was what redemption must look like. When he saw me looking at him, he smiled. When I smiled back, he took my hand.
I was asleep before we got home.
Twenty-six
Later, Ex told me that Chogyi Jake had appeared on the doorstep of Eric’s old house the morning after Coin had died. His motorcycle was marred by deep, white scratches on the left side, and Chogyi Jake himself had a bruise on his back that looked like he’d been whipped by a bullwhip with legs like a centipede. The forces of the Invisible College had chased him just the way we’d hoped. They’d been in pursuit before he’d gotten six blocks from the house. He’d eluded them, but only just. Midian had never arrived at the airstrip that I’d reserved for his flight out. We didn’t know if he’d made it or not, a fact that haunted me for a long time. Chogyi Jake slept for fourteen hours, but I hadn’t noticed at the time, since I crashed for almost twenty.
I woke in my bed, only half aware of where I was and what had happened. I’d stumbled out to the main room in a T-shirt and sweats to find Ex very slowly preparing one of Midian’s frozen meals and reading a new, deeply anonymous report that had been dropped off on my doorstep.
Randolph Coin had been killed in something that looked like a drug-trade hit. His personal secretary, Alexander Hume, had also been shot and killed. The police were investigating, and it appeared that the attack was linked to a heroin and prostitution operation in Boulder. Aaron was mentioned by name as being part of that investigation.
That was the first three pages. There were nineteen others that followed. I’d wolfed down potatoes and green chili and two cups of black coffee while Ex read the report out loud. By the end, Chogyi Jake and Kim had joined us in the kitchen, all of us listening to Ex declaim the words of my lawyer.
When we’d all gone over it twice, I called Aubrey and he answered. We’d gone to see him as soon as we could, and now Chogyi Jake and I were almost done bringing him up to speed.
He looked pretty good for a guy who hadn’t been in his own body for over a week. His eyes were bright, and his smile came out often and with almost no prompting. He even had his hair washed and cut. Apart from the skimpy little hospital gown, he was the picture of health. Way ahead of the rest of us. He flipped through the report, his eyebrows slowly sliding up his forehead.
“They’re falling apart,” Aubrey said.
“Just the way Eric said they would,” I said. “The Invisible College just took a long dive into an empty swimming pool. Coin was the linchpin. All of the things he’d done in the world fell apart when we killed him.”
“Including my coma. It sounds like it was quite the experience,” Aubrey said. “I’m sorry I missed it.”
“I wouldn’t be,” I said. “It was mostly not fun.”
“All the more reason I should have been there,” Aubrey said.
“Next time,” I said, and put my hand on his knee. It was a small gesture, that touch. Not even skin against skin. Still, I could feel him tense at it, and then relax.
“I can’t believe you called Kim,” he said, with something like a laugh, except it was a little forced.
“Kim’s all right,” I said. “I like her.”
The atmosphere grew tense. Chogyi Jake cleared his throat and rose.
“I’m sure there’s a restroom around here somewhere,” he said, and made his discreet exit. The other bed in the suite was empty. Aubrey and I were alone. Tentatively, he took my hand. I had the powerful memory of being in his apartment, in his bed. I looked away, willing myself not to blush.
“I owe you,” Aubrey said. “After it all went south, I would have thought you’d run. And instead you…you did it. You went after him. You won.”
“Well, it was that or leave you as neurologically active broccoli,” I said. “It seemed like the right thing to do. Besides which, they killed Eric. It wasn’t like I could just let it slide.”
“It was brave,” he said.
I felt a flash of annoyance, and Aubrey must have seen it. He sat back, suddenly tentative. He started to take back his hand, but I held on and tugged him toward me.
“It’s not that I don’t appreciate you saying that,” I said, “but would you have said it to Kim or Ex? Or Chogyi Jake? Hell, Midian? Sure, I was a brave little bunny and rose to the occasion, but so did everyone else. Any of us could have gotten killed or worse. It wasn’t just me.”
“I’m sorry.”
“And stop apologizing,” I said. “Condescending and apologizing for it are really not the combination you’re looking for. Aubrey, I’m glad as hell you’re back. I missed you. But you’ve got to stop thinking of me as the lost little girl you met at the airport. She’s gone.”
“And how should I think of you?” he asked. His voice was low. It was a charged moment. I could have said anything. Think of me as your friend. Your lover. Think of me the way you thought of Eric. Think of me as your wife’s confidant.
“I’m working on that part,” I said.
THE STORMS had broken the summer heat’s back. As I left the hospital, climbed up into Chogyi Jake’s van, and headed out toward the house, it felt like autumn. Still T-shirt weather, but not the assaulting sweat-down- your-back kind. It was like the city and the sunlight had reached some kind of peace. I rolled down the window as we drove, my arm lolling out into the wind of our passage the way it had when I was a kid.
Chogyi Jake and I got back to the house in the early afternoon. Ex was waiting for us, sitting on the couch with his shirt off, and a wrapping of bandages shoring up his cracked ribs. Wide bruises peeked out at the edges. His hair was loose around his shoulders, making him look vaguely angelic.
“How’s the invalid?” he asked.
“Aubrey’s fine,” I said. “The doctors are a little freaked out by a guy in a coma for eight days not having a whole lot of brain damage. I wasn’t going to tell them that the damage was spiritual. They don’t like that kind of talk.”
“Makes them think you’re a religious nut,” Chogyi Jake agreed as he closed the door.
“How are you doing?” I asked.
“I’ll live,” Ex said.
“You should see a doctor,” Chogyi Jake said.
Ex shook his head carefully.
“I don’t want any records of this,” he said. “You go to the emergency room, they just ask questions. How did it happen, why didn’t you come in sooner. Then there’s police asking if you want to make a statement. Before long, they start putting us together with what happened to Coin. There’s nothing they can do for a broken rib except wait for it to grow back together, and I can do that on my own.”
“Besides which, he’s weirdly into pain,” I said to Chogyi Jake. “Thinks it makes him a better person.”
“It’s manly, at least,” Chogyi agreed, picking up on my teasing tone.
“If one of you happens to have a Percocet, I wouldn’t say no,” Ex said sourly, but he also smiled. “Aaron and Candace called to make sure everyone was all right. Things appear to be going well in their neck of the woods. I’m still having them check in four times a day until we’re certain the remnants of the College haven’t traced anything back to them.”
“I wish they’d stayed here,” I said. “Eric’s protections-”
“Are worn to nothing,” Chogyi Jake said. “If they were still pushing, they’d have broken through by now. And not being around us has a certain protective aspect too,” Chogyi Jake said.
“I know,” I said, putting down my backpack and looking into the kitchen. “It’s just I want everyone where I can see them. It makes me feel better. Where’s Kim?”
Ex started to shrug, then winced and went a little pale.
“She left just after you did,” Ex said. “Called a cab. I figure she’s probably in an airplane back to Chicago by now.”
I looked from Ex to Chogyi Jake and back. There wasn’t a reason to be surprised. She’d never said she was
