ANGEL'S KISS (A Dark Angel's Novel)

by Lynne Stevie

  The store did have a small pet section and I got Zeke a new blue leash, food and water bowls, and an assortment of treats. Pushing my cart down the aisle in a big rush, I accidentally hit another cart.

  “Oh, I’m sorry, I wasn’t watch….” I caught my breath when I recognized a past client. We’d helped her find her son, a teenager who’d thought that running away would be fun. We got lucky and found him quickly. I remembered that much, but I couldn’t remember her name for the life of me.

  “That’s okay.” Recognition lit up her face and brought a huge smile. “Oh, hello, Alexandria, how are you?”

  “Hi, I’m fine, and you?” I tried to maneuver the cart down the aisle. Polite conversation was the last thing I had time for today.

  “I never did get a chance to thank you for helping my family, my son. We really did appreciate it.” She seemed so nice, damn it. I had to stop the cart and talk to her.

  “I was glad to help. How’s he doing?”

  “Wonderful now, thanks to you. What are you doing?”

  Her stare made me nervous. “Excuse me?”

  “You look amazing! Have you been on vacation or started a new diet, or something? I’m not sure what’s different. A new hairdo? What’s your secret?” She was leaning in; invading my personal space like the secret might just be under my skin.

  “I…nothing, really.” I backed up a step. “Healthy living, you know, exercise and stuff. Well, I have to go, left my dog in the car. Take care. Bye.”

  I started moving, and she tried to move with me, but I quickly made my getaway. How weird. Dennis had said I looked different, too. I’d have thought that I looked like shit. I’d avoided mirrors for a day or so, because I hadn’t had time to worry about my appearance.

  Zeke was still lying in the back seat when I returned and barely raised his head to acknowledge me. I wrestled the huge bag of Purina into the back and put the other stuff up front with me. I took out the bag of treats and tossed one to him. He caught it in midair and swallowed it whole.

  “You’re a beast,” I commented. He just sat there with his tongue lolling out and his tail thwap, thwap, thwapping against the leather seats.

  The drive to the office just took a few minutes. I pulled around to the back and parked in my normal spot. I fumbled through the sack of dog stuff to find the new blue leash.

  “Hey, buddy, guess what I bought you?” I dangled the new leash in front of him.

  “Grrrrrr,” was his answer.

  I reminded him that we needed to make everyone believe he was a stray dog. And that people would feel more comfortable if he were on a leash.

  “Huff!” His growl still smoldering, he shook his head. Snot flew in every direction.

  “Oh man, come on. Sooner or later you’ll have to put this leash on if you don’t want me to go to jail. Dogs are not allowed to run around without one. Plus, as big as you are, everyone is afraid of you. People will complain if they see you wandering around without some sort of supervision.”

  A loud bang on the window caused me to jump. I clutched my chest as if I were having a heart attack.

  “Crap! Ottie you scared me,” I said as I rolled the window down.

  “Hey, Boss.” Shock rolled over his face. “I know its Halloween, but is it bring your monster to work day? Cause I missed that memo.”

  “Ha. Very funny. Ottie, meet Zeke. Zeke, meet Ottie. I found him night before last and haven’t been able to track down his owner.”

  “Some detective you are.” He cackled. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone that you can’t even get a lost dog home.”

  He was still chuckling as I put the window up and opened the door. He wouldn’t be laughing once he got a good look at Zeke. I tucked the leash into my back pocket and opened the door wider. Ottie stood back and stared as Zeke exited the Jeep, which lurched when his hind quarter left the vehicle.

  “Damn, what is that?” Ottie asked, his mouth hanging open.

  “I told you. This is Zeke. I think I’m his new…” I hesitated. Owner didn’t sound right. I had a feeling that Zeke didn’t have owners.

  “...friend,” I finally said. Zeke seemed to agree, because he jumped up, pushing me back against the car, and planted a lick right on my face.

  “Zeke, I told you to stop that.” I pushed him off as best I could considering that he outweighed me by at least 50 pounds. “Yuck, that’s nasty. You were licking yourself earlier.”

  I needed to start carrying baby wipes around just to wipe off Zeke’s spit. He trotted over to Ottie and sat down in front of him and waited. When Ottie made no move, Zeke looked at me and barked one high-pitched woof.

  “I think he’s trying to make friends. Put your hand out and pet him.”

  Ottie tentatively reached out. Zeke put his head under Ottie’s hand and let Ottie rub his head.

  “He seems friendly enough.”

  “He likes you. Cool.”

  “Well, yeah. He obviously has good taste.” Ottie was so happy with his little joke.

  “I wish he and Alan got along better. They didn’t get off to a good start.”

  Ottie looked down at Zeke. “Zeke probably doesn’t see me as competition for your attention. Animals can be very territorial. If Zeke sees Alan as a competitor, he’ll try to get between you. You need to lay down the law now so he doesn’t get possessive with you.”

  “Since when did you become the dog whisperer?”

  “I spent some time with the canine units in the army and I love the dog whisperer. That’s a cool show. It’s always the owners who need to be trained, not the dogs. Good luck with Alan.” He laughed at his own joke.

  “Yeah, yeah, funny, let’s go.” I locked the Jeep, and Ottie unlocked the office door for us.

  “I’m anxious to see who Zeke will like and who he won’t like,” I said as we went in.

  “Dogs are very intuitive.” He said as he held the door for us.

  “That’s weird, because dogs always like me. You too?”

  Ottie gave me his best smolder. “Yep, haven’t met a dog or a lady that I couldn’t charm.”

  Zeke trotted on through the hall ahead of us. I could hear the screams of alarm as he passed by the offices. We looked at each other, started laughing, and ran after him. I wanted to make sure no one tried to hurt him or had a heart attack from seeing a giant dog running through the office.

  We caught up to Zeke in the reception area. He was drinking out of the toilet in the client bathroom, and a startled Kim was standing on her chair at the reception desk.

  “Oh, my god, Lexie, we have a bear in the office.” Kim was breathless with shock. “We have to call someone, I know: animal control. I’ll get the number.”

  She looked at me and then at the open door to the bathroom and then back to me and over to Ottie. Her expression turned from fear to anger. She stepped down from the chair and put her hands on her hips.

  “All right, Ottie, what’s the joke? Come on, you’ve had your fun. What is that?” She gave Ottie a “your ass is grass” stare.

  “Whoa. It wasn’t me, for a change.” He pointed at me.

  “Lexie, when did you get a dog, if that’s what that is?” Her surprised expression was priceless, and I broke out laughing.

  “Sorry, sorry, but seeing you standing on your chair was just too much. I found him night before last, stuck in our rose bushes.”

  Zeke exited the restroom, walked over to Kim, and put his wet face under her trembling hand. She immediately relaxed and rubbed his ear enthusiastically.

  “Lexie, he’s just a big sweetie! Are you going to keep him?”

  Zeke certainly had won Kim and Ottie over.

  “I don’t think I really have a choice—he’s sort of moved in. If he can learn to stop licking my face and drinking out of the toilet, we’ll be all set.” Zeke leaned against Kim’s leg and just stared at me with his big chocolate eyes, and his tongue rolling out the side of his jaw.

  “All right, you suck-up, let’s get to work.�
�� I motioned for Zeke to come, and to my surprise, he trotted over. Ottie looked both surprised and approving when Zeke obeyed.

  “Kim, any messages for me?” Ottie broke the silence with his big voice.

  “They’re on your desk, Ottie. Didn’t look like anything that couldn’t wait. I’ve updated your calendar, and all the information is on the slips.”

  “Thanks.” Ottie turned his attention to me. “Lex, come see me when you’re up to speed. I’ve got a few things I’d like to go over with you.” He headed down the hall.

  “Sure,” I called after him. “Hit me, Kim, what have I missed?”

  “Oh, Lexie, I’m so sorry to hear about the fire. Is there anything I can do?” She looked on the verge of tears.

  “Thanks, Kim. As these things go, we were lucky. No one got burnt, and it was just the sun porch. The worst thing is I lost some family pictures and stuff. But we’re all safe. That’s what matters.”

  “You just keep your chin up, darlin’. If you want someone to talk to, I’m always here. I know how important family photos are. They’re irreplaceable.”

  She reached out and touched my hand. I’m not usually a touchy-feely kind of person, but something about her touch reminded me of my mother and I swear I almost started crying right there. What’s wrong with me? I’ve been so emotional. I had to get back to business.

  “I really appreciate your thoughts.” I cleared my throat, gave her hand a little squeeze, and stepped back. “Dennis is already cleaning up. If I can’t stop him soon, the new sun porch will be bigger and better than all the rest of the house put together.” I laughed, but even to me it sounded forced.

  “So what do you have for me? Sorry I’ve been away so much this week, especially with the Janeck investigation.”

  “Who?” Her face pinched in confusion.

  “The Janecks.”

  Her expression didn’t change.

  “All right, stop pulling my leg. The Janecks. The clients who were murdered while we were watching their house.”

  “Oh. I’m not sure. I guess you’d better check with Ottie. He’s handling all the active cases.” And then while I stood confused, she just changed the subject. She read off my messages and then smiled up at me.

  “Kim, don’t you remember the Janecks?” Zeke bashed me with his head. I looked down as Kim shook her head again.

  “Sorry, Lexie, I’m just not sure we have a case file for that name. Do you want me to check?” She shook her head again—not just in answer to my question. She shook as if something was painful. Something was trying to bubble up, but she kept pushing it back down. Zeke bashed me again.

  “Hey, stop that.” He nudged me again. Then I thought about it. “Okay,” I said. “I get it.”

  “Do you think he needs to go out? I can take him if you have a leash.”

  “No, no, he’s fine. I think he just wants to see where he can lay his head. Is everything on my desk?”

  “Yes. Oh, I almost forgot.” She grabbed a pen and note pad. “Did you want me to look up a client—J—something?”

  Zeke whimpered.

  “Nah, don’t worry about it, thanks. I’ll be in my office if you need me.” I made a hasty exit into my office, shut the door, and fell into my seat. Zeke put his big head in my lap and whimpered.

  “Zeke, did that really happen?” He gave an almost silent “woof” and looked up at me with incredible intelligence radiating through his big, chocolate-brown eyes. I patted his head and rubbed my eyes. “What am I going to do?”

  My door cracked open and Ottie peeked in enough to see me sitting with Zeke’s head cradled in my lap.

  “I’m not interrupting, am I? Were you talking to the dog?” He came in and shut the door behind him. He looked nervous. I’ve never seen Ottie nervous. What now?

  “Yeah, he’s a good listener. So what’s up?”

  “I overheard you asking Kim about the Janeck case.” He tilted his head as if he’d caught me in a lie and was waiting for me to tell the truth.

  “What about it?” I tried to keep all emotion off my face, but it was weird to be evasive with Ottie. I didn’t want him involved in any of this. If they were really immortals, it's just too dangerous. Plus, why would Kim forget, but Ottie remember? I wondered who else was having selective amnesia.

  “I’ve been hoping you would ask me about it.” He took a deep breath. “No one seems to know anything about the case, and the files have been wiped clean. There aren’t any hard files or computer files at all. It’s like the Janecks never came into the office. Actually, it’s like they never existed. I can’t even find any record of them in the tax records or the DMV.”

  He sat back and rubbed his face. “I’m just glad to hear you say their name. I was starting to doubt myself.”

  Zeke got up and went over to lie down in front of the door. Ottie watched him and then looked back at me.

  “So, what’s up, Boss? And why the hell do you look like you just had a face lift?”

  Chapter 18

  Memory Laps

  “Ottie, it’s a police investigation now. Maybe we should just let it go. And of course I haven’t had a face lift. It’s just me. What’s wrong with everyone today?”

  “Don’t give me that shit, Lex. I know that you remember those worn-out husks for bodies and that God-awful shiny gold room.” I cringed at the thought of that room before I could stop myself. Ottie stood, putting his hands on my desk, and glared at me. Zeke noticed the aggressive behavior.

  “Grrrrowl.” He raised his head, but it was more of a warning to both of us. It felt like he was telling Ottie to be quiet more than he was worried about my safety. Ottie fell back into the chair.

  “Tell me what’s going on,” he said. “This is all connected somehow. You were attacked and woke up hours later not hurt at all. Some crazy person or persons murdered our clients, whom coincidentally you were working for when you were attacked. Your house caught fire and now the bodies of our murdered clients have disappeared from the morgue. Detective Maloran has taken a leave absence. Imagine that. And no one knows what the hell I’m talking about.” He sat back, folded his arms, and waited.

  I shook my head. How could I explain any of this?

  Zeke got up and sat beside Ottie, putting his head in his lap. Ottie un-fisted his hand and rubbed behind Zeke’s ears.

  Ottie was my partner and backup. Not telling him would be the hardest thing that I’d ever done, but necessary. I didn’t want him hurt because of me.

  “What?” He was angry.

  “Look, Ottie. I can’t explain any of this, and even if I could, you’d never believe me.” I leaned forward and pleaded. “Please, let it go.” I could only hope that Maloran and Riley had already forgotten.

  “You’re kiddin’, right?”

  “No, I’m not. You need to let it go.” To avoid his gaze, I flipped through my mail. “Could you close the door on your way out, or do you need something else?”

  I concentrated on the addresses on the junk mail: Pottery Barn, Red Envelope, Lands’ End… Out of the corner of my eye I watched him get up and walk to the door. Zeke watched him, too.

  “You won’t forget about it. I tried to get us out of it the other day, but you were adamant about our firm’s involvement. Now you suddenly want me to let it go? You’re mixed up in this somehow, and now you’re scared.”

  He took a deep breath. “Alexandria.”

  Crap. He never uses my full name.

  “Your father warned me that a day might come when you would try to go against something so big that you’d need my help. Of course, he also knew you’d be too stubborn to ask for it.”

  He pulled a crumpled and worn envelope out of his pocket. “I’m already involved, Lexie. I have been ever since your father gave me these instructions. So I won’t let it go. Hell, even without this,” he shook the envelope at me, “you know me better than to think I’d let you go it alone.”

  He patted Zeke on the head. “See ya later, big guy. I’ll be
there when this goes down. Whatever it is.” He opened the door.

  “If you haven’t seen a plastic surgeon, why do you look five years younger, Lex? Or am I the only one to notice?” He left and closed the door behind him a little too hard.

  Zeke came over and put his head back in my lap.

  “If you understand everything, why can’t you talk or communicate with me somehow? Tell me who sent you? And what’s up with all the compliments today? Do I really look younger?”

  I looked into his big eyes, but he did nothing but stare back.

  “Thanks, appreciate it.”

  I had a cheap mirror in my desk, so I pulled it out and stared into it. I did look different. My face looked like it had been airbrushed to perfection. How had my little crow’s feet disappeared? I’d always looked young for my age, but this was ridiculous. I wasn’t even wearing any makeup, and my complexion, which is normally freckly from sun and years of beach fun, looked as smooth a baby’s—like the after picture in an ad for plastic surgery. No wonder everyone’s commenting on my appearance today. Well, I’m not a big fan of make-up anyway, so now I won’t have to bother with it.

  I brooded for a while, casually flipping through catalogs, trying to pretend that everything was normal, when nothing would be normal ever again. I prayed Ottie would let this go for his sake, but I held out little hope for that prayer. Dad was trying to protect me even after he died. I wonder what was in that envelope. Oh well, life goes on. I picked up the phone and pressed 47, Devon’s number.

  “Hey, Alex, how are you? I’m so sorry to hear about the fire at your place. If Jerry or I can do anything, just let us know.”

  “Thanks, Devon, we’ll be fine. The damage was confined to the sun room. Tell Jerry to be ready, though. Dennis is trying to make this a major renovation, and I might need him to help me with the material selections for the new room.” Jerry, Devon’s partner, is an interior decorator and has a great talent of making a room suit the owner, not just selling stuff that’s in style at the moment.