“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 with
in 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?”
He could have lied. There was no way she’d ever know. Then again, she’d saved his life tonight. “Jerry,” he said.
She made a face. “That’s such an old-sounding name. Perfect for you, though.” She entered the bedroom and turned off the light.
He got Michelle’s text a few hours later. She was waiting for him outside his room. He changed his face and headed to the elevator. Upstairs Michelle was leaning against the wall; she looked even more tired than Jerry felt.
“Come on in. I’ll get your clothes for you.”
Michelle followed him inside. “Did she give you any trouble?”
Jerry smiled and nodded. “A little. No more than I could handle, though. She’s a good kid.”
“Yes, she is. But sometimes it takes everything I have to keep her in line.” She sighed. “You have no idea.”
Jerry pulled a fluffy robe from the closet and walked into the bathroom. “I’ll change and you can have the clothes back.”
“You took off
your makeup.”
Jerry shrugged. “Yeah, after she went to bed I didn’t see the point.”
Michelle nodded.
After a few moments in the bathroom, Jerry handed Michelle her clothing and walked her to the door. “I’ll be back on the case tomorrow. Let me know if anything happens.”
“Good night, Mr. Creighton, or whoever you are.”
“Night.”
Jerry couldn’t sleep. For one thing, his arm hurt. For another, he hadn’t had a very good day. He picked up his tablet and ran a YouTube search on the Jokertown Mob. There were several entries, so he picked the one with the most likes. Halfway through the video, Jerry was smiling. It wasn’t really his kind of music, but these kids were great and they were loving what they were doing.
Jerry remembered something, a feeling from a long, long time ago. Before he’d been a detective, even before he’d been a giant ape, Jerry had worked the club circuit as the Projectionist. He’d used his ace to impersonate movie stars onstage. His act wasn’t great; in fact, it usually wasn’t good at all. But the times it did click were magic. Getting up in front of an audience, connecting, doing your stuff, and making it really work—that was something he’d forgotten until now.
It was how the Mob felt when they got onstage and performed. That was one of the best feelings in the world.
Jerry smiled as the memory faded. The kids deserved that moment, and there was no way anyone was going to take it away from them if he could help it.
He needed sleep, but first thing tomorrow morning he’d be on the job. It was time to get his game faces on.
Dust and the Darkness
Part 4
I’D PHONED AHEAD, AND Mindy-Lou’s bandmates had been waiting for her in the lobby for hours. As soon as we entered the Gunter they spotted her, squealed, and came rushing over to hug her and kiss her and generally squee that she was back. Beside me, Candace had a look on her face that I took for fifty-fifty contempt and envy.
One girl hung back, though. Blond, tall, though not nearly so tall as Mindy-Lou. Cover-girl pretty—but not quite as pretty as Mindy-Lou.
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