infrared. Charlie watched over his shoulder.
“The guy I bought the house from installed this system,” Tommy said. “I recorded this one night about a month ago. I couldn’t even see it until I slowed the video down thirty times. Anything generating heat shows up asyellow, orange, or red. Things that are cold show up as green, blue, or deep blue-violet.”
He clicked on a file that showed something, an entity of some sort, registering deep blue, moving from the woods to the edge of Tommy’s house. Then it passed through the wall, exiting a moment later.
“Not sure what it was doing here. Maybe just trying to scare us.”
“What did you think it was?”
“Dani and I think it was a demon,” Tommy said, looking to the angel for confirmation. “The handheld infrared seemed like a good way to detect the presence of a demon.”
“Sounds about right,” the angel said. “But doesn’t your heart tell you when evil is present?”
“Yeah, but it’s hard to be certain sometimes,” Tommy said. “There’s so much of it around.”
“Tell me about it,” Charlie said.
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure,” the angel said, glancing briefly at the sports page lying on Tommy’s food island. Tommy had grabbed the newspaper from the picnic pavilion where he’d spoken with Carl, intending to read it later.
“I used to play with him,” Tommy said, realizing Charlie was looking at the photograph of Tommy’s former teammate. “You follow football?”
“A little,” Charlie said.
Tommy usually knew when somebody wanted to talk football. This didn’t feel like one of those times.
“Why are you here?”
“I’m here to help you.”
“Help me how? I mean us . Help us how?”
“It depends on the situation,” Charlie said.
“So you can’t say? Or you don’t know?”
The angel nodded enigmatically. “This is my first time.”
“Your first time what?”
“Here,” Charlie said. “On Earth. I came here tonight to tell you something. Someone you trust will betray you.”
“Who?”
“That’s all that I know. But how you handle it will be critical.”
“Okay, but—”
“And tell your friend he should try to sign with the Patriots,” Charlie said.
“Do you know who’s going to win the Super Bowl?”
The angel shook his head. “No. We just like Bill Belichick.”
“Huh,” Tommy said. “That explains a lot.”
He glanced down at the sports page. When he looked up, Charlie was gone.
Tommy picked up his RAZ-IR PRO infrared thermal camera, went out to the back porch, and scanned the forest behind his house. The woods were cool, greens and blues, save the yellow outline of a small raccoon lurking in the underbrush, waiting for his chance to raid Tommy’s garbage cans. He scanned the ground, hoping to find a set of warm footprints leading away from his house. Nothing. When he pointed the sensor toward the heavens, he saw an array of stars, orange points of light against a blue background, which was odd because the sensor wasn’t able to read the heat from stars in space. It could have been something other than angels he’d detected in the sky above him, but he doubted it.
The phone rang and Dani answered.
“What’s up?” she heard Tommy say.
“Nothing much. I ate at my sister’s. She wants me to bring you over some night for dinner.”
“I’d like that.”
She wasn’t sure why, but she decided not to tell him what the angel had said to her, not until she’d had time to give it more thought.
“What are you doing tomorrow?” Tommy asked.
“I want to have a look at the brain tissue analysis on Amos Kasden. The ME ordered a full workup.”
“Okay.”
“I also need to tell you what I learned today when we viewed Abbie Gardener’s body.”
“And I want to have another look at the interview we did with her,” Tommy said. “Oh, and I told Carl everything. He’s in.”
“That’s good,” she said. “Call you tomorrow?”
Tommy agreed and hung up. He’d
“The guy I bought the house from installed this system,” Tommy said. “I recorded this one night about a month ago. I couldn’t even see it until I slowed the video down thirty times. Anything generating heat shows up asyellow, orange, or red. Things that are cold show up as green, blue, or deep blue-violet.”
He clicked on a file that showed something, an entity of some sort, registering deep blue, moving from the woods to the edge of Tommy’s house. Then it passed through the wall, exiting a moment later.
“Not sure what it was doing here. Maybe just trying to scare us.”
“What did you think it was?”
“Dani and I think it was a demon,” Tommy said, looking to the angel for confirmation. “The handheld infrared seemed like a good way to detect the presence of a demon.”
“Sounds about right,” the angel said. “But doesn’t your heart tell you when evil is present?”
“Yeah, but it’s hard to be certain sometimes,” Tommy said. “There’s so much of it around.”
“Tell me about it,” Charlie said.
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure,” the angel said, glancing briefly at the sports page lying on Tommy’s food island. Tommy had grabbed the newspaper from the picnic pavilion where he’d spoken with Carl, intending to read it later.
“I used to play with him,” Tommy said, realizing Charlie was looking at the photograph of Tommy’s former teammate. “You follow football?”
“A little,” Charlie said.
Tommy usually knew when somebody wanted to talk football. This didn’t feel like one of those times.
“Why are you here?”
“I’m here to help you.”
“Help me how? I mean us . Help us how?”
“It depends on the situation,” Charlie said.
“So you can’t say? Or you don’t know?”
The angel nodded enigmatically. “This is my first time.”
“Your first time what?”
“Here,” Charlie said. “On Earth. I came here tonight to tell you something. Someone you trust will betray you.”
“Who?”
“That’s all that I know. But how you handle it will be critical.”
“Okay, but—”
“And tell your friend he should try to sign with the Patriots,” Charlie said.
“Do you know who’s going to win the Super Bowl?”
The angel shook his head. “No. We just like Bill Belichick.”
“Huh,” Tommy said. “That explains a lot.”
He glanced down at the sports page. When he looked up, Charlie was gone.
Tommy picked up his RAZ-IR PRO infrared thermal camera, went out to the back porch, and scanned the forest behind his house. The woods were cool, greens and blues, save the yellow outline of a small raccoon lurking in the underbrush, waiting for his chance to raid Tommy’s garbage cans. He scanned the ground, hoping to find a set of warm footprints leading away from his house. Nothing. When he pointed the sensor toward the heavens, he saw an array of stars, orange points of light against a blue background, which was odd because the sensor wasn’t able to read the heat from stars in space. It could have been something other than angels he’d detected in the sky above him, but he doubted it.
The phone rang and Dani answered.
“What’s up?” she heard Tommy say.
“Nothing much. I ate at my sister’s. She wants me to bring you over some night for dinner.”
“I’d like that.”
She wasn’t sure why, but she decided not to tell him what the angel had said to her, not until she’d had time to give it more thought.
“What are you doing tomorrow?” Tommy asked.
“I want to have a look at the brain tissue analysis on Amos Kasden. The ME ordered a full workup.”
“Okay.”
“I also need to tell you what I learned today when we viewed Abbie Gardener’s body.”
“And I want to have another look at the interview we did with her,” Tommy said. “Oh, and I told Carl everything. He’s in.”
“That’s good,” she said. “Call you tomorrow?”
Tommy agreed and hung up. He’d
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