by Margaret
“What the hell have you done?” William cried, waving his arms in exasperation. “Archangel Michael is furious with you. And with me, for that matter. I have to send you back to Purgatory. Right now.”
“William, I cannot leave. Rachel is in trouble—”
William shook his head. “You’ve broken one too many rules, Derek. I warned you not to get personally involved and you let yourself fall in love with her and now she’s in love with you.”
William glared at him. “In love with you, an angel! Have you thought of the consequences of that? And then you used your power to heal the cherub.”
“He is my comrade. I couldn’t let him die!”
“His soul was in our keeping—”
“Like my soul was in your keeping when you let me die?” Derek demanded savagely.
“You interfered with the natural order of things,” William said grimly. “And, what’s worse, a mortal saw you use angelic powers! You’ve placed us all in jeopardy, Derek. The entire operation is in peril.”
“At least let me try to make things right,” Derek pleaded.
“No. You’re going back,” William said. “I have my orders. Archangel Michael…”
“Michael be damned!” Derek fumed. He was so angry he wasn’t certain what he was saying.
William cast him a swift, penetrating glance and suddenly light burst on Derek, almost like a bolt from heaven.
“Michael!” he gasped. “He is the traitor! Michael was the one who sent me into that trap at the jazz bar. Michael refuses to let me use my powers. He said I was just supposed to spy on Rachel, not try to help her. And now Michael wants to send me away, just when she is in danger. I am right about him, William. And you know it!”
William heaved a sigh. “I don’t know it. Not yet. I’m working to try to prove it.” He glared at Derek. “And you’re not helping.”
“How long have you suspected him?” Derek asked grimly.
“A long time. Truth be told”—William gave a wry smile—“my suspicions began when Michael chose me for this job. And he didn’t argue that much when I suggested you. We’re neither of us ‘angels’ if you take my meaning. I couldn’t help but wonder why he picked the two of us.”
“Because he thought we’d screw it up. This changes things,” said Derek. “You have to let me stay now.”
“No, I don’t,” said William sternly. “You have almost screwed this up! You broke the rules. You can’t be trusted, Derek. Now I’m sending you back and that’s that. If you continue to defy Heaven, you’re going to lose your chance to return.”
“I do not care. I am not going back,” Derek said angrily. “I’d rather live my life out here and take my chances. Your heaven is not my heaven, William. It never was.”
William raised his hand, reached out for Derek. “I’m going to send you back now—”
Derek clenched his fist and gave William a sock on the jaw that knocked the angel to the ground.
“I am sorry, old friend,” Derek said remorsefully, checking to make sure William was all right. He hadn’t hit him hard, just enough to knock him out for awhile. “But I cannot go back. Not now. I won’t leave her.”
A streak of lightning blasted across the sky. Thunder cracked. The ground shook beneath his feet. Rain poured down on him. He glanced up at heaven. “Yeah, I guess that clinches it, doesn’t it?”
He started to pick William up, intending to carry him to a bench, but this didn’t turn out to be that easy. William was unaccountably heavy. Derek struggled to pick up the unconscious angel and lug him onto a bench. He didn’t think much about it at the time; nor did he think about the fact that he felt a sudden twinge in his back. He was too worried about Rachel. Derek carefully put William’s hat on his head to protect him from the rain.
Everything was falling into place. Michael was the traitor and that was why he’d picked Derek and William for this mission. They’d been sent here to fail. They weren’t supposed to succeed in stopping Zanus.
A sudden, terrible thought stopped Derek dead in his tracks. Michael had outwitted him and William. Michael had known Derek wouldn’t go quietly. He had known Derek would argue with William. He’d known Derek would refuse to go back.
His heart constricted. He’d left Rachel alone…
Derek raced back to the building, running through the pouring rain, his fear nearly suffocating him.
He bounded up the stairs and reached for the door handle. Mr. Fraym, the building manager, stood blocking his entry.
“You’re not coming back in here, Derek. Ms. Duncan filed a complaint. She says you tried to assault her. You’re fired.”
“She would not say that!” Derek said through clenched teeth.
“She didn’t have to. Her friend, Mr. Zanus, left a message on my voice mail. He said she was too distraught to talk.”
Blood pounded in Derek’s ears. “Zanus!…Mr. Fraym, you have to let me in!”
“The owners don’t want you on the property—”
“Then call the cops!” Derek gave Fraym a shove that sent the man reeling backward.
Derek ran for the elevator and jumped in. The doors closed before Fraym could catch up to him.
Of course, Fraym would call the police. Derek would have to deal with that later. Right now he had to find out about Rachel.
He reached her door and banged on it.
No answer.
Maybe Zanus was in there, holding her hostage.
Derek had her spare key, but it was in his room and he didn’t dare go back down there in case the police had arrived. He raised his hands, pointed at the door, and summoned his angelic powers. He would blast the door to Hell and back…
He waited expectantly for the rush of warmth. It didn’t come. Instead, he felt a rush of fear, a terrible emptiness, and the weight of his flesh and his bones. He was human, just plain human.
He stared grimly at the door.
“So be it,” Derek said.
Turning his shoulder, he flung himself at the door and smashed into it. The pain brought tears to his eyes. He grit his teeth and hit the door again, with all his strength. This time, it burst open.
He ran inside. The apartment was in shambles. A table had been overturned. A lamp lay broken on the floor.
Rachel and Sampson were both gone. He had no doubt that Zanus had taken them.
And Derek had been stripped of his powers.
Twenty
Derek tried hard not to give way to despair, but he found it hard to think, hard to let go of blame and guilt. “This is all my fault,” he muttered. “I should never have left her alone.”
Then he lifted his head, a tiny spark of hope flaring inside him.
Rachel wasn’t alone! Sampson was with her!
Derek had searched the apartment, but he’d found no trace of the cat. Of course, there was always the possibility that Zanus had gotten rid of the cherub for good this time, but Derek didn’t think so. He would have found blood, a body.
Derek started for the door. William was always urging him to have faith. Well, he would. He would have faith that Sampson and Rachel were together. He had some doubt as to what use the cherub might be to her, but he had no doubt at all about Sampson’s loyalty and courage.
Derek ran down the stairs. Reaching the lobby floor, he paused in the stairwell, opened the door a crack, and looked out. He wouldn’t have been surprised to see the lobby filled with policemen, but it was empty, except for Mike sitting at his desk—Mike, the new doorman.
Derek smoothed his hair, opened the door, and walked out. He moved purposefully, with resolution, as if he belonged here.
“Where is Mr. Fraym?” Derek asked curtly.
“In his office,” said Mike, looking up. Of course, he was clueless, as usual. “What are you doing here? Didn’t you get fired?”
“I was upstairs returning a key. I think there has been a break-in in one of the apartments. Rachel Duncan’s. The door is smashed in and she is not there. I thought I heard scre
ams—”
“My God!” Mike bounced to his feet. “I’ll go tell Mr. Fraym!”
He dashed off. Derek looked at the log but Zanus’s name wasn’t there. He made a bolt for the door and clattered down the wet stairs to the sidewalk. A white limo was waiting there, its driver sitting in the car, a bored expression on his face.
Derek pounded on the window and the driver rolled it down.
“Did you see a large black limousine pull up? Maybe you saw a woman getting into that limousine?” Derek asked.
The driver shook his head. He rolled the window up and went back to looking bored.
Derek was baffled. It had to be Zanus! Unless he’d sent some of his minions. Derek headed to the back entrance of the building. A couple of women on the house keeping staff were there, having a smoke under an awning to keep out of the rain. The women smiled when they saw Derek. He was something of a favorite. One shook her head as she tossed her cigarette butt to the pavement.
“Hey, kid, I heard about you getting fired. Too bad.”
“What are you going to do?” asked the other one.
“I will manage,” Derek said, pleased and touched by their concern. “Say, did either of you see a black limousine pull in back here?”
The women both nodded. “Yeah! What’s with that?” asked one.
“We thought it was strange,” added the other, “but the driver said there was no place to park out front. That Ms. Duncan and her rich boyfriend got inside.”
“She’s a nice lady,” said the other. “Always smiles and says hello and thank you. Not like some of them.”
“Did you hear him give the driver directions?” Derek asked urgently.
The women shook their heads.
“How did she look?” Derek asked, his heart pounding. “Was she…all right?”
The women exchanged glances. “She looked pretty upset, but she wasn’t hurt, if that’s what you mean. Why, is something wrong?”
“Maybe. I am not sure. Did she have anything with her?”
The women thought back.
“Her purse,” said one, and the other nodded in agreement. “A big purse.”
“She wasn’t carrying…uh…a cat?”
The women stared at him. “What would she be doing with a cat?”
Derek sighed in frustration. Zanus had taken Rachel away, probably by force. But Derek still had no idea where they’d gone.
“Well, thanks,” he said disconsolately.
“Sure, any time. I hope things work out,” one of the women told him.
Derek nodded. He thrust his hands in his pockets, turned around, and walked headlong into William.
The angel had water dripping from his hat. His clothes were soaked through. He was regarding Derek with a stern frown.
“You can’t do anything to me now,” Derek said bitterly. “Michael has taken away my powers. I am human. Flesh and blood and bone. So you cannot send me back. The only way I am going back to Purgatory is the standard way—death. Now, if you will excuse me, I have to find Rachel.”
Derek started to walk past the angel. Then he paused. He didn’t turn around, he felt unable to face him. “You have been good to me, William. You have saved my butt more than once. I am sorry I let you down. I am sorry I hit you. I hope I did not hurt you—”
He felt warm pressure on his arm. Astonished, he looked down, saw William’s hand resting there. Derek stared at the angel.
William gave a rueful smile. “You didn’t hurt me. You knocked some sense into me. After I regained consciousness,” he said dryly, rubbing his jaw, “I started thinking about things. I realized I’d become so obsessed with proving that Michael was a traitor that I had lost sight of our real goal, which is to protect humanity. I gave way to my own feelings, Derek. Just like you gave way to yours. Only yours are at least worthy feelings. Mine, I’m afraid, are feelings of outrage, and the desire to wring Michael’s neck.”
“So what do we do?” Derek asked eagerly. “How can we prove Michael is the traitor? He has to be removed, William. He will stop us if he can, and we have to save Rachel.”
“I have an idea on how to catch Michael, but I must return to Heaven to do it. You’ll have to carry out your part down here.”
“I will,” said Derek. “Just tell me what to do.”
William fished around in his pocket, brought out a crumpled bit of paper. “Here’s the address where Zanus took Rachel. His office is near the Merc on South Wacker Drive.”
Derek seized it thankfully. “How did you get this?”
“Michael gave it to me.”
Derek looked at him.
“Yes,” said William. “It’s another trap.”
“I don’t care.” Derek thrust the paper into his jacket pocket. “I do not suppose you could give me back my heavenly powers?”
William shook his head. “No,” he said sadly. “I’m afraid not. Only God can do that.”
Derek reached out, shook William’s hand. “Thank you again—for everything.”
He went racing down the alley at a dead run. He’d have to find a cab and that wouldn’t be easy in the rain…
“Derek!” William called.
Derek skidded to a halt, turned around.
“You need to get Zanus to cross over, to take his true form. Like those demons at the jazz club.”
“What good will that do, besides get me killed,” Derek demanded. “In his true form, he can unleash his full power.”
“Faith, Derek,” William said testily. “You’ve got to have faith. Remember, son, humans have powers of their own. As strong as angels,” he shouted as Derek was running off, “because it’s all the same power—the power of love.”
As Derek ran, he thought about what William had said. He loved Rachel with all his heart. He only hoped that William was right, that love would give him strength.
He was going to need it if he was going to go up against an archfiend.
Derek had not prayed in a long time. He had not prayed to God since those futile prayers in that dungeon. He prayed now and he realized, ashamed, that praying with love in your heart is much different than praying with a heart filled with anger, as had been the case when he thought God had abandoned him.
“I am not asking for anything for myself, Father,” Derek said, the wind catching his words and whisking them out of his mouth. “Please watch over Rachel and guard her and keep her safe.”
He felt better after the prayer, as if he had found another comrade to join him in battle.
And, there, at the end of the alley, defying all odds and expectation, was a taxi.
Twenty-one
Seated in the limo, which she had once thought so cool and elegant and which now she hated with a passion, Rachel looked out the window into the rain-smeared night. She was trying to avoid touching Zanus, who was sitting close beside her. She wondered where he was taking her. She knew Zanus had an office somewhere. He’d mentioned it before, but she had no idea where it was located.
She kept her bag close to her. Every so often, she put her hand inside and stroked Sampson’s fur, feeling the comforting warmth of his body that lay curled up at the bottom of the bag. She had been afraid that Sampson would meow or start purring, but the cat seemed to know that he had to keep silent. She wondered fleetingly if Louis Vuitton had ever guessed anyone would be using one of his expensive bags to secretly transport a cat.
Rachel’s thoughts turned to Derek. She loved him. She knew that now. She had been falling in love with him for a long time, maybe ever since that night he’d followed her into the ladies’ restroom. She had no idea who he was or where he’d come from or why he was here. None of that mattered. What did matter was that he loved her and cared about her and that she loved him. Not because he took her to Paris for champagne or to Rome for spaghetti. Not because he bought her expensive bracelets.
She loved him because he had followed her into the ladies’ room.
Because he had told her that she wore silly shoes.
<
br /> Because he threw a grape at her.
Because he laughed with his entire body.
Because he had offered to stay with her when she faced ruin, disgrace, prison.
That was why she loved him.
He is ennobled by love and so is she, Rachel thought, remembering what he had told her on the day of their picnic. Their love for each other makes them better people.
She would probably never see Derek again, but she was determined that if she died tonight, as she was certain she would, at least she would die with courage. Derek would be proud of her.
The limo stopped in front of an empty office building. Rachel looked about frantically, but could see no signs of life—no lights in any of the windows of adjacent buildings, no friendly tavern on the corner. Across the street was a ware house. The building next door was under construction. This neighborhood would have been bustling with people during the day, but it was deserted at night and Rachel’s last hope flickered out. She had been counting on the fact that there would be people around—people returning from restaurants or out late walking their dogs. There might even be a policeman on his beat or a squad car patrolling the street.
But the sidewalk was deserted. The building was not only empty, there was a large “For Sale” sign in front of it. The driver opened her door. Rachel tensed, ready to leap out and make a run for it.
As if he could read her mind, Zanus clamped his hand over her arm, digging his fingers into her flesh.
“You’re hurting me,” she cried, flinching.
“Get used to it,” he said harshly, and shoved her out the door.
He stopped to confer with the driver. “Go back to headquarters. Tell everyone to be ready.”
The driver nodded, and, getting into the car, he drove off.
Keeping his hand like a vise on her arm,
Zanus propelled Rachel up to the front door of the empty office building. He drew out keys, unlocked the door, and pulled her inside.
The place was pitch dark. He turned on a flashlight and shoved her across the floor and toward a bank of elevators. She didn’t speak to him, nor did he speak to her. She tried desperately to think of some way to escape, but there didn’t seem to be any way out.
