tired.” He pointed across the room. “Can I watch TV? It looks like he has cable.”
Ellen wanted to say no. But why? The kid was still a kid, after all. And she was completely wiped. She could rest, just for a bit. Not sleep—her nerves were still jangling. But rest. She could do that. On top of the covers.
“Okay. Just nothing with naked ladies.”
William sighed.
—
Ray awoke feeling like someone was stepping on his head. He moaned. What time was it? All the lights were off except for a lamp in the corner of the room, but even its muted light felt like knives in his eyeballs.
Mantu was in the computer room with the door shut. Ray heard his voice rising in anger but couldn’t make out the words.
He stumbled to a water cooler and took several long drinks out of a tiny plastic cup. It felt like his head had been sitting under a heat lamp all night. Why had he drank so much? It was never a good idea to finish off an entire bottle of liquor, even with a friend, but two bottles? Had they even stopped at two? He couldn’t remember. Christ. His life was becoming one long chain of bad decisions.
They were leaving today. Off to the place everyone called Eleusis, where the big kahunas of the Brotherhood coordinated their political skullduggery and did their weird ESP research. And where they wanted him—had been begging him, in fact—to stay. To help them in their attempts to talk to angels. Mantu had called them angels with a straight face.
He wanted nothing to do with it. How could he explain that to Ellen?
Oh, honey, I’m sorry, but I have to leave you and William wherever you are to go help a bunch of lunatics talk to angels.
Seriously—
angels
? She’d laugh in his face.
And the thing he had seen come through in Blackwater on that terrible night was definitely not an angel—not even close. Unless you counted the fallen ones.
—
Mantu opened the door. He was sweating and his jaw was set tight.
“You okay?” Ray asked.
“My head feels like you cracked it open and pissed inside it,” he answered. “I’ve been shaking since I woke up and my mouth still tastes like puke. Yeah, other than that, I’m fine.” He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. “But, hangover or not, we gotta get on the road. Jeremy wants us back right away.”
“Did he say anything about Ellen and William?”
Mantu nodded. “They’re doing a sweep. By helicopter. No signal yet, but they’re widening the scope. Shouldn’t be long.”
“Unless that plane took them to somewhere way out of range. Like Russia. Or back to fucking West Virginia. Or if whoever took them found their locators and threw them in the bottom of a lake.”
Mantu sighed. “We’ll find them.”
“Yeah. You’d better. Because I’m not playing any talk-to-the-angel games with your Brothers until you do. I mean it.”
“Get yourself cleaned up. There isn’t a shower, but you can use the sink. We’re rolling out in twenty minutes.”
Ray stood and felt the room tilt. “That’s the last time I drink with you.”
Mantu snickered. “Shit. You don’t know how many times I’ve heard that before.”
Chapter Four
William splashed in the pool while Ellen sat trying to read an eight-month-old Spanish-language issue of
Vanity Fair.
In spite of the heat she was wrapped in a white terry cloth robe. No way was she going to let the creep see her in a bathing suit. He’d had an entire wardrobe delivered to their room—all designer labels, or maybe they were knockoffs. Having spent her adult life wearing her waitress outfit supplemented with clothes on sale at Walmart, she certainly couldn’t tell the difference between the real stuff and the fake anyway. But she recognized the names on the labels: Versace, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, stuff she had seen only in magazines. Jeans, tops, six pairs of shoes, and, most unsettling of all, a black nightgown that was what her mother would have called, with a blush, an “intimate.” She’d put on pink
Ellen wanted to say no. But why? The kid was still a kid, after all. And she was completely wiped. She could rest, just for a bit. Not sleep—her nerves were still jangling. But rest. She could do that. On top of the covers.
“Okay. Just nothing with naked ladies.”
William sighed.
—
Ray awoke feeling like someone was stepping on his head. He moaned. What time was it? All the lights were off except for a lamp in the corner of the room, but even its muted light felt like knives in his eyeballs.
Mantu was in the computer room with the door shut. Ray heard his voice rising in anger but couldn’t make out the words.
He stumbled to a water cooler and took several long drinks out of a tiny plastic cup. It felt like his head had been sitting under a heat lamp all night. Why had he drank so much? It was never a good idea to finish off an entire bottle of liquor, even with a friend, but two bottles? Had they even stopped at two? He couldn’t remember. Christ. His life was becoming one long chain of bad decisions.
They were leaving today. Off to the place everyone called Eleusis, where the big kahunas of the Brotherhood coordinated their political skullduggery and did their weird ESP research. And where they wanted him—had been begging him, in fact—to stay. To help them in their attempts to talk to angels. Mantu had called them angels with a straight face.
He wanted nothing to do with it. How could he explain that to Ellen?
Oh, honey, I’m sorry, but I have to leave you and William wherever you are to go help a bunch of lunatics talk to angels.
Seriously—
angels
? She’d laugh in his face.
And the thing he had seen come through in Blackwater on that terrible night was definitely not an angel—not even close. Unless you counted the fallen ones.
—
Mantu opened the door. He was sweating and his jaw was set tight.
“You okay?” Ray asked.
“My head feels like you cracked it open and pissed inside it,” he answered. “I’ve been shaking since I woke up and my mouth still tastes like puke. Yeah, other than that, I’m fine.” He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. “But, hangover or not, we gotta get on the road. Jeremy wants us back right away.”
“Did he say anything about Ellen and William?”
Mantu nodded. “They’re doing a sweep. By helicopter. No signal yet, but they’re widening the scope. Shouldn’t be long.”
“Unless that plane took them to somewhere way out of range. Like Russia. Or back to fucking West Virginia. Or if whoever took them found their locators and threw them in the bottom of a lake.”
Mantu sighed. “We’ll find them.”
“Yeah. You’d better. Because I’m not playing any talk-to-the-angel games with your Brothers until you do. I mean it.”
“Get yourself cleaned up. There isn’t a shower, but you can use the sink. We’re rolling out in twenty minutes.”
Ray stood and felt the room tilt. “That’s the last time I drink with you.”
Mantu snickered. “Shit. You don’t know how many times I’ve heard that before.”
Chapter Four
William splashed in the pool while Ellen sat trying to read an eight-month-old Spanish-language issue of
Vanity Fair.
In spite of the heat she was wrapped in a white terry cloth robe. No way was she going to let the creep see her in a bathing suit. He’d had an entire wardrobe delivered to their room—all designer labels, or maybe they were knockoffs. Having spent her adult life wearing her waitress outfit supplemented with clothes on sale at Walmart, she certainly couldn’t tell the difference between the real stuff and the fake anyway. But she recognized the names on the labels: Versace, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, stuff she had seen only in magazines. Jeans, tops, six pairs of shoes, and, most unsettling of all, a black nightgown that was what her mother would have called, with a blush, an “intimate.” She’d put on pink
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