question. “Why? If that’s true, why undo what you sent Judas for?”

  Lucifer laughed. “Do you really think I give a damn about one suicidal stripper and her murdering husband? Judas was a test for you. I’m a little sorry you killed him, but as you’re not mine yet, I’m here to keep you from turning away from me entirely. You are on the fence, Tuesday, but there’s room for that in my domain. That’s what I’m trying to show you. If I’d told you all this in advance, would you have advised Jez differently? She took most of her motivation from you anyway. You told her to put Emily first.”

  “I would never have told Jez to kill herself.”

  “Not even if I told you the alternative was a hard scrabble life for them both, always on the edge of poverty, with Emily growing up to follow in her mother’s miserable footsteps? You should think it over. You need to belong somewhere.”

  “I don’t want to belong to you.”

  “Maybe not now, but you will. Heaven won’t have you, if you remember. I’m offering you a place you can be yourself.”

  Tuesday shook his head. “You’re offering me a place I can grow to be more like you.”

  Lucifer made a noise that sounded almost like a growl. “Rest assured you could never be like me. You have no idea the things I’ve gone through to bring me to where I am. I’ve endured punishments even I wouldn’t inflict. You should think about that, too, before you decide to sign up to be holier-than-thou.”

  “But you’ll try to persuade me to be evil.”

  Lucifer laughed. “I am the devil.”

  “And you can be very persuasive.”

  Lucifer’s smile gentled. “But I’m in no particular hurry. Eternity tends to lengthen one’s timeline. And I don’t need to torture you into something evil for you to be valuable to me.”

  Tuesday shuddered. “You could do that?”

  Lucifer simply stared at him.

&nb
sp; “I think I’ve had enough of this conversation if you don’t mind.” Tuesday said hesitantly.

  No sooner were the words out of his mouth than Lucifer disappeared from the rooftop.

  ***

  Tuesday knew his entrance woke Price because a groan wafted down from the loft. He sat up as Tuesday climbed the stairs.

  “So?” he asked.

  “So Jezebel is dead.”

  Price shook his head and looked at the red digits of the clock on the bedside table. “You’ve only been gone like an hour. How can she be dead?”

  “Lucifer.”

  Price sighed. “You know, I never had to deal with arch angels before I met you. Did he actually kill her himself?”

  “She jumped off the roof of the MGM Grand. He was there with her.”

  “Did he say why? Not that he would bother to explain himself.”

  “He did, though. He said Jezebel and Emily are both going to be fine – that Jezebel will choose to be a Good angel, and Emily will grow up with her aunt in a good family.”

  “I can only assume he’s called the Father of Lies for a reason. You just believed all that?”

  This caused Tuesday some pause. “I...I guess so. He seems to have been honest with me so far. He said this whole thing with Jezebel had been his plan from the beginning – to get me to see that I was truly on the fence and that ‘there was room for that in his domain’ he said. That things are never just black or white.”

  “And you said what?”

  “I sort of declined, and then he disappeared.”

  “I’m not sure declining works when he’s your assignment,” Price pointed out.

  “Don’t remind me.”

  “I wonder if this has ever happened before,” Price said.

  Tuesday thought for a moment. “Somehow I don’t think so. Ariel was pretty adamant about how long she’d been alone.”