I wasn’t at all sure, but I threw out an idea. “What if one of us dive-bombed the guard, knocking him out? Before he can recover, we take control of his mind. Then we’d know for sure who’s inside.”
I’d expected her to slap the idea down as insane, which it was, but it was the only scheme I came up with that made a lick of sense.
“You should attack him,” she said. “You’re bigger in human form.”
I doubted that was true. She was taller, and I was stockier. We probably both weighed about the same. “You’re the better flyer. I’ll probably manage to miss him.”
She couldn’t argue with that logic, so she tried a different approach. “I’m the senior angel, and I’ve decided you should attack him.”
This was the first time that anybody, except for Milton and Honah, had tried to order me around. “This isn’t the Army. I’ll do it, but if I miss, you’re going to have to explain to Honah why you let a rookie flyer take such an important job.”
She froze for an instant but didn’t change her mind.
We returned to our bird forms and climbed several hundred feet high above the guard. I had never flown straight down before, and I picked up speed amazingly quickly. When I came within twenty-five feet the ground, I flared my wings to slow myself and changed into my human form.
Oops. I promptly lost all control of my descent. As I’d feared, I misjudged the trajectory I needed to take. At the last instant, I was forced to stretch my right foot out at an awkward angle, but I managed to sideswipe the guard’s head.
That knocked the guy for a loop, all right, but my other leg hit the ground alone and shattered. It took all my willpower to keep from screaming in agony. I changed to my pure spirit form for a second to get relief.
When I changed back again to a human, my leg was fine. That was apparently because hitting the guard hadn’t been given a cursed wound. I learned something new that I put away to consider later.
I can’t believe how clumsy you are, Sonja told me as she landed next to me. She wasn’t going to even whisper.
I may not have looked graceful, but I’d gotten the job done. The guard was splayed out on the ground, unconscious. I slipped into his mind and checked his memory. Sure enough, Caligula was inside the house. So were three other powerful demons and four sex slaves, including Ophelia.
The guard’s memory told me that the group occupied three bedrooms next to each other on the southwestern side of the house. Caligula was supposed to be in the middle bedroom with one of his lieutenants and a nymph.
This is it, I told Sonja. Then I transformed back into my human self.
She immediately flew off then returned. I sent a message. Honah wants us to stay with the guard and make sure he doesn’t wake up.
A few seconds later, Honah and nine other angels surrounded Sonja and me. He didn’t say anything for a moment, probably because he was checking my mind for sanity and details.
Then he told us, Gabriel and I will take the middle bedroom. He pointed to five of the others. You will take the far bedroom. The rest will enter the nearest bedroom. Draw arms.
He and I showed up inside a dark room lit only by his sword and mine. The only bed contained one small figure, but a large goblin sat dozing in a chair by the door. Honah pulled the covers off the bed and revealed a harpy in human form wearing a nightshirt. She screamed.
No Caligula.
The chief strode to the door and with a lightning fast sweep, separated the goblin’s head from his body while he was waking up. Honah raced out of the room and rushed down the hallway. I followed close on his heels.
When we got to the living room, I spotted someone standing at a window holding a wine glass and looking out over a garden. He looked like Caligula.
My whole body tingled with excitement. We had him at last.
Honah held out his hand like he was about to cast a spell, but the man by the window vanished. His glass dropped to the wooden floor and shattered.
The boss roared in fury, making the windows clatter.
I knew exactly how frustrated he was. My body shivered, and my mind fogged.
When my head cleared, I asked myself, How are we ever going to catch this guy? He’s as hard to grab as a ghost.
-o-o-o-
THE BOSS STOOD in place, no doubt thinking dark thoughts about what he’d like to do to our target if we ever caught him. As a lowly angel first class, I didn’t have the luxury of staying pissed for long. My work wasn’t done.
I pushed my own dark thoughts away and returned to the bedroom where we’d first teleported. The harpy remained in the bed, and one of the other guardians stood next to her. I merged into her mind to find out what I could. She had been sleeping with Caligula—after a couple of rounds of painful sex. The monster couldn’t have fun without hurting someone.
More important, I learned that he suffered from insomnia and typically got up several times during the night. She knew better than to bother him then. A few minutes before Honah and I’d arrived, Caligula had slipped out of bed. He’d left the room and hadn’t returned. As far as she knew, he hadn’t realized we had found him, just got lucky.
After I finished checking her mind, I moved to another bedroom. This one contained two sex slaves, both humans. Sonja and several other angels watched them.
“Do they know anything useful?” I asked her in a whisper.
She shook her head. “What went wrong with you and Honah?”
For privacy’s sake, I told her with a mental message.
She held the sides of her head. “We were so close!”
That summed up the situation, and I didn’t have anything useful to add. I’d never been so annoyed by my failure to catch a criminal, and in this case, a monster.
Sonja broke me out of my reverie. “At least I destroyed the nephew he’d made immortal. The punk was sitting by the door, guarding Caligula’s harem. According to the women, he loved to hurt them. I sent him to the great void.”
“Do they know about any other safe houses their owner uses?”
Her face pinched. “I said no, didn’t I?”
I put up my hands, palms forward. “Just making sure. We’ll have to find him again.”
She groaned.
“Yeah, it sucks. That’s detective work for you.”
I left her scowling and headed to the third bedroom. Two angels guarded Ophelia, including Jack. She was lying in bed with the covers pulled up to her chin.
I pulled him out into the hallway where she couldn’t hear. “I assume a demon was with her.”
He nodded. “A powerful ogre. Caligula definitely wanted to keep her safe.”
“I’m worried that he might try to grab her remotely. Honah can do that with ease, but I don’t know if the sorcerer could.”
“I was worried about that, too. I’ve put a ward on her so no one can reach her except members of the legion.”
He was a pleasure to work with. “Good job! Always thinking. Have you checked her mind?”
“Be my guest.” He smirked. “I can’t do everything around here, and I didn’t want to encroach on your territory.”
I walked back in and stood next to her. Her eyes narrowed, and her chin quivered.
“I mean you no harm, but I can’t say the same for the evil inside you.”
Her face went white. “I had no choice.”
She didn’t realize I understood her situation from sharing her mind at the hotel spa. “I know. At the moment, I’m most interested in where Caligula is likely to go. What do you know?”
Her answer was immediate. “Nothing. I’m just a piece of ass to him who happens to carry a monster he created with black magic.”
I switched into her mind to be sure she was telling me the whole truth. She was. Then I returned to my human form. “You’ll be staying with us until we find Caligula. The accommodations might not be as fancy as you’re used to, but you’ll be safe.”
“Don’t I
get any say in this?” she asked.
“No. Be glad you’re mortal or you’d have ended up destroyed, like your guard.”
Tears welled in her eyes but she didn’t speak.
At least she had survived, and being mortal, we wouldn’t hurt her, even if she had been a willing participant in creating another demon. But she hadn’t, was entirely innocent. I was curious as to how Honah would handle the demon spawn, but that was a problem he could take care of later.
-o-o-o-
THE CHIEF LET most of the sex slaves go, sending only Ophelia to the legion’s office. Then he held a war council in the living room where the windows looked out on a beautiful rose garden. Dawn was breaking, and I sent a text to Ellen telling her I’d be tied up for the day on my hot new investigation. Which was true, although I wasn’t in Colorado where she thought I was.
A dozen angels stood in a circle.
“What is our next step?” the chief asked. His drawn face hadn’t recovered its usual calmness, and those brown eyes continued to blaze.
Everyone stared at me. These immortals were brave as hell and excellent fighters, but they didn’t know squat about running an investigation.
My head felt like it was about to explode from the pressure of chasing such a powerful demon. I closed my eyes and tried to calm down so I could think clearly. “Okay, I think we find him again the way we just did,” I said. “He’s lost his three favorite henchmen and the woman carrying his little monster. My guess is he’ll worry that anyone he contacts will sell him out so they can take over. Carmelita told him about the price on his head. So, who can he trust?”
I looked around the circle, and nobody ventured a guess.
“I think only his family. His best bet is Lou, Carmelita’s oldest son. He has magical powers, and he’s worked with his uncle for fifteen years.”
“We’re going back to Carmelita’s house?” Sonja asked.
I shook my head. “Subject to Honah’s approval, you and I are going to visit the Giovanni sisters we haven’t met yet. They’re supposed to be trouble, too. We need someone else to watch Lou. Any volunteers?”
Most of the angels looked away. They hated spying in general, and Caligula might never approach his nephew. If that happened, the babysitter angel would be left out of the action.
I glanced at the chief, and he began to raise his hand to pick someone. But before he spoke, Inga said, “I’ll stay in Lou’s mind if that’ll help. Someone will have to take me up to the door so I can make the jump into his head without being noticed.”
Jack volunteered for that job.
“Then that’s settled,” I said. “I expect him to move quickly to regroup and plan another killing, if for no other reason than to show everyone that we can’t protect the people counting on us. And what better way for him to show the legion that he’s not scared of us?”
“What do the rest of us do?” one of the other guardian angels asked.
“Continue the work you were doing before you got called to Mill Valley,” I said.
I looked around, but nobody had any more questions.
Honah said, “Caligula will be more dangerous now that he wants revenge. I know the feeling well.”
-o-o-o-
SONJA AND I flew back to the parking lot where we’d left the car. She sat behind the wheel. I didn’t mind. I’d never liked to drive other people’s cars because I’d feel guilty if I got into an accident. “I think we should talk to the middle sister next. She’s the closest.”
Sonja didn’t object, so I gave her directions to Berkeley. It wasn’t far by miles, but we hit the Monday morning traffic, which was horrendous. It took over an hour to drive what we could’ve flown in ten minutes. I kept thinking that we should ditch the car, but I worried about needing it for some reason. That was human thinking.
We ended up in one of the best neighborhoods in the city, just south of the university. The address Antonio had given us for Aurora Giovanni was a large old mansion that barely fit on its lot. We parked a block away because that was the closest empty spot.
Sonja put on her FBI persona, and I shared her mind. This was a wealthy neighborhood with lots of European cars parked on the streets. Aurora’s front yard, only fifteen feet square, contained a marble fountain with nymphs playing in the water.
Sonja rang the doorbell, and a plump, smiling woman in her sixties answered. “Are you the Uber driver?”
My partner flashed her fake badge. “I’m afraid not, ma’am. Ingrid Lund, special agent with the FBI. I’d like to ask you a few questions about your brother.”
Aurora’s smile vanished and was replaced with a sneer. “I’ve already talked to the police, and I won’t say anymore, except that you’re persecuting him. Now, go!”
I switched into Aurora’s mind to see what she didn’t want to say. The woman was a successful real estate agent, but she was leaving all that behind in a hurry. She feared an indictment for fraud in selling a house.
That was bad enough, but another agent would make the commission off of selling her home. The thought almost killed her. But Caligula had turned the lights on in their world, and the mice who didn’t scurry for cover were sure to get stomped on.
She’d used her powers as a sorceress to con people for decades. Although she’d broken the law, nobody had complained loudly enough to get her thrown into a jail cell—until now. Her lawyer had told her to expect an arrest soon.
That was interesting but off-topic. I checked her mind for possible hiding places. Aurora had known her older brother was hiding in Mill Valley, in a rental house that she knew was vacant. But she didn’t know where he was anymore.
Sonja spoke in her most convincing voice. “Ms. Giovanni, you can help your brother immensely by telling us where he is or convincing him to give up. Lots of police are looking for him, and some might not be as well trained as the bureau’s agents. We will bend over backwards to capture him without injury.”
Sonja was talking to the proverbial brick wall. Aurora knew he was immortal, and a cop’s gun wouldn’t stop him. She clammed up and tried to close the door.
“Ma’am, just a few questions, and I’ll get out of your hair,” she said as the door swung toward her nose. “By the way, there is a half-million-dollar reward for helping—”
“Beatrice,” the old woman yelled, “help me.” Only after that did she hear what the agent had said. A half-million bucks? Shit, we could use that, along with what we already have stashed. We could live somewhere much nicer than Rio de Janeiro.
But if her brother got away from the cops, and he always seemed to come out on top, he’d kill her in the most painful way possible. Aurora locked the door.
Sonja knew I’d get the answers we needed, so she’d backed off and walked away.
Aurora looked through the peephole and watched my partner disappear.
Chapter 21
“WHAT A BITCH!” Aurora said as her daughter approached.
“What did she want?”
Aurora poured herself a fistful of expensive tequila that she’d have to leave behind. Such a damned shame, all because of her brother. “The FBI’s after your uncle. Listen, I hope we didn’t wait too long to leave. His crazy Avenger stunt ruined everything.”
Beatrice took her mom’s glass and gulped. “I never understood the point of that. If he wanted to be famous, he should’ve done the killings with his own face.”
“I don’t get it either,” Aurora said, taking her drink back. “We need to lay low for a few months. Rio should work out well.”
“By the way,” the daughter said. “Uncle just sent us an encrypted email. He wants fifty thousand in cash from you, today.”
Aurora snorted. It was incredibly tempting to take the reward and be done with him. But her spine tingled…fear won out over greed. It didn’t much matter to me because I already knew she couldn’t tell us where he was. She wanted that money, but she couldn’t earn it without the right information.<
br />
“Email him back. Tell him our local accounts have all been frozen, thanks to him. Tell him I’ll give him all the cash in the safe, say its fourteen grand. He doesn’t know how much we really have, we’d need most of that for ourselves.”
The daughter scurried off. I checked to find out what kind of encrypted email Caligula had set up. According to Aurora’s memory, it was a private service through a portal on the dark web called Blasphemy.com. Several members of the Giovanni family used it to safely communicate with him.
Beatrice came back a moment later. “Did what you said. He’s going to be pissed. We’d better get lost.”
Someone knocked on the door. Aurora check the peephole again. A black guy holding a clipboard stood on the porch.
“Finally.” She opened the door. “You should’ve been here fifteen minutes ago.”
He smiled apologetically. “Sorry, ma’am, the traffic is terrible. Do you want me to get your bags?”
She pointed at four large pieces of luggage sitting against one wall. “Also, we need to make a quick stop on the way to the airport.”
The Uber driver drove Aurora and her daughter to Oakland. Sonja had been smart enough to recognize that the sorceress was on the run. My partner followed the Uber van, but not close enough behind to where I could mentally communicate with her. I sent a message to Honah for Sonja, I think I should stay with Aurora long enough to see where she drops the money. Caligula will have to come to pick it up, or send someone. Either way, we should be able to track him.
Agreed, the chief said. I’ll inform Sonja.
In a rundown part of Oakland, Aurora told the driver to stop for a minute in front of what looked like an abandoned bar.
“This is a very sketchy area, ma’am,” the driver said. “Are you sure you want to stop?”
“Yeah. I’ll just be a minute.”
This early in the day, the parking lot was empty, except for one old Toyota Corolla missing its back bumper. Aurora strode toward the bar’s entrance carrying a small bag. When she reached the door covered with graffiti, she coded in five numbers on a keypad. The lock clicked.
Infernal Justice (Angels at the Edge Book 2) Page 20