Mels relocked her eyes on Jim, and then she grimaced and rubbed her temple like it was aching.
Things turned into a convention at that point, with other construction people arriving, along with hospital staff, security, and a couple of cops who’d heard the crash.
When the worker who’d fallen through the ceiling was finally put on the stretcher, he opened his eyes. Blue as the sky now. Not black.
Not a surprise.
Man, that demon had some kind of balls: If the conventional theory of a higher power held true, then the Big Guy Upstairs knew everything that happened, at every moment, all over the planet—from each blossom that bloomed to the feathers on a sparrow, to…big hulking construction workers who free-fell into break rooms at major metropolitan hospitals because they’d been temporarily possessed.
No doubt Devina had intended that chunk of the building to fall down on Mels. And wouldn’t that have been a destabilizer in the game: Matthias finally bonds with a chick, and then she dies on him?
Great setup for decision making.
And to think Jim had assumed the demon was being too quiet?
Keeping free of the congestion, he disappeared himself, figuring that Mels would assume he’d walked off. Instead, he stayed put, and stuck close to that reporter—and had to admit he was impressed. She was a tough bird, answering the questions that hospital security gave her, keeping tight for her friend as well as the guy who’d done the microscoping, working with crowd control as the injured SOB on the stretcher was removed from the scene.
She looked around from time to time, as if she were searching for someone, but in the end, all she could do was describe her “savior” to the St. Francis security set. She didn’t name names, however. Then again, she didn’t really know who he was, did she.
As far as Matthias’s reporter was concerned, he just bore a striking resemblance to a dead man. That was it.
Funny, much as Jim didn’t approve of so much his old boss had done over the years, he found himself not faulting the guy’s taste in the opposite sex.
And he was going to have to get her and Matthias together ASAP. Not just because it would make defending them easier, but who knew when the crossroads would come…and Matthias would have to choose his way.
The more time his former boss spent with that female…the better off they were all going to be.
Where the hell was “Jim Heron,” Mels wondered when she and Tony were finally free to go.
“Good thing I had that food,” her buddy said as they got back on the elevator they’d taken down to the basement a lifetime ago. “It’s frickin’ eight o’clock.”
“Yeah.” She pushed the
Tony’s palm landed on her shoulder. “You okay?”
She took a deep breath as they began to rise. “Don’t ask me that until we get upstairs. Between my car accident and what just happened, I’m worried there’s another big crash coming my way. Things happen in threes, you know.”
“That’s just superstition.”
“I hope you’re right.” To think she’d been worried about the morning coffee stain/fingernail three-pletion. This current streak of catastrophe she had going on was way over and above anything that could be handled with a Tide-to-Go and an emery board…. after a moment, she said, “Ah, Tony, I have another favor to ask you.” God, was she really going to do this?
“Name it.”
“Remember when I asked if you knew someone in ballastics? I need a bullet casing analyzed.”
“Oh yeah, sure—I got a couple of guys I can call. What’s your timeline?”
“As soon as possible.”
“Let me make some calls and see who’d be willing to do it for you.”
“You’re a lifesaver.”
“Nah. That guy down in the basement? He’s the hero.”
“Don’t shortchange yourself.”
As they arrived at the lobby, she stepped out and…well, what do you know. Jim Heron, or his twin brother— or whatever—was waiting across the way, lounging against the wall, looking as inconspicuous as any six-foot-plus guy who was built like a brick shithouse could be.
Putting her hand on Tony’s arm, she stopped him and gave him back his keys. “Hey, I’m going to cab it home, okay?”
Her friend frowned. “I can take you back—it’s not that far out of the way.”
“I’m going to head over to the newsroom—”
“It’s late and we’ve had a hell of a night already.”
True enough—and chances were good she was going to be reliving the near miss for a while. But she wasn’t losing her chance to talk to the superhero who’d stepped in at just the right time…and who now appeared to be waiting for her.
Mels leaned in and gave her buddy a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Tony said good night and ambled off toward the revolving doors. As he took out his phone, she was willing to bet he was calling for takeout, and for some reason that made her like him even more.
Pivoting around, she clashed eyes with Heron—or whoever he was—and found his casual stance was nothing to be fooled by. His size alone was vaguely threatening, and that grim expression didn’t make her think of daisies and daffodils, either.
And yet she wasn’t afraid as she went over to him.
Bullshit this man was a twin…
Then again, why hang around a public place where someone might recognize him as she had?
“I thought you’d left,” she said.
“Nah, I’ve been here all along.”
“Business at the hospital?”
“You could say that.”
“Security wants to talk to you.”
“I’m sure they do.”
As he fell silent, she waited for something, anything, to come back at her. There was nothing. He just stood there, meeting her stare as if he were prepared to do that for the next hundred years.
“I suppose I should thank you for saving my life,” she muttered.
“No reason to. I’m not sentimental.”
“Well, you look like you’ve got something to say to me—”
“Matthias needs you.”
Her brows popped; then she glanced away fast. And even though she’d heard him just fine, she muttered, “I’m sorry?”
“Can you come with me? He’s back at the hotel.”
Mels looked at the man again. “No offense, but I’m not going anywhere with anybody. And if you don’t mind my asking”—not that she cared if he was offended down to the tips of his combat boots—“what is he to you?”
“An old friend who I’m trying to help. He hasn’t been right for a long time, and the way he talks about you gives me hope.”
Now she just blinked. “He doesn’t know me any better than I know him.”
“Does that really matter?”
She laughed in a hard burst. “Ah…yeah. It does.”
Jim Heron’s “twin” shook his head. “Look, I’ve been worried about him for years, okay? He’s heading for a brick wall right now, flailing around, searching for purpose, and I’m exactly that kind of asshole to drag anything and anyone into this who will help him find his way.”
“And you think that’s me?”
“No. I know it’s you.”
She let loose another laugh. “Well, you should have seen who he was having breakfast with earlier
