by Lisa Olsen
Matty sat in a bit of a stupor and I wondered if I’d given him too much information at once. I love my brother to death, but he’s never been all that swift on the uptake. Needless to say he believed me, I’d given him physical proof of my abil kof span>. In fact, he seemed intrigued by it. Spurred on by his curiosity, we did some experimentation with it.
We found that I couldn’t do it if he was already looking at me and expecting to see me there. But if he looked away even for an instant, I could vanish from his sight. Small objects could be camouflaged as well, but bigger things like the chair I sat on remained visible, he just couldn’t see me in them. It also broke any time I spoke aloud, though I could make simple sounds like bumping into something or sighing and still escape his notice.
Matt seemed to grow more and more excited with each trial and I had to finally sit back and shake my head at him. “Why are you so jazzed about this, Matty? I mean it’s a neat trick, but all things considered, it’s kind of the least of my worries right now.”
“Are you kidding, Mercy? We can make a fortune with this!” His eyes shone with avarice and a sinking feeling slid into the pit of my stomach.
My eyes narrowed with suspicion, had I made a mistake in telling him about it? “What do you mean? No one can know about this, Matt. Promise me you won’t tell anyone.”
“Of course not, I wouldn’t want anyone to know. Duh, I’m not stupid,” he gave me a lopsided grin. “You gotta think bigger picture here, Merce.”
I waited for him to get to his point, still not feeling any better about the direction his thoughts were going. “And that would be…?”
“Vegas baby!” he crowed, convinced in the simple brilliance of those two words.
“Las Vegas?” I repeated skeptically.
“Hell yeah, Las Vegas!” Matty nodded, his eyes alight. “All we gotta do is get invited to one of those high stakes poker games and then you could walk around and look at everyone’s cards and then show me what they’re holding and we’ve got it made in the shade.”
“You’re talking about cheating at cards?” I blinked, stunned at the suggestion. Matt was a lot of things, but dishonest had never been one of them. Or did I not know my little brother as well as I thought I did anymore?
His face fell when I didn’t instantly embrace the plan. “For starters. I’m sure we can think of all kinds of uses for this little talent. You could probably… walk into a bank vault and no one would ever notice. Or a jewelry store, or a video game store!” He was on a roll again and I hated to bring him down but I was already shaking my head.
“No way. There’s no way I’m doing that, Matty. I’m pretty sure I can go to hell for using a gift from God for petty larceny.”
“Who said anything about petty? I’m talking about cashing in big,” he grinned, completely missing my point. “And you didn’t get it from God, you got it from Sam. God probably doesn’t even know you’re subletting it.”
It was an interesting argument, but not one I was willing to even start debating. “That’s a risk I’m not willing to take.” My resolve was firm and to tell the truth, I was a little shocked Matt was so quick to jump on the criminal bandwagon. Were things really that bad for him?
“Oh come on, Merce, how can you go to hell if you never even die?” his voice took on a wheedling tone.
“We have no idea what’s kidek t gonna happen to me. God could decide tomorrow to take it back, or I might live out a normal lifespan. Either way, I’m not turning to a life of crime now just because I can. You were raised better than that Matthias Renault.” I poked a finger at his chest to emphasize my point.
“No, I wasn’t,” Matt griped. “Look at Dad.”
“We don’t talk about him,” I reminded him, my mood already soured. I didn’t want to make it worse. While I avoided my mother sometimes because I didn’t feel like dealing with her, that paled in comparison to my relationship, or lack thereof, with my father. I hadn’t seen him in years, and I wanted to keep it that way. Matty knew that, and I could see from his face he’d realized his mistake. Any chance of winning me over to his point of view was effectively squashed once he brought up our father as an argument for his side. And yet, he still gave it one last ditch effort.
“Come on, Mercy, things like this don’t happen every day. You should take advantage of it while you can.”
Rising to my feet, I slung my purse over my shoulder. “I’m sorry I told you,” I grumbled. “I’m going to work. You know, that thing that most people do to earn money?”
“Mercy…” Matt sighed, climbing to his feet to follow me. “Don’t be like that…”
Once I was outside in the hallway, I hid myself from his sight, not wanting to deal with it anymore. It turned out to be a pretty useful skill to have after all.
* * *
I was glad to get to work and back into my normal routine. It was kinda slow though and the shift dragged. Kara had already gone home but Jilly kept me company by the bar. Even Walter hung out talking to us instead of watching the door. Parker spent almost the entire night in his office going over paperwork so we were even more lax, not even putting in the appearance of trying to keep busy.
“Too bad we’re stuck here, I’d much rather be at home with my feet propped up,” I sighed, wishing I hadn’t worn new shoes that weren’t quite broken in enough to last through a whole shift.
“Propped up on a certain cop?” A teasing smile lifted Jilly’s lips as she nudged me in the shoulder.
“I wouldn’t say no to that,” I smiled back, though I had no plans to see Ben that night after work.
“Me neither, how cute was he?”
“This is where I head back to the door.” Walter excused himself with an embarrassed smile, and I felt bad, knowing he had a thing for me I didn’t feel in return.
“Sorry, we didn’t mean to chase you away,” I called after him, but he just waved and moved back to his post. “Poor Walter, he needs to find a nice girl,” I mused aloud.
“I’m pretty sure he already thinks he did,” Jilly sighed, eyes on him as well.
“I’ve never let him think I was interested in him like that.” I was straight with him from the k hilike start, not wanting to lead him on.
“I know, I’m just saying…” Jilly poured herself another diet soda and grabbed a fresh straw. “You should get out of here, go see your boyfriend. At least one of us has one,” she urged me.
Jilly is all of five foot one inches, blonde hair and blue eyes and looks like she couldn’t hurt a fly. Until she opens her mouth and lets loose the most cutting tongue I’ve ever heard from a person. Most of the words that come out of her mouth are sarcastic, at least until you get to know her. If she was sans boyfriend, she had only one person to blame, but I wasn’t about to say that to her face. She was still a good friend and coworker to have.
“I’m pretty sure Parker would flip out if took off, and besides, my jacket and keys are locked up in his office,” I pointed out. Of course I did have the ability to sneak in there and get them without attracting his attention, but I could hardly tell her that, could I? Besides, the boss would really flip if he found out I left without talking to him, even if I did get away unnoticed.
“Then go ask him if you can cut out early. All he can say is no, right?” She shrugged a shoulder. “It’s not like Walter and I can’t handle the crowd.” Jilly jerked her head towards the one pack of girls who braved the rainy night for a round of cocktails and dancing. “I remember how to make an Appletini.”
“You really wouldn’t mind covering the bar?” Once she planted the idea in my head, it started to sound better and better.
“Nah, I’ve got to stick it out here anyway, why shouldn’t at least one of us have a good time?”
“I’ll go ask him kll ick. Thanks, Jilly, I owe you one,” I grinned, pulling a glass down and making Parker’s favorite drink, a Snakebite. Yukon Jack and lime juice. I thought it was repellant in every way, but he seemed to like them and it couldn’t hurt
to grease the wheels a little. “Wish me luck.”
Pausing outside his office, I decided to concentrate on masking my presence again, to see if I could open the door without him noticing, or if I could only enter a room unseen if the door was already open. It worked like a charm, and Parker paid me no mind, his attention focused on the computer monitor on his desk.
He was frowning to himself, which was never a good sign. Suddenly I felt less like spying on him and set the glass down on the desk, moving back before I spoke. “Hey, boss.”
Parker startled visibly, immediately letting out a string of curses. “Fuck, Mercy, where the hell did you come from?” He ran an unsteady hand through his dark blonde hair.
A pang of guilt went through me for scaring him, and I gave him a sheepish smile. “Oh, you didn’t hear me come in?”
“I guess not,” he frowned.
“I thought you could use a break, so I brought you a drink.”
His expression eased a bit then and he smiled weakly, reaching for the glass. “Thanks, that’s nice of you.”
“I’m sorry if I scared you.”
“Don’t worry about it, honey.” He took a deep drink and set the glass down. “Things are that slow out front, huh?”
“Yep, they’re pretty dead actually. We just have a small group of girls working their way up to a male strip club I think,” I joked. “Hey, I was wondering if I could maybe cut out early tonight?” Giving him my most winsome smile, I waited for his response.
“Got a date with the cop?”
“Maybe.” It wasn’t a no, that was a good sign.
“That’s still going on, huh?” A shake of the head was given. “You really go for that knight in shining armor type now? I always thought you liked the bad boys.”
“Sometimes,” I allowed. I hadn’t thought he paid much attention to the guys I dated in the past, he’d never said anything about it before.
“You’re being a little evasive tonight.” His eyes narrowed as he took another drink.
“A girl likes to have a little bit of mystery,” I smiled mischievously and he chuckled at that.
“So I see.”
“So, can I leave early?”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“Thanks Parker, you’re my favorite boss,” I grinned, all but skipping towards the door where I retrieved my purse and coat and pulled off my apron.
“Hey, where are you going if you’re not going out with the cop?” Parker called out as I opened the door.
“A girl likes to have a little bit of mystery,” I repeated with a smile, dropping him a wink.
Chapter Thirteen
It turned out I left work early for no reason. Ben wasn’t available to come over, so instead I did some girly pampering things which were long overdue. Taking a bubble bath (Mimsy loves bubbles! She’s a regular fixture in the bathroom whenever I take one) and painting my toenails, catching up on my favorite magazine. Nice, normal, mundane things that didn’t have anything to do with murder investigations or angels or Las Vegas. I went to bed at a decent hour and slept the sleep of the innocent, no dark or crazy dreams. Or at least none I remembered.
The next day was my day off, which meant a real dinner date with Ben, which meant I was in a great mood all day. I got my household chores done early in the day, paid my bills, went to the grocery store, all the errands I put off on work days, with plenty of time to get ready for my date.
Since we were going to Severino’s I decided to go with a little black dress, always appropriate, and took the opportunity to wear the killer heels I never got to wear. Black stilettos with two thin ankle straps. A bit of a pain to walk in, but they made my legs look great. I left my hair loose to cascade down my back in soft waves, and set the smoky eyes and deeply stained lips the girl at Macy’s assured me was in that season.
When the doorbell rang, I hurried to the door, forcing myself to take a calming breath before I opened it. Carefully, I arranged my hair just right; I wanted to knock his socks off the moment he saw me. “Hey.”
The smile froze on my face as I found Adam standing there instead of Ben. He was dressed all in black again, and I was starting to learn it was his favorite look. It suited him, I had to admit, with his dark hair and piercing blue eyes, he was more handsome than any man had a right to be.
Adam let out a low whistle, boldly looking me over from my head to my feet and back up again. “Very nice. A little overdressed for what I had in mind, but I’m not complaining.” With that he walked into the apartment, leaving me standing there gaping in the doorway.
I was quick to recover, chasing after him. “You can’t be here.”
“What? I’m behaving. I followed your stupid rule, I knocked.”
“I happen to be having company over. You remember Ben, the nice policeman?” I gave him a pointed look.
Adam seemed unconcerned, plopping down on my couch and picking up a magazine. “Great, what are you making for dinner?”
“We’re going out...” I stared at him in dismay as he made himself comfortable. Mimsy hopped up on the couch beside Adam and gave him one of her odd little squeaks, not quite a meow, butting her head against his hand until he got the message and gave her a pat. “See, your cat likes me.”
“Yeah, she also cleans between her toes with her tongue, there’s no accounting for taste,” I retorted. “You need to leave before he gets here.”
“Why? I didn’t kill anybody. And in case you missed it, I don’t fit Sam’s description at all now do I?” he smirked up at me.
“Adam…” Another knock came at the door and I looked back and forth between them. “You’d better make yourself disappear if you know what’s good for you!” I hissed, moving back to the door. Of course I had no idea if he’d taken my warning to heart because I could still see his head over the top of my couch and hear the flip of the magazine.
“Hey,” I tried again as I opened the door, considerably more flustered that time.
Ben stood on the other side, and he looked suitably impressed by my efforts. “Wow, you look gorgeous,” he smiled, leaning in to kiss my cheek.
“Thanks, you look nice too,” I complimented him, and he did look very handsome in his suit and tie. “So we should probably…”
“Hi, I’m Adam, you must be Ben,” Adam interrupted, coming up from behind me, he held out his hand. Oh, I could have killed him in that moment! Assuming I could find a way to kill an angel of course.
I could tell Ben was confused, but he accepted Adam’s hand anyway. “I am. And you would be?”
“My cousin, Adam,” I supplied quickly, not wanting to hear what might come out of Adam’s mouth next on his interpretation of our relationship. It wasn’t exactly a lie. If he considered Sam as a brother, cousin might very well define our relation in a manner of speaking. “He’s just dropping by unannounced, he does that sometimes.” I shot him a look to let him know I wasn’t at all pleased, but Adam looked happy as a clam, shaking Ben’s hand.
“Yep, her cousin, that’s me,” he grinned. “What are you kids up to for tonight?”
“Out to dinner,” Ben replied, studying Adam intently.
I recognized that look, and tugged at his arm. “I have been looking forward to it all day, so we should probably soul">I rec be going. Adam you’ll probably want to…”
“Sounds like a hoot. Don’t worry, Cous, I’ll be fine. Don’t pay any attention to me.” He was already walking back to my couch, propping his feet up on my coffee table and picking up the TV remote.
I hovered there for a moment, not sure if I should enlist Ben’s help in trying to toss him out. Then again… I could hardly keep Adam out once I’d gone, and it seemed easier to deny him the attention he sought after. “Alright, suit yourself. Just try not to… touch things too much,” I couldn’t help but add, earning me another strange look from Ben. “Enjoy your evening alone,” I shot back at him. A raised hand was all I got in response, Adam didn’t even look back to acknowledge we were leaving.
Ben raised his brows as I pulled the door shut behind me. “Don’t ask. Do you have any pain in the ass family?”
“Actually no, not really. I was an only child.” He hadn’t mentioned that before.
“You want mine?”
* * *
Dinner was… fantastic. Great food, even better company, I couldn’t remember the last time I enjoyed an evening out more. It was even easy to forget I had an angel at home squatting on my couch (or sNew ) at the same time. I reasoned that Adam had probably gotten bored after the first ten minutes and took off after that. I only hoped he remembered to lock up when he left.
It was cool but clear out when we left the restaurant, and I contemplated asking Ben if we could go back to his place when a dark figure emerged from the shadows. Ordinarily I might not have thought twice about it. We were in a busy parking lot, not some seedy dive and I was with a cop. Who better to protect me, right? But the man stopped right in front of us, directly blocking our path, staring at me intently. His bright blue eyes and the golden glow surrounding him marked him as an angel. Only, I had the feeling he wasn’t one of the Fallen by the imperious look he gave me.
Uh oh…
He was intimidating in the extreme. Harder looking than either Sam or Adam, with craggy but attractive features, he appeared older than the other two angels. Dressed in a long black cloak over dark, shapeless clothes, he looked as though he’d stepped out of time. Apparently he wasn’t at all concerned about trying to blend in with normal people.
“How came you by God’s Grace?” he asked, virtually ignoring Ben beside me.
Oh shit… “I…I’m not sure what you mean,” I hedged, trying to side step him but he moved to block my path.
