Immortal City

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

The neon sign for Kevin’s Diner had long since been extinguished, but the parking lot was populated with ACPD police cars, as well as a number of strangely uniform, black Escalade SUVs. A single light filtered out from the nearly empty dining room.

Kevin sat in one of the booths, the lamp over his head making his eyes look sunken and hollow. He gazed out the window at the dark, foggy city. A patch of gauze was taped over his forehead where the shattering window had cut him, but otherwise, he was okay.

He turned his attention back and looked at the Council Disciplinary Agent sitting across from him. The Angel was imposing, with a build at least a foot taller than Kevin, a perfectly symmetrical face, and a sharp, square jaw. Other agents stood around them or milled about the darkened diner.

Kevin sighed and eyed the Angel, who hadn’t moved.

“Even if I knew where they were going, I wouldn’t tell you. I’ve already told the police everything I know. You don’t even have the right to question me.”

“We’re working with the police now,” the agent said in a smooth, articulate voice. “Jackson is suspected of kidnapping, as well as three homicides.”

“Is that what the police think or the NAS?”

The front door opened with its usual chime. A shadowy figure walked between the dark tables toward them, obscured in the darkness until the cast of the lamplight fell on his face. It was Mark Godspeed.

“I can take it from here,” Mark said to the agent.

The agent nodded and slid out of the booth. Mark sat down in his place.

“How are you, Kevin?”

“What do you want?” Kevin asked icily. Mark regarded him.

“I’m sorry about what happened to the house. The agents, they saw an opportunity, and they took it.” He reached into his jacket. “I think this should probably cover it.” He took out an envelope from his jacket pocket and slid it across the counter. Kevin hesitated, then picked it up and peered inside. It was a check for five hundred thousand dollars. “I put in a little extra for the damages Jacks did to your diner, too,” Mark said, looking around. “I kind of thought this place could use some renovation anyway.”

Kevin looked at the check for a moment, then set the envelope back down on the counter and slid it across to Mark. Mark looked surprised.

“If it’s not enough, I’m sure we can do a little better.”

“I don’t want your money,” Kevin said. “I told you and your boy to stay away from my niece. That was the agreement.”

The silence hung heavy between them.

“I didn’t come here to fight, Kevin,” Mark said.

“What’s done is done. Let’s talk about what we can agree on.”

“And what’s that?”

“I think we can agree that we both didn’t want this to happen. Any of it. And we both don’t want it to go any further. Am I right?”

After a moment Kevin nodded reluctantly.

“So please, Kevin, just tell me where they were going.

Any clue you may have where they could be, where Maddy could have led them, would be vital. Anything that could help us.”

“Why? So you can hunt them both down? Finish what you started twenty years ago?”

Mark leaned back in the booth, exasperated. He took a long breath, eyes intense. “I just want things to go back to the way they were before, Kevin. Before Angel wings started turning up on the boulevard, before police were chasing my stepson and he was taking waitresses to Commissioning parties.” Kevin seemed to bristle at the word waitress, but he stayed silent. “Please,” Mark went on, almost imploring,

“don’t you want her back in here? Working the morning shift? Going to school, getting ready for college, living the life she was meant to live?”

Kevin held up his hands in defeat.

“Yes, Mark. Of course. But the truth is I don’t know where they went or what they were planning. We hadn’t gotten that far when your agents came smashing in. That’s the truth.”

Mark nodded, accepting this.

“Does she know now?” he asked.

“Yes. She knows everything now,” Kevin said, pausing. “And so does Jackson.”

Mark’s body stiffened almost imperceptibly.

“What are you going to do when you finally catch him?” Kevin asked.

Mark’s expression hardened, and he looked out the window and into the darkness. Another silence settled over the booth as Kevin watched the Archangel. Kevin’s eyes followed Mark’s out to the parking lot, where there was some movement — more Council Disciplinary Agents arriving.

What looked like maybe a girl, together with a broad-shouldered guy, neither in uniform but both clearly Angels, were lit for a moment by the light above the lot. But they disappeared back into the shadows. Kevin rubbed his eyes.

He was exhausted.

“You haven’t changed at all, have you, Mark?” Kevin said. “Your own stepson. Your wife’s child. How could you?”

“Jacks was Commissioned a Guardian Angel and, as such, is subject to the same laws that govern all Guardians.

Including me.”

“Get out of here,” Kevin said. “Take your bribe with you.”

Mark regarded him coolly, then tucked the envelope back in his jacket.

“It’s not as simple as that, Kevin,” Mark said as he slid out of the booth and rose. “The situation has changed. I can’t discuss it, but all I can say is I hope we find them. I hope we find them before something else does.”

Kevin’s face darkened in confusion and concern.

“Some thing else?”

But Mark turned without replying and disappeared into the darkness.