Turning Angel

me, knocking me back onto Mia.

”Is he dead?“ she grunts, trying to scramble out from under me.

There’s an Asian boy lying half on top of me. I don’t know if he’s dead or not, but he’s still clutching a pistol in his hand. I slam my father’s Browning against his elbow. Nothing happens. Not even a reflex jerk.

With great effort, I roll the kid off us and pull Mia to her feet.

”What do we do?“ she asks, her chin quivering. ”Where do we go?“

”Up. Back to the suite.“

We race up to the mezzanine elevators. The wait is almost intolerable. When the door opens, I’m so nervous that I nearly fire a slug into the empty car, but we board, and before long I’m opening the door to Quentin’s master suite. I thought the gunfire would have awakened half the hotel, but no one on the seventh floor seems to have noticed anything.

Inside the suite, I go straight to the window. Flashing red and blue lights bounce off the buildings on Pearl Street. The cavalry has arrived. Blue lights mean police, red lights the sheriff’s department. It seems everyone has responded to Chief Logan’s distress call.

Mia walks up beside me, panting. ”Who was that? Why did they do that?“

”Those kids killed Sonny Cross. I guess they never left town after all.“

The phone beside the sofa rings. I pick it up. ”Hello?“

”Mr. Avery?“ says the desk clerk.

”No, this is Mr. Cage.“

”Hold, please. I have someone who wants to speak with you.“

A ragged voice says, ”Penn? Are you okay?“

”Don?“

”Yeah.“

”We’re okay. Is it secure down there?“

”Yes. We’ve got the PD and the sheriff’s department here now.“

”What the hell were you doing here?“

”I’ll explain in a minute.“

”Is my car still down there?“ I ask, desperately wondering about my leather portfolio.

”No. The guy who had the drop on you stole it and made a run for it.“

”Did you catch him?“

”Not yet.“

”Don…I shot a guy on the mezzanine staircase.“

”We found him. He’s dead. Why don’t you two come back down? It’s completely safe, and we’re going to need you to answer some questions.“

”We’ll be down in a minute.“ I hang up and look at Mia. ”Are you up to talking to the police?“

She nods slowly. ”I guess. God, my mother’s going to freak. “

My laughter starts as a chuckle, then blossoms into full-throated hysteria. Mia soon joins me. After we calm down and walk into the hallway, I consider waking Quentin. There’s really nothing he can do tonight. And since Chief Logan, the hero of the hour, can’t stand to be in the room with Quentin, it’s probably best to let Drew’s lawyer sleep. Especially since it looks like I lost Cyrus’s threatening e-mails.

Quentin can cuss me out in the morning.

The lobby of the Eola looks like the site of a terrorist attack. More than a dozen uniformed cops and deputies move through the capacious room with their guns at the ready, eyeing each other suspiciously. Chief Logan is standing by the doors he was shooting through only minutes ago. At his feet lies the body of the boy who murdered Sonny Cross. I seat Mia in one of the club chairs and walk over to him.

”Hey, Penn,“ Don says, his voice muted. ”The girl okay?“

”Yeah. I need to get her home, though.“

”Who is she?“

”Mia Burke. She was a friend of Kate Townsend.“

”I see,“ says Logan, but his eyes tell me he doesn’t see at all.

”It’s a long story.“

”I’ve got time. Why do you think they attacked you?“

I point at the corpse. ”Probably because I saw this punk kill Sonny Cross. They were wiping out the only witness against them.“

Don looks down at the boy’s shattered skull. ”He doesn’t even look human anymore. Are you sure that’s the same kid?“

”Positive. I knew it the second I saw his face.“

Logan looks relieved. ”Good.“

”What were you doing here? I mean, if you hadn’t been…we’d be dead.“

”An off-duty cop called in a report that he’d seen a black Lexus near the hotel this afternoon. I knew this was Avery’s command center for Drew’s defense, and I knew you’d seen the Asians hit Sonny. I haven’t been sleeping too well the past couple of nights, so I took a ride downtown. I saw you go into the hotel with the girl. I decided to hang around and see what was gonna happen after that.“

I clap him on the shoulder and squeeze hard. ”I owe you, buddy.“

He shakes his head. ”Just doing my job. Sonny Cross may have worked for the sheriff’s department, but I knew him for most of my life. He was a good cop. He shouldn’t have died the way he did.“

”No.“ I look around at the deputies prowling the lobby. ”Who called the sheriff’s department?“

”I did. They were closer.“ Logan laughs quietly. ”When the chief of police calls the sheriff’s department for help in this town, you know he’s desperate.“

As I chuckle, Chief Logan turns to make sure no one is within earshot. ”Did they take anything from you, Penn?“

I think about the evidence lost in the car. ”No. Just the car.“

He watches me carefully. ”I imagine we’ll find that soon enough. You sure there’s nothing in there I need to look for, if we find it?“

The chief must have seen the portfolio in my hand when I walked across the lobby with Mia. ”Spell it out, Don.“

He looks over at two deputies talking a few yards away ”I’m talking about something you wouldn’t want to accidentally get lost before it could be returned to you.“

Christ.If things have come to the point where the police chief can ask me this, this town is truly in bad shape. I look deep into Logan’s eyes. I don’t know him well-we’ve talked a few times at our daughters’ softball games-but what I see in his face now convinces me that the time has come to take a chance. I hate to rely on anyone but myself-especially with a friend’s life at stake-but sometimes you have to have a little faith. I lean toward Don and speak in a whisper.

”There was a leather portfolio in the car. There were two computer flash drives in it, and one envelope. I need that stuff bad, Don. Drew’s life depends on it.“

Logan nods. ”What’s in the envelope?“

”A hair from the head of Marko Bakic.“

The chief’s head snaps up, his eyes questioning.

”Find that car, Don.“

”We will. You just make sure I know everything I need to know.“

”I will. Can I take Mia home now? I have a feeling she’s barely keeping it together.“

Logan blows out a stream of air and looks back at the men moving through the lobby. ”I guess we can take a statement from her tomorrow.“

The crunch of glass heralds the approach of someone from the tunnel. My relief at being released evaporates at the sight of Sheriff Billy Byrd. The sheriff stops before the body on the ground and leans forward to look down past his gut. Then he surveys the lobby through the shattered doors.

”Christ on a crutch,“ he says in his heavy drawl. ”They told me it looked like a war zone. I never thought I’d see something like this in my town.“

Chief Logan offers Byrd his hand. The sheriff takes his time about shaking it.