Irina, his costar and lover at Fortune Films, was gone as well. They’d made several pictures, plenty of money, and what he thought was beautiful music together. Still, when he’d opted to come back to the present to resume his life, she’d stayed behind to continue her film career. He couldn’t blame her. Money and fame, after all. But Irina had died less than a decade later, of a severe infection. Life was more precarious in those days, before antibiotics. He missed her sometimes, but not like he missed Veronica.
Women still mattered to him up to a point. Jerry had created a Tinder account and managed the occasional brief fling. It helped. Not much, but anything was better than nothing.
He pushed the unwanted thoughts away. He needed to be sharp if he was going to manage a teenage girl. It was time for adventures in babysitting.
Adesina was in her bedroom, doing whatever semi-grounded teenage girls do. Not that Jerry had any idea what exactly that was.
He took advantage of the alone time by going through Aaron’s cell phone. He checked the contacts section, but there was nothing there of any apparent interest. The recent e-mails hadn’t revealed much either: lots of discussions about biblical verses and the end of days. Jerry had expected a fair amount of joker hate, but there was almost none to be found.
Stymied, Jerry paged through the photographs. There were pictures of San Antonio, groups of people who looked like family or church friends, nothing out of the ordinary. He flipped to the next picture and stopped cold. It was the same group of four young people he’d seen at the Alamo earlier. The photo’s caption read Keyz & Company. It hadn’t occurred to Jerry that Keyz was a person when Aaron mentioned it earlier. He quickly paged through the rest of the pictures, but found nothing.
He heard a noise behind him and tucked the phone away.
“Mom, can I go visit Ghost for a bit?” Adesina asked.
Jerry tried to get into the parental mind-set. “No.”
“It will only be for a few minutes. We have stuff to talk about for tomorrow.” Her voice was both plaintive and practiced.
“You can talk about it tomorrow.” He heard a deep sigh and Adesina’s footsteps retreated into the bedroom.
“Round one to the old man,” Jerry said softly. He turned on the TV and tuned it to TCM.
Less than an hour later Adesina walked up behind the couch, but said nothing.
“What’s up?” Jerry asked.
“What are you watching?”
“An old movie.”
“Why would anyone watch an old movie?”
He was about forty minutes into Mighty Joe Young. Jerry could give her an hour-long lecture about stop-motion animation, but doubted that was something Michelle would do. “We had old movie night once a week when I was on American Hero,” he lied. “Sit down for a minute and watch this with me.”
Adesina plopped onto the couch with a practiced sigh.
Max O’Hara was introducing Jill and Joe Young at the Golden Safari.
“You ever heard the song ‘Beautiful Dreamer’?” Jerry nodded toward the TV.
“No.”
“Then this will be something new for you.”
Jill Young played the piano as the platform slowly ascended, surrounded by nothing but darkness. As the song reached a crescendo, lights flooded the area below the platform, illuminating the giant gorilla.
“That looks so fakey, Mom.”
“It won an Oscar for special effects.” Jerry wondered if she even knew what an Oscar was.
“I did what you asked, can I go see Ghost now?”
“No.”
“You’re so lame, Mom.” Adesina stalked back to the bedroom.
Jerry was thinking this parenting thing wasn’t as hard as people said. He didn’t want to think about his co-workers wrapping up the Nesbitt case tonight, or that he was flailing about on an important investigation. Better to concentrate on Terry Moore.
Jerry heard a knock at the door. “I’ll get it. You stay put.”
He opened up and saw the kilted, wheeled boy whose name he couldn’t remember. “Yes?”
“Can I come in and talk to Adesina?”
Jerry shook his head. “Probably not a good idea. You can see her tomorrow.”
The boy gave Jerry a sad look. “Is it okay if I try something? I’m just curious about the physics.” He made a fist and cocked it.
“Don’t.” Jerry saw what was coming, braced his feet, and grabbed solidly on to the door frame. He took the punch in the midsection, but managed to not move.
“I didn’t see you add any fat.”
Jerry forced a smile. “It wasn’t much of a punch.” In fact it had been a pretty good one. He hurt like hell. “Now go to bed.” Jerry closed the door. He doubled over, and after staggering to the bathroom, spent a minute or two on the toilet seat massaging his abdomen. Then he splashed some cold water on his face. Checking the mirror, he was pleased that his Michelle face hadn’t slipped. Jerry took a few deep breaths, exited the bathroom, and stuck his head into the bedroom to check on Adesina.
“Oh, fuck,” he said, but there was no one else in the room to hear it.
It was late, but the streets were teeming with people—some drunk, some on the way to getting drunk, but all generally happy. Jerry borrowed the face of a harmless-looking guy outside the hotel and was pushing his tired legs as fast as he could to where he hoped Adesina would be.
In the end, it was Sean who’d given up the information. Jerry had gone to visit the kid as Tess. The kid had liked Tess, been attracted to her, whatever. Jerry hadn’t tried any faux female wiles on Sean, though. In fact, he’d mostly told the truth, that Tess was working for a private agency hired to protect the members of the Mob. And that Adesina could be in big trouble wandering around outside. After a few minutes, Sean cracked. Jerry promised he wouldn’t tell Adesina who had informed about where she was. Jerry was going to keep that promise; he liked Sean.
Jerry checked the GPS on his phone. He was getting close to the club and there was a faint, but soulful, melody rising and falling. As the music got louder Jerry got more nervous, afraid of what he might find. After the scene at the Alamo this afternoon, he couldn’t rule out anything.
He spotted her outside the door to the club. Adesina was swaying side to side and bobbing her head up and down in time to the music. There was a small group of people standing near her, but they didn’t seem to be paying her much attention.
Jerry was relieved to see her alive and safe. Hopefully she’d come back to the hotel without a fuss. He walked slowly over to her.
“Excuse me, Adesina. Can I have a word with you?”
She stopped moving and gave him a long, slow look. “Who are you?”
Before Jerry could answer, a large man grabbed him by the shoulders and swiveled Jerry around. He was well over six feet tall and built like an ex–football player; there were probably plenty of those in Texas. He wore a white tank top and had tattoos covering both arms.
“Is he bothering you?” he asked Adesina.
She smiled. “This is my friend Max. He works here. He said I couldn’t go in, but I can stay outside and listen to the music. It’s Buddy Robins.”
“If you give her one iota of trouble,” Max said, bringing his face close to Jerry’s, “I’ll toss you in the river and call the cops.”
Jerry raised his hands. “I’m not looking for trouble.” He was impressed by Max’s use of the word “iota”—maybe he’d underestimated the big guy.
“What do you want?” Adesina asked.
“I’m a private investigator. I’m working for your mom. She wants to know who’s behind these incidents. You know, the stink bomb, the snakes.”
Adesina nodded. “So?”
“Well, she also wants me to keep an eye on you. She’s your mom. She worries.”
“I can take care of myself. Besides, Max will help me if anyone gets any ideas. He’s awesome.” Her antennae twitched. “And why should I trust you? How do I know you’re who you say you are
?”
Jerry had anticipated this might be an issue. She was a smart kid, and not totally naive. “Can you kind of wrap those wings around me enough that people can’t see my face?”
She curled her wings around them. They felt strong and durable. Adesina might actually be able to take care of herself, but that wasn’t the issue. He put on his Tess face. “Remember me from this morning?” Once she got a long look Jerry morphed his features back. “You can open back up.”
Adesina unfolded her wings. “Okay. I believe you, mostly. You can stay if you want.”
“There’s not more than a dozen people in the world who know I can do that,” Jerry said. “So I’ve put my cards on the table and now I need your help.”
“I’m not a detective.”
“No. I’m not asking you to help me with that. But as long as I’m here with you I can’t be doing the rest of my job. I could miss out on a clue that would help me solve this.” Jerry looked her in the eyes. “Please go home and let me do my job.”
Adesina sighed. “All I want is to listen to the music.”
Jerry looked over at the door to the club. A group of people pushed their way outside, laughing. It was Keyz and friends, and one other person. Jerry recognized the man’s face from earlier today, but couldn’t place it. He’d seen so many faces today. Keyz and his buddies weren’t talking to the guy, but Jerry’s intuition said they were together.
“Can you fly?” he asked Adesina.
“Of course.”
“Then please fly back to the hotel right now. It’s important.” Jerry tried hard not to sound like a grown-up making demands of a teenager.
“You saw something, didn’t you?”
He had a feeling not much got past her. “Please, Adesina.”
She made an unhappy face and walked to the door. “Bye, Max. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome,” Max said. He and Jerry watched Adesina flap away into the night. “She’s a good kid.”
“Yes, she is.” Jerry saw Keyz and buddies disappearing down the River Walk. The fifth man was no longer with them. “Later, Max.”
He closed the distance easily enough. Keyz and his friends weren’t in a hurry. Jerry was within fifteen feet of them when they exited the River Walk, heading in the general direction of the hotel. Jerry wondered what his best plan of action was. If they had something going on tonight that was designed to hurt the kids, he’d have to find a way to stop them. Four to one wasn’t a scenario that worked in his favor. Direct conflict would be his last option.
They crossed in the middle of a block and headed into a parking lot. The back of the lot was dark; whether the lack of illumination was an accident or by design didn’t really matter. After a couple of minutes, he put on his Aaron face and started walking toward the parking lot.
“Fortune favors the bold,” he said, trying to convince himself this wasn’t a stupid idea.
They were moving back toward the street when Jerry got within speaking distance. “Hold on, Keyz. I’ve got some new information for you.”
Keyz didn’t look impressed to see Aaron. None of them did. He hooked his thumbs under his belt. “Well, if it isn’t our friend who missed the meet-up earlier. We’ve got nothing to say to you.”
“I wasn’t going to stick around after what happened. You saw it. The police were everywhere after that.” He stepped in closer. “Whatever you’ve got on for tonight can wait. Like I said, I’ve got new information.”
“We just got our assignment from someone more connected than you. So, out of the way, Bible beater, or you’ll be the one who takes the beating.” Keyz pushed past him.
So much for fortune’s favor. Whatever they were planning, he couldn’t allow it to happen. This would burn his Aaron persona, but he’d live with that. “You’re not going anywhere,” Jerry said, changing as he spoke. He wanted a startling appearance mixed with the ability to do some damage if necessary. He made his skin green and his head block-shaped, and produced sharp thornlike protrusions on the backs of his knuckles. Jerry doubted any of them had seen The Thing from Another World but they certainly wouldn’t have any weapon to electrocute him.
Keyz turned and pulled a gun from the back of his pants. Jerry high-kicked him hard enough to knock him into a nearby Audi. He hit the car with a thud and dropped his weapon.
Jerry turned to face the others. One of the young men had hightailed it, which helped Jerry’s odds a bit. The young woman and her friend both had knives, and took up positions on either side of him. Jerry lunged to the right and took a backhanded swing at the woman, who seemed more confident with a blade than her companion, but caught only air. She jumped in and sliced into Jerry’s forearm. He bellowed.
The man tried to attack from behind, but Jerry spun quickly and grabbed his knife-hand. He wrenched the man’s arm as hard as possible and threw him into the woman. The collision sent them sprawling and knocked both their knives free. Jerry advanced, making sure the thorns on the backs of his hands were visible, even in the dim light. He raised his right arm menacingly. The pair looked at each other and bolted.
Jerry turned to check on Keyz, who hadn’t recovered his gun but was pointing a Taser at Jerry’s chest. Jerry swung his arm, hoping to deflect the twin wires. The connects hit him first and delivered a massive jolt. Jerry’s follow-through cut the wires, but he was still down. He struggled to get his feet under him, but his body wouldn’t respond.
Keyz stood over him. He had his gun now, and it was pointed at Jerry. “Say hello to Jesus for me, ass-clown.”
He was going to die as a space carrot if he didn’t do something. Jerry tried to grab Keyz’s leg, but his arm only flopped around. Keyz laughed.
There was a rush of air and a dark shape impacted Keyz, sending him flying a dozen or so feet away. It was Adesina.
“This one time, I’m glad you didn’t do as you were told,” Jerry told her.
“Lucky for you I followed you. You’re not very good at your job, are you?”
“Not right now I’m not, but tomorrow is another day.” She didn’t appear to get the reference. Jerry lurched to his feet and walked over to Keyz, who was trying to locate his pistol. Jerry kicked it away under a car.
“We’re not done, monster-man.” Keyz’s false bravado didn’t faze Jerry. He’d heard it plenty of times.
Jerry brought his leg back and kicked Keyz in the face. “Keep watching the skies.”
“You didn’t need to do that,” Adesina said, disapprovingly.
“Well, he was going to kill me. I take that sort of thing personally.” He was going to pat her shoulder, but the wings were in the way. “Thanks. I owe you one.”
“You sure do.”
“Now fly back to the hotel. We’ve had enough excitement for one night.” Jerry watched her wordlessly take off. Her wings propelling her into the night sky were a thing of beauty.
The cut on his arm wasn’t too bad, but it hurt like hell. He’d never been good with open wounds. Given his power, Jerry should be able to make them close right up, but it didn’t work that way. It was most likely the blood. He didn’t care for blood at all. That probably accounted for his dislike of guns. Blowing holes in people was a bloody mess.
A police vehicle, rotating red and blue lights flashing, advanced slowly up the street. Jerry ducked between the parked cars and was gone.
Jerry bought some first aid back at the hotel while wearing a totally random face, and bandaged himself up back in his room. He changed into his Michelle body and clothes and headed back to her room. He’d have to make some kind of an outraged mom scene with Adesina, but he didn’t want to go too hard on her. After all, she’d just saved his life.
She was watching TV when he came in, and didn’t even meet his eye. “Everything’s cool, Mom,” she said. “Don’t go crazy on me.”
Jerry walked over in measured steps. “Where were you? How could you do something so reckless? Did you know I had people out looking for you?” Jerry kept his Michelle voice short of
yelling, but loud enough to make sure she got the point.
Jerry stepped in front of the TV and glared down at Adesina. “You know what’s been going on these past few days. It’s dangerous out there.” He waved his arms emphatically.
Adesina looked at his bandaged forearm and narrowed her eyes. The dime dropped for her in a hurry. “It’s you. You’re pretending to be my mom.”
Busted again. Jerry didn’t have the energy to try to think his way out of this. He sat down beside her on the couch. “Yeah, you’re right. Your mom had something important to take care of tonight and she wanted me to keep an eye on you.”
“That’s totes lame.”
“No, it isn’t. I may be lame, but your mom wanting to keep you safe means she’s a good mom.” Jerry relaxed and let his body collapse into the couch. “I’ll make you a deal, Adesina. Let’s forget you got out tonight. We’ll keep it a secret between us. That keeps both of us out of trouble.”
She gave him an uncertain look. “You want us to lie to my mom?”
“A judicious lie can be a positive thing, and this would qualify,” he said. “Let’s face it, she’s likely to chain you to the bed tomorrow night if she finds out what happened. I’m not sure what she’d say to me, but I’d just as soon not find out. Deal?”
“Deal.”
“Great. Now why don’t you go to bed, so that when your mom shows up she’ll assume everything tonight went fine.”
Adesina nodded and headed toward the bedroom.
“When your mom comes back, if she checks on you pretend you were asleep. You know, rub your eyes, yawn, that kind of thing.” Jerry was trying to avoid anything that might make Michelle suspicious.
Adesina rolled her eyes. “Like I didn’t already know that.” She paused in the bedroom doorway. “Are you actually a man or a woman?”
“A man. I was born a man anyway, and that’s what I am in my spare time.”
“I figured. What’s your name?”
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