reminded him as we entered his chilly apartment.

I kept expecting Harley parts and clutter. Max had been a mechanic with a very loose bookkeeping system and no interest in domesticity, but he probably had a cleaning service these days. And no engines to take apart. One more fine mechanical mind lost to white-collardom.

“Isn’t it lovely that the buzzards are circling before the body is even cold?” I asked, rather than mourn what was no longer. Max was at least back here on earth instead of stuck in the outer rings of hell. For that, I should be grateful.

He opened the bar, poured himself a bourbon, and gestured to ask if I wanted anything. Figuring I needed a clear head for this argument, I didn’t take him up on the offer. My Max would have been swilling cheap beer, my drink of choice. I didn’t think there was any point in learning to swill the hundred-dollar-a-gallon stuff.

“The media is all over the story, by the way,” he said. “Thanks for the warning. It gave the speechwriters time to spin a good ‘we need to be with family’ press release so I could dodge questions I couldn’t answer.” He sipped his drink and stared into the dead fireplace. He didn’t realize I had the answers. After all we’d been through, he should have.

“Cold, Max. Does the family care at all?” I asked out of curiosity.

He shrugged. “Gloria alienated almost everyone over the past years. I’m not sure how Dane endured her. She’s been demanding I visit, but my getting shot has its advantages. I worked that injury for months. I couldn’t have for much longer.”

I didn’t know how to tell him that he’d been procrastinating over a demon. Had Sarah’s mother been literal or metaphorical about demons walking the earth? I’d seen enough to vote for literal, even if they were disguised as grannies.

To be truthful, I was still a little restless from that sexual battle in the hall, so I wasn’t as focused as I should have been. I didn’t have the hots for the Dane standing there, but I still wanted the Max I heard talking. Listening to him ripped me down the middle.

“I assume you’re here because of Andre,” he said before I could summon a proper response.

“You were never stupid,” I said grudgingly. I didn’t like being so obvious. Oh well, time to lay it on the line. “Seen any more of Dane in the fire? Or do you want to turn that thing on and see if Gloria pops up?”

I picked up the gas remote and waved it like a wand at the logs, but I didn’t push the buttons. I didn’t want to see Dane any more than he did.

“Why should Gloria pop up?” he asked irritably. “Andre killed her. She has no reason to haunt me.”

“Because she’s Dane’s grandmother, and she’s probably dancing in the fires of hell now and realizing her grandson’s down there with her instead of up here.” I threw the remote aside like a hot potato just thinking about it. I much preferred the days when I thought hell was a figment of Bible Belt folklore.

Dane/Max struggled with his better self and, instead of saying something karmically nasty, resorted to trusting me for a change. “Do I want to know why you believe Gloria is in hell? Or is this old news?”

I hadn’t told Andre about the Gloria-fiend I’d seen, but he had enough on his mind. And he’d never visited hell, as Max had. I could trust Max to believe me if I said I had seen a demon. Although he’d probably go ballistic if I told him I’d been at Gloria’s house with Andre. Warped priorities. Still, I needed him to believe that Andre had done the world a favor.

“Long story,” I warned. “Better take a seat. It’s been a really bad day.”

“Yeah, tell me about it.” He sank into a comfy pedestal recliner and put up his feet, sipping his bourbon as if he’d been born to luxury. Well, actually, he had. I just hadn’t known it when we were dating.

The opulence made me antsy. Or just hearing Max made me horny. Whatever. I curled up on the couch and refused to look at him as I recited my tale of woe from the gas cloud on. I left out our battle over the homeless guys in the basement and that Sarah had been caught mid-shift. I just said we’d rescued a friend from the plant and verified that Acme was covering up their disaster.

I didn’t want to tell him that I’d been invisible, so I glossed over my time at Gloria’s by saying I’d been hiding, and that no one had known I was there. I didn’t think Max would encourage me to act as a witness under those circumstances.

He rubbed his hand through his hair when I was finished, glanced longingly at the bar, and gallantly resisted. “Gloria turned into a demon?” he asked in incredulity. “Are you sure Andre didn’t gas her into one?”

“Gloria had you killed!” I shouted. “Gloria and Dane were up to their stinking asses in crap. You know that. They’re holding hostages in their dungeon! Haven’t you found evidence of what they’re doing at Acme yet? Or have you been too busy tossing bimbos to try?”

That brought him back to the Max I knew. He glared. “You never were one to win votes with your sterling personality and charm. I can’t interfere in Acme’s business. Period. You sure you want Andre to go free?”

“Damned right I do!” I was running out of steam now that I’d said my piece. I sighed and shoved my mass of hair out of my face. “You really don’t want me running things in the Zone while working out of the judge’s office in my spare time. Right now, the media is crawling all over. Do you want me zapping them?”

That ought to give him pause. I’d literally blown reporters away the last time they got in my way.

Since he had his stubborn face on, I continued my argument. “The Zone needs Andre, not me. So no matter what you think of him, we have to persuade a judge to bond him out. I’m not asking for money. I’m simply asking you to use your influence as Gloria’s grandson. Say she had become senile and violent lately. Tell them Andre’s story is credible, and that your mother’s security guards are capable of collusion. Tell them anything you want. You know they’ll listen.”

“That burns, doesn’t it?” he said wryly, unexpectedly. “I always resented Dane’s influence. I’d always thought that if I’d had his power, I could change the world. It’s not as easy as it looks from the outside.”

“Cry me a river,” I muttered. “You’ve got it a lot easier than the rest of us.”

“In some ways,” he agreed. “But every good deed requires payback. If I make a few calls, they’ll expect favors in return. I swear, some of these guys have scorecards in their heads that date back decades. I’m thinking of creating a spreadsheet to keep up with who owes what to whom and why.”

“Try deciding whether sending someone to hell is worth years of eternal damnation,” I said. “I’m thinking if I visualize anyone else into danger, I’m cutting my life short here on earth. We’re both walking on quicksand.”

Max had been in hell when I’d done most of my mumbo jumbo, but he’d been aware on some level that I’d been throwing my Saturnian weight around. He seemed interested and tired as he fit my complaint with his little bit of knowledge. Apparently deciding he didn’t need to know more, he nodded.

“You really think Acme has invented some kind of gas that causes violent reactions?” he asked, succinctly nailing down my case.

“That’s the only conclusion we can reach. I figure they thought they were developing a weapon, but that’s what happened as far as we can see. I’m no scientist, but even Paddy agrees.”

I’d been hesitant about mentioning Dane’s crazy-inventor father, but if Max would help me, I had to let him know that his new family wasn’t entirely what they seemed.

“Paddy? And you believe a crazy guy?” he asked with rightful suspicion.

“I think he’s crazy like a fox. Now that Gloria’s not breathing the flames of hell down his back, he’s making sense. You want that story, too?”

He shook his head. “Not right now. Let me make some calls before everyone’s gone to bed. Does Andre have a lawyer yet?”

“Just me, for now. Julius is on it, but I have a feeling that the sooner I bail Andre out, the better off the world will be.”

“That almost makes sense. Let me flip through Dane’s call list and see what I can do. I hate making cold calls and not knowing if Dane’s made an enemy or a pal of whoever is on the other end.” He pulled out his smart phone and began scrolling through his contacts.

Not wanting to listen in on any uncomfortable discussions, I wandered around the big room. I really wanted to find his office and bedroom and see if there were any signs of my Max in Dane’s elegant home, but I was too edgy. My nerve ends felt like they’d spit bullets if crossed. I didn’t want to imagine Andre losing his cool in some crappy jail cell with perverts and drunks while I looked for a reason to hook up with an old boyfriend.

Because that was pretty much what I was doing: looking for excuses to trust Max again. It wasn’t smart, safe, or entirely rational, just my hormones talking.

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