Killing Pretty (9 page)

“I'm sorry, but I don't know what else to tell you. I'm as confused as you must be. But I appreciate you giving me a place to stay.”

Candy says, “Stark knows what it's like being lost somewhere you don't want to be. Isn't that right?”

“Sure. I've been to Fresno.”

He pulls away the bandages over the hole where his heart should be. The wound has closed. There's just an ugly scar the size of a man's hand. He touches it and winces.

“You don't believe me, do you? When I say that I'm Death.”

“How do you know that?”

“I know you. We've met before. More than once.”

Candy puts a hand on my arm. I take Death's bandages and toss them, like the can, to Kasabian. He pulls his hands away like I tossed him dirty diapers.

“I don't remember you. If you're Death, why didn't you take me?”

“There's dying and there's dead,” he says. “You were on the cusp, so I let you decide, angel.”

“Half angel.”

“That's why I came to you. I don't trust other angels right now.”

“You finally said something I understand.”

He turns and looks around the store like he's seeing it for the first time.

“I'm cold.”

“I have some things that might fit you.”

I turn to Kasabian.

“You want to bring him down some stuff? You know where the closet is.”

“Sure,” he says, overjoyed for an excuse to leave.

Death watches him go upstairs. He looks at the floor, wiggles his toes like he's not sure if they're attached to his body.

“How can I prove to you that I am who I say I am?”

“That's the problem. I
do
believe you. I've been trying to figure out a way around it, but I can't. The real trick is figuring out what to do with you.”

“What do you propose?”

“You can stay here for as long as you need,” says Candy.

“Thank you.”

I take the pack of Maledictions from my pocket and light one. Death sniffs the smoke and sneezes. I don't put it out. When things get weird, sometimes you just have to smoke.

“Our boss, Julie, is going to want to talk to you. She's the brains. We'll figure out what to do after you've talked. That okay with you?”

“That sounds fine.”

Death gets distracted by the movie again. Kasabian creeps down the stairs with a pile of clothes in his arms.

“I didn't know what he'd like.”

“So you brought everything I own? Just set it down on the counter.”

I point at Death.

“You. Come here.”

He walks over. I hold up one of the few Max Overdrive T-­shirts left that doesn't have bullet holes or my blood on it.

“That looks like it'll fit. Try it on.”

He slips the shirt over his head. And gets tangled in it. Candy has to help him get it on.

I toss him some pants. He looks them over and starts to put them on backward.

“The other way around,” I tell him.

He navigates the pants better than the shirt. I toss him a pair of socks and he figures those out right away. Boy genius will be ready for
Jeopardy!
any day now.

“Is that better?” says Candy.

“Yes. Thank you for these.”

“Just don't get cut open again. Those shirts are rare.”

“I'll try.”

“Maybe he's hungry,” says Kasabian.

“You hungry?”

“I don't know,” he says. “My stomach hurts.”

“You shouldn't take pills on an empty stomach. Let's order some food,” says Candy.

I toss Death a black hoodie to wear over the T-­shirt. Candy helps him put it on. I look at her looking at him. She's not scared of him. Another one of the things I like about her. I put out the Malediction. No reason to torment the poor slob.

I say, “You like Thai food?”

“I don't know,” he says.

“Let's find out.”

“Don't worry. We'll get everything mild,” says Candy.

He looks up at the big screen.

“Can I watch something else? Something where ­people speak?”

“We might have one or two of those. What do you think, Kas?”

“No action movies. Nothing with guns or explosions. I don't want him getting ideas.”

Death zips the hoodie, then looks at Kasabian.

“We've met before,” says Death.

I smile in Kasabian's direction.

“That's right. He blew his dumb ass up.”

“Lucifer was the one who brought you back, wasn't he? I like him. He has a funny sense of humor.”

“Tell me about it,” Kasabian says.

“Maybe cartoons?” says Candy.

Kas raises his eyebrows.

“Some of your fucking anime with monsters and robots? I don't think so.”

“What about a musical?” Candy says.

Death looks from her to me.

“You like music?” I ask.

“Oh, yes.”

Kasabian says, “Okay. Fred Astaire or Gene Kelly?”

“Definitely Gene Kelly,” Candy says. “He's the sexy one.”

“
Singin' in the Rain
?”

I pick up the rest of my clothes.

“Can't go wrong with a classic. We're going upstairs to call for food. You need anything?”

Death shakes his head.

“No. Thank you.”

Candy and I head to our place. Kasabian follows us halfway up the stairs.

“Don't leave me alone with him.”

“Relax,” I tell him. “Get him a chair. Give him a donut or whatever else you have stashed behind the counter. Put the movie on and play nice. We'll be in earshot.”

“How are you going to pay for the food? We haven't rented much since Mr. Charisma got here.”

“As it happens, I helped a guy with his wallet and some of his cash fell into my pocket. He's a whiner and he'll overbill the agency, so it will all balance out in the end.”

“What do you want when we order?” says Candy.

“Green curry with pork. Extra spicy. None of the baby food you're feeding him.”

We start up again.

Kasabian stares downstairs and says, “Stark. What if you help this guy and he, you know, calls us in? I mean, we were dead. What if he wants to make it permanent?”

“Then I'll kill
him
and we can all go to Hell together.”

“That's a fucking comfort,” he says. Then, “I want some of those fried shrimp rolls too.”

We go upstairs. A minute later the overture to the movie starts.

When we're alone, Candy laughs.

“You finally bring me back here and there's Death waiting for us with his cock hanging out. You know how to make a girl feel at home.”

“Did you really expect a normal homecoming?”

She flops onto the sofa.

“Never. I'm drunk and hungry. Order me some food, garçon.”

“Hold your horses, Calamity Jane.”

She leans her head back on the sofa and says, “Shit. Should we call Julie now that he's awake?”

I drop my clothes in a pile on the closet floor. There's an envelope lying on the bed. I bring it with me back to the living room.

“Let the man eat. Between the pills and the food, my guess is he'll pass out again. Julie can wait until tomorrow.”

“Good. All I want to do is eat and fuck and go to sleep.”

“I have that on my business card.”

“Find the menu. Dial quickly. I'm going to pass out here for a minute.”

She curls up on the sofa and I toss a blanket over her.

The menus are in a drawer by the sink. I call in the order and open the envelope. Crisp paper falls out onto the floor. Heavy, expensive stationery—­Sub Rosa–grade stuff. Sure enough, it's from the Augur's office. Looks like I'm invited to tea with the grand high lord and master of the whole California tribe. Thing is, I'm done with the Sub Rosa and don't have any interest in who's running the show now.

I wad up the note and envelope and toss them in the trash.

D
EATH IS WATCHING
another movie when we go down in the morning.
Duck Soup
starring the Marx Brothers. Kasabian comes over as quietly as he can.

“He's been at it all night. I'm fucking beat. It's your turn to babysit.”

“What have you been showing him?”

“More musicals.
Mary Poppins. My Fair Lady
. Some Disney cartoons.”

“Shiny happy ­people stuff.”

“Like I said, I don't want him getting ideas.”

“Go to bed. We'll take the morning shift.”

Kasabian slinks back to his room, right next to the storage room where our guest sleeps.

“Good night, Kasabian,” he says. “Thank you for sitting up with me.”

“Sure. Glad to. Anytime.”

He closes and locks his door.

“Are you hungry?” says Candy.

Death turns away from the movie long enough to look at her.

“Yes, I am.”

“I'll bring down the leftovers.”

I head back upstairs.

Julie calls while I'm in the kitchen. I tell her Death is awake and she should come over if she wants Thai food.

“For breakfast?”

“It's this or the last of Kasabian's donuts, and those have been around since ‘Steamboat Willie.' ”

“I'll pass on the food, but I'll be right over.”

I thumb off the phone, get the food out of the microwave, and head downstairs with some plates. Candy clears all the crap from the top of the rental counter and puts it underneath. I set down the cartons and Candy digs in.

Death sticks his fork in each dish and sniffs. Touches the food to the tip of his tongue. I don't think he's gotten the hang of having human senses.

I pick at a ­couple of things, wanting coffee and a smoke more than curry. Julie arrives about twenty minutes later with a large messenger bag over her shoulder. Death straightens up and puts out his hand when he sees her.

“Hello. I'm Death,” he says.

Julie gives her best professional smile and shakes his hand.

“Yes. We met briefly at the bar where you found Stark. You look a lot better now than you did then.”

“I feel a lot better. Stark and his friends have been taking good care of me.”

He looks at Candy.

“I'm still not sure what I should call you. You have two faces and apparently two names. Which do you prefer?”

“Look at either face you want, but please, call me Chihiro.”

“Then Chihiro it is.”

“Thanks for recording the interview,” Julie says to Candy. “It was a good start.”

“Glad to be part of the team, chief,” Candy says.

Julie opens her bag, then looks at me.

“You were interested in the knife. Did you find out anything about it?”

I fill her in on what happened with Vidocq's experiment and Marlowe's reading.

“Have you ever seen that happen before?”

“Never.”

“All right. We'll set the knife aside for now and concentrate on other areas. At least we have a starting point with our visitor's identity.”

“We do?” says Candy.

­“People still aren't dying. Religious groups are up in arms, some calling it the end of days. There have been runs on grocery stores and banks. Hell, the president gave an address about it last night, saying the government is conferring with our allies to make sure this isn't a terrorist act. This has been all over the Web and TV since it started happening.”

She frowns at me.

“You don't pay much attention to the news, do you?”

“I make a point to avoid it.”

“Start watching TV, at least. It's part of your job to have a clue what's going on in the world.”

“I'll take care of it,” says Candy.

“At least one of you is a grown-­up.”

I take out a Malediction.

“I make a point to avoid that too.”

I open the side door, blowing the smoke outside so Death doesn't choke and I won't look bad in front of the boss. This is worse than Hell. I can't even kill anyone to get on her good side.

“Where are your other clothes?” says Julie to Death. “The ones you woke up in.”

“There. In the room where I was sleeping.”

“I'll show you,” I say, tossing the cigarette into the alley. Good-­bye, old friend.

We go into the storage room and I flip on the light. Julie pushes past me, slipping nitrile gloves on over her hands.

“Have either of you handled the clothes?” she says.

“We both helped him undress,” says Candy.

I step deeper into the room, out of Julie's way.

“And I searched his gear.”

Julie hands us each a pair of gloves.

“In the future, don't touch any potential evidence barehanded.”

“Got it,” says Candy. Teacher's pet.

Julie holds up Death's coat, then his pants. There's pale dirt or dust on the bottom of each, and more on the floor. She checks his shoes and finds more dust. From a padded compartment in her bag she takes out a gizmo that looks like an iPad crossed with a game controller.

A small tray pops opens on the side of the tablet and she carefully drips in a sample of the dust, then pushes the tray shut. The screen lights up, showing some kind of multicolor readout.

“What is that?” says Candy.

“It's the chemical composition of whatever is on his pants and shoes. It doesn't look like city dirt. Something drier and desert-like. I'll collate the numbers with USGS maps of the area.”

“Awesome,” says Candy.

I angle for a better look at the tablet.

“That's Vigil tech. How did you end up with it?”

Julie puts the tablet away and collects more of the dust in a paper envelope.

She says, “We have an understanding. Now that I'm a civilian, I can do things, go places, and ask questions the government can't. In exchange, I get access to certain Vigil equipment and information.”