CHAPTER TWENTY NINE


Oscar bid us off the next morning. He smiled an aged smile and extended a
small turquoise bag with an explanation of, "Abagail wanted you to have it. She
said it'd bring you clarity."


"Clarity." I noted as I took the fragile present.


"When things aren't clear."


"Okay. Tell her thanks. It means a lot."


"And she don't hold no grudge that you threatened her life when you were
interrogating me." Oscar grunted with a gruff smile.


Jace laughed in the background as he was bestowing our bags in the car's
trunk.


"Don't hold no grudge, huh?"


"Yep. You heard me right."


"So she holds a grudge."


"I just said…"


I waved him off. "I got it. She's okay with me, enough to give me a
gift."


"If she held a grudge, she would've poisoned all those casseroles in your
kitchen."


Jace came up beside me and remarked, "Good thing we didn't get around to
eating them."


Oscar turned halfway towards the cabin when he offered, "You can take one
with you, eat it on the way."


"No! That's okay." I said hurriedly. I lifted the gift and said again,
"Thanks for this. Tell her that."


"I will. She said that you're going to need it."


Eyes like pewter flashed in front of my eyes, but I heard Jace joke, "She's
going to need it. What about me?"


A laugh that emanated deep from Oscar's throat trickled out and he followed
it with a swift punch to Jace's jaw.


Jace recovered instantly, but held a hand to his jaw as he asked, "What—"


"That's for getting me stabbed." Oscar grunted.


"Oh." And Jace didn't say anything else on that subject. He thumped the car
with a closed fist and shoved Oscar's big bulk as he passed through to the
driver's door. "Get off and go make love to your woman."


Oscar muttered something inaudible underneath his breath, but Jace laughed
carefree as he climbed inside the car.


"Did you really think I was searching for completion?" I asked Oscar,
remembering a conversation before everything else got muddled and turned upside
down.


Oscar remembered without prompt and nodded, gravely, "I bury the dead for a
living."


"You do a lot more than that, my friend." I sighed, but grinned at the same
moment.


"I do. And I always get a sense from them. Only a few found what you're
searching for. I think you're right farther along than most of those dead folk
in the ground."


"I couldn't bury the dead."


"You get a different perspective on life, you do."


"It's a little hair-raising for me."


"Ah. I got the trees to keep me company."


"The soul-living trees, right?"


"The soulful trees. That's right."


I remembered their ever-so-still statues and remembered how Oscar had passed
along their eyes to my back. I felt them at every turn and in every corner. When
I said that they glared their breath down on us, I really meant every word. I
felt their fierceness and I couldn't surpress the shivers that reclaimed my arms
again.


Oscar barked a deep laugh again and shook his head, "I feel their eyes, I do,
but I never said they scared me. They're right comforting if you let them know
who you are. They're as scared of you as you are of them."


Jace leaned out the car and called out, "Stop scaring the shit out of Maya
and get back to work."


Oscar kept laughing as he pounded my back in a farewell punch and meandered
away.


When I got in the car, Jace shook his head, but laughed underneath his
breath. "Don't believe a damn thing he says."


"You don't believe in the supernatural?" I asked as Jace drove towards the
airport two hours away.


"I believe we have enough hell on this earth, I don't need to worry about
what else goes bump in the night when I know the worst demons are the breathing,
bleeding, and thinking kind that we call humans." Jace said swiftly.


"How come I say supernatural and you jump to demons." I mused.


"Because I've seen enough of 'em to know they exist, they just ain't
supearnatural about how humanly they really are."


"What about angels?"


Jace laughed softly and relented, "Maybe the angel of death."


"Some people might call you a cynic."


"Some people might call me a realist."


"Some people might call you a cynic for only believing that you're a
realist."


"Spoken like a true optimist."


"Maybe optimists are the actual realists."


"And maybe we're talking in circles that's just wasting our air?" Jace shot
back, but with a smile. "Let's focus on the demons that we're going to encounter
in a few hours."


"Or the devil, himself."


"No." Jace spoke, calmly. Patiently. "God. Marcus is god, remember?"


"Marcus is anything, but a god." I said faintly.


"And you're the avenging angel."


I smiled, brightly, and exclaimed, "Finally, you see it. You should not cross
me, Jace Lanser. I am the avenging angel."


"Who shall wreak havoc in one's flying wake." Jace prophesied.


I sobered and breathed out, "Okay. What's the plan for when we get
there?"


"Pretty much?"


"Pretty much." I confirmed.


"You go in, find one of Marcus' men and tell them that I'm patiently waiting
outside, blindly thinking that you're giving some cover story that you're Ben's
mother to get in to see him. You tell them where I'm sitting and sit back."


"That's it?" I asked, incredulously.


"That's it. The rest is up to me."


"You're leaving a lot to chance, aren't you? I mean, what if they've already
removed Ben? I wouldn't see him at all."


"Just play your part and trust that I've survived this long to do my part."
And Jace patted my knee. He actually patted my knee.


"Don't pat my knee." Like I'm some child to be reassured.


Jace grinned and offered up his knee, "You can pat mine."


"And don't do that."


"Do what?"


"Try to…I'm not a child."


"Right now you're acting like one."


"Oh my god!"


"See?" Jace pointed out. "That's kinda childlike."


"Oh. My. God."


"Very dramatic, just like a teenager."


"Seriously?" I warned him, tightly.


"Seriously." Jace mocked, but laughed as I cursed. "I have never heard you
swear. Good to know it's in you."


"I curse." I muttered darkly.


"Yeah. When you're caught, like when I called the phone that you were using
to eavesdrop on my conversation."


I had cursed then.


"Rule number one for this roadtrip," I proclaimed, crossed my arms, and
glowered from the seat. "No talking."


Jace's lips twitched when he asked, "Can I sing?"


"I said no talking."


"Can I hum?"


"No. Talking."


"I have to fart."


"Oh my god!" I cried out. "What is with you? We're going into a locked down
facility with my psycho ex's son lives and you're joking about farting."


"Is that what you're wired about? I thought it was because you had another
nightmare last night." Jace reflected, seriously.


"I don't want to talk about that."


"You're going to have to." Jace said quietly, all joking had fled. "Because
those are your demons. Marcus is your demon because you haven't done everything
you can to exorcise him. He's just going to keep popping up in your head till
you do it."


"Can we go back to rule number one?" I asked, weakly.


"I mean it." Jace insisted. "Stirley's right. This is my world. I know the
rules. I know the after-effects and I know all about demons, living or
supernatural. And what we're about to walk into, it's another day in my office,
but it's not my demon that we're going to meet."


"I'll deal with it when I deal with it." I said harshly. "Now I'd expect some
consideration and let's not talk until we get there."


Jace studied my side profile for a moment, sighed, and then murmured as he
looked back to the street, "Fine."


I nearly wept in relief, but for some reason they weren't as welcomed as I
thought they would've been.


The rest of the trip consisted of a drive to the airport, a private jet
funded by the DEA, and a private landing strip that insured our safety as we
immediately dispatched from the grounds in a nondescript black transport vehicle
until we found ourselves just outside of Ben's home for the last five years.


It was then that I murmured softly, "I've met him once, but I know that
Marcus adopted him when he was four. He's nine now."


Jace was wise to not comment, but he pulled out a phone and handed it to
me.


"What's this?"


"They're going to search you. Give them your old phone and keep this one in
your shoe."


"What if they ask me to take off my shoe?"


And Jace whipped out some tape and replied, "That's why you're going to tape
it to the top of your shoes, on the inside."


"Are you serious?"


"I'm serious."


"That's going to hurt."


"It'll be worth it." Jace said tightly and perused the school's grounds
again. "Okay. You go in, find your guy, and tell them that I'm out here waiting
for you."


"And then what?"


"And then I will run away and they will chase me. You'll be left all alone
with Ben to protect."


"And voila—I get the book?"


"You get the book." Jace remarked casually, almost dismissively.


I reached for the doorhandle, sighed, and turned back, "This isn't going to
go how it's planned, is it?"


"Probably not, but I'm very good at impromptu."


Me too, but that's not what I was worried about.


The parking lot expanded from around the massive building to a river front
that opened onto a busy walking path loitered with walker, roller-bladers,
runners, dogs, and baby carriages. We arrived during the busiest time of the
day, for the noon meal break, and as I got out of the car, I tried to remind
myself that this was a con just like any other, but it wasn't.


Inside lay a bridge to my past and I was walking away from my old window of
escape.


No matter what Jace proclaimed, something wasn't right and a knot of dread
took root in my stomach. It got tighter and tighter the closer I got to the
front door.


I circled around the building and walked towards the two massive pillars that
turned a simple residential home into a hotel's structure. I half expected to
see a bellhop materialize to offer his hand with my luggage.


There was even red carpet rolled out from the sliding glass doors and a desk
behind, but instead of tuxedo vested employees, three older ladies sat with
phones to their heads and another row of offices lined against the wall where
professional-looking greeted the customers from the waiting lounge.


The glass doors closed behind me and I knew I was on my own.


I noticed the first receptionist wore a pendant that matched the violet
sweater underneath and her lily-colored dress pants. Her eyes were green and
shone piercingly underneath the auburn-dyed hair that cascaded in curls around
her face, framing her heart-shaped cheekbones.


Her fingers paused over the keyboard as she met my gaze and I knew I was
right.


Her name was Cameron and she was on Marcus' payroll. She was the first of
four that I saw.


Marcus normally only kept two staff on his payroll, but I knew he would've
transported twice the number after he sent out his bait for this trap.


I approached Cameron calmly and said, briskly, "I'm here to visit Ben
Mallon."


Cameron studied me, narrowed her eyes, and then pressed a button underneath
her keyboard.


A security guard appeared from a back hallway and I was led behind him,
through a metal detector, feeling like I'd just sold my soul to the devil and
was getting a chauffeured ride to hell. He frisked me and took the cellphone,
just like Jace had predicted. I didn't have anything else on me, so I was left
alone.


His nametag read his name to be Matthew, but I highly doubted it was.


When he stepped off into another bleak hallway than the one we had just come
from, I knew we weren't going to the children's room areas.


I was proven right when an office opened and I recognized Petrie standing in
the backroom with an empty chair that sat across a desk from a man in a
three-piece business suit.


"Nice to see that you're still skinny as ever and the same largest head I've
ever seen." I greeted. "You always reminded me of a bird with your beak-like
face."


Petrie sucked in his breath, but the three-piece business suit cleared his
throat quickly.


He wore a dashing smile underneath a golden mass of curls, but they were
trimmed to allow a handsome appeal that lent him a model's grace when he stood
and offered a firm handshake, "Hello. My name is Darren. Have a seat." He
gestured to the empty chair.


I sat and waited.


He checked the clipboard and leaned forward, playing his part to perfection,
"I'm told that you're here to visit with Ben Mallon. Is that correct?"


Petrie watched with dull dead eyes.


"That's right." I murmured.


"You look scared." Petrie said flatly.


"Do I have reason to be?" I replied, coolly and sat back.


Petrie stepped forward, placed one palm on the desk, and said faintly, "You
stabbed me, bitch."


"You killed my friend." I countered.


"That was business."


"Not to me."


Darren stood and cleared his throat, "Okay. Since we're going to just skip
all the niceties, Petrie, back off."


And to my surprise, Petrie did, but with a last lingering glare my way and a
warning look sent to Darren. As he stepped back to the wall, it clicked in place
and I spoke, "So you're not in charge, huh? You must've gotten demoted and here
I thought that you'd be at the top till you died."


Petrie smiled an ugly grimace, but said nothing.


Darren took center stage and sat on the desk as his legs swung over to rest
three inches from my own.


He straightened his tie and clapped his hands in a heartfelt manner. "Okay.
I'm new to this team, but I've come to gather that there's quite a bit of
history between the two of you."


"I want to see Ben." I stood up.


"For what? To hand him off to your new lover?" Petrie snarled. "What are you
doing here, Maya? I never thought you'd be stupid enough to actually walk into
this place."


"Yeah, well," And I played my own actress card. "I didn't fill Jace in on the
whole plan."


Petrie stilled.


"I never told him that Marcus owned the building."


Darren coughed and held a restraining hand in Petrie's direction. He said,
"Okay. I'm running this operation. You need to stop talking or you need to leave
this room."


Petrie pushed off the wall, but said as he left the room, "Marcus is on his
way. So be warned, you walked into the lion's den and we bite."


I rolled my eyes as the door shut behind him.


Darren offered a polite smile and indicated the chair again, "Please. Have a
seat and we can talk calmly now."


As he sat, I leaned forward and spoke, "Look, I know that you're probably not
going to believe me, but I've had a change of heart. I want Marcus back and I'm
offering you an olive branch."


"I'm listening."


"Jace Lanser is outside in your parking lot. He's in a black SUV and he's
actually waiting for me to leave with some book that he thinks Ben is keeping.
So there you are. You can have him and I get to see Marcus."


Darren smiled briefly and said softly, "You offer that like you think there's
another option."


"What do you mean?"


"Rueban's right. You walked into the lion's den and seeing Marcus is a given
for you. You walked in, you're not walking out."


A knock sounded at the door and Petrie stuck his head inside.


"Romeo's disappeared." He tsk tsked and enjoyed his torment when he murmured,
"Seems your olive branch knew you'd doublecross him. He took off."


"What?"


"That's right, Mayan. What was the plan? That you'd come in, pretend to
deflect, and we'd be distracted while he went after the book?" Petrie enjoyed
his ruthlessness. "He never even got out of the car. He just drove off."


No, no, no, no, no.


"I wasn't lying, Darren." I said quickly. "I want to talk to Marcus."


Darren put his papers together and held the clipboard in one hand while he
struck a model's pose, his hand on his other hip, "You're going to get your wish
whether it's a play or not. Marcus left a meeting to get here. E.T.A. is thirty
minutes."


Petrie held the door open, grabbed my elbow, and dragged me behind as we left
the bleak hallway for an exit door.


Three black Lexus parked and the back door opened for the middle car. Petrie
pushed me inside. He stayed outside and a second later, I was surprised when
Darren took a seat with me while Petrie was left in the cold.


"Where's he going?" I asked, tightly.


"Marcus gave me firm instructions not to let you be alone with Rueban. I do
my job."


"You're a therapist here, aren't you?"


"Yes and I'm in charge of this operation."


"Where's Ben?"


"Safe. Not anywhere near where you or Jace Lanser might get ahold of
him."


I sighed and settled back against the cool leather seat.


Darren studied me, appraised my figure, and drawled, "If you were any other
man's woman, I'd lay claim here and now."


"Thanks." I replied, darkly.


"Come now. You've got your wish, right? You're on our side and you're going
to see your Marcus very soon."


"Yeah." I looked through the windows, but I couldn't see any signs of Jace.
As the cars left, trailing one after another, and as we arrived at a hotel, I
couldn't help but wonder if Petrie was right.


Jace had left me high and dry and I was on my own, once again.


With my demon traveling in earnest and no sign for escape.


We walked into the hotel from a back entrance. As we took a back elevator
with men stationed at the doors to keep the rest of the customers away, I
glimpsed the same 92F Beretta pistols encased in their holsters.


Marcus was still alive for a reason, but I remembered Stirley's warning.


Jace could get to Marcus, no matter the where, why, or how many. He just
chose not to, but the knot threatened to choke my insides as I realized that I
probably wouldn't make the list of reasons to break whatever cemented reason
Jace had for keeping Marcus alive.


We stepped off on the sixteenth floor and entered another suite guarded by
four men. All were heavily armed and I wondered how miraculous Jace Lanser
really was.


Darren led me inside and I saw three plush couches that circled around in a
bottom level. We stood on the top level and three bedrooms opened onto this
mini-stadium. A flatscreen television looked more like a theater screen that
hung above the couches.


Darren saw my perusal and trailed down the three steps to push a button a
remote. The theater screen moved down from the ceiling and rotated to fit just
in above the glass doors that opened onto another shimmering pool that reminded
me of Gravon's suite.


Darren nodded to the left and remarked, "There's a kitchen, complete with a
macchiato machine and any other expresso beverage you wish to drink. It's all in
there. I think you can even make Belgum waffles at the push of a button, but I
wouldn't know. I try to keep to a model's diet with greens, little to no carbs,
and lots of protein."


I felt suffocated, but asked, "Where's Ben?"


Darren indicated one of the closed doors. "He's sleeping. He takes a nap from
1:00 to 3:00 every afternoon. He needs his rest."


"Is that part of his treatment?"


"No. That's just him being a kid." Darren sighed. "You seem tense. I would've
thought that you'd be ecstatic. You're back in Marcus' good graces, away from
Lanser, which—just so you know, no one but Marcus believes that fairytale. You
can cry that you were under duress the whole time, but you stabbed Petrie twice.
You didn't do that under duress."


He stepped closer and slid a finger down my arm. He sucked in his breath as
goosebumps sprung on my naked skin.


"I generally don't enjoy risking my livelihood, but I'm thinking you're
excellent at playing the seductive mistress. Maybe it'd be a ride of a lifetime,
hmm?"


"Get away from me." I hissed.


Darren chuckled huskily and stepped closer. He swept a hand down to my hand
and moved to flatten his palm against my stomach.


"For what it's worth, I get it."


"What do you get?" I rasped out.


"Mallon's blind love in you. You're a magnificient being." He pressed against
my back and moved his mouth to whisper in my ear, "If I could feel you
underneath me, I'd look the other way too."


Jace had insisted that I couldn't take my blade. It wouldn't have gotten
through the metal detectors, but I gritted my teeth and ached for that blade
now. I remembered why I always kept it within reach, just in case I ran across
slime like Marcus' newest employee with model looks.


Petrie knocked on the door, pushed inside, and stopped abruptly at the
sight.


Darren stepped back languidly.


Petrie shook his head and only commented, "She's a viper, Mathison. You don't
want to get too close."


Darren laughed and remarked, "How can I not be tempted?"


Petrie snorted in disgust, "She's a black hole that's going to be the end of
us all. Stay away from her or Marcus might have your head thrown to the
alligators."


"You still do that?" I smirked and fought off a grimace of distaste.


Petrie watched me knowingly and mocked, "Wouldn't you like to know."


I rolled my eyes and asked, "When is Marcus getting here?"


"How long do you have to get the book, you mean?" He countered swiftly as he
poured a drink from the liquor cabinet. He took a sip and leaned against the
counter, "You know, Lanser's a pain in the ass, but he's not superman. He can't
save you, not here, not right now."


Darren's phone rang. He hesitated and Petrie snorted in disgust, "I'm not
going to kill her in the two seconds it takes you to answer the goddamn phone.
Answer it."


Darren swiftly cursed, but answered it and left the room.


Petrie threw back the rest of his drink and grimaced faintly as he said
hotly, "Marcus is a blind fool. We all know that except him, but he calls the
shots. You need to know that I don't believe for a second that you're here to
get back in Marcus' good graces. You're terrified right now because loverboy
can't save you. You're trapped and you were fool enough to fall for Lanser's own
betrayal. He does anything to get ahead and even if that means offering you up
as a sacrifice to pull Marcus away from a very big meeting."


I narrowed my eyes.


Petrie saw the slight flash and smiled cruelly, "Lanser didn't tell you that,
did he? He wanted you to be seen. Lanser wanted Marcus here and he knew the only
thing that would get him here was to offer you because, you see, Lanser couldn't
be at that meeting. He knew it was going on, he knew when, but he didn't know
where so he offered you as a distraction. Pretty cold, isn't it, even for a cold
heartless bitch like yourself."


"You're lying." But everything was starting to make sense…


Petrie saw that too, he saw the doubt and relished in it. "No." He smiled,
smugly. "Lanser has men in Marcus' encampment. Marcus knows that too, but he
doesn't know how big of a threat Jace Lanser really is. He doesn't even know
half of it. So I'm telling you that I'm making it my oath on this earth. I am
going to find every agent that works for Lanser and I'm going to cut out their
tongues and fuck them with it. Believe you, me."


A door opened behind us and a small voice asked, timidly, "Uncle Petrie?"


Petrie bit back a silent curse, but pulled away smiling broadly, "Benny!"


"Uncle Petrie!" Ben's nine year old chubby cheeks broke out in dimples. He
squealed in delight and hurled himself over the couch and into his 'uncle's'
arms.


It was the second time that I saw Marcus' only spot of decency. And he had
his arms tightly wound around the devil's own angel of death.


Jace wasn't coming to save me. I knew it then like I knew my years of freedom
had just been stripped away—again, but this time I didn't choose to sacrifice
myself.


It was set-up, another martyred lamb that Jace had led to the slaughter.