Covet - A Novel of Fallen Angel Part 32

f.u.c.kina ow.

Those were Jimas first thoughts when he woke up again, and opening his eyes, he got another load of milky, diffused light that seemed to come from no particular source. Which made him wonder if Nigelas flashy palm c.r.a.p hadnat f.u.c.ked up and landed him right back where head been.

Except the air wasnat fresh. And instead of a bed of springy gra.s.s, he felt like he was lying on a stretch of pavementa"

As a sheet was whipped off his face, Jim nearly jumped out of his skin.

aHey,a Eddie said. aReady to go?a af.u.c.k!a He clutched his chest. aYou want to scare me to death?a aLittle late for that.a Jim looked around. The room they were in had pale green tiles on the floor, walls, and ceiling and an entire bank of three-by-two-foot stainless-steel doors with meat-locker handles on them. Empty stainless-steel tables with hanging scales and rolling tables were arranged in orderly rows, and the sinks in the far corner were the size of bathtubs.

aIam in the f.u.c.king morgue?a aWell, yeah.a The duh was implied.

aJesus Christaa Jim sat up, and sure enough there was a body bag with an occupant two tables down, and a sheet-covered corpse with its feet sticking out from the end next door. aSo they really do put toe tags on them, huh.a Eddie shrugged. aItas not like they can give their name or some s.h.i.+t.a With a curse, Jim swung his legs off the table he was on, and that was when he saw Adrian. The angel was standing just inside the room by the double doors and he was unusually self-contained: Typically a sprawler, he had his arms linked tightly across his chest and his feet were set right together. With his mouth nothing but a slash, and his skin the color of Kleenex, the guy stared at the tile floor, brows down, lashes dark against his pale cheeks.

He was hurting. Inside and out.

aI brought you some clothes,a Eddie said. aAnd yes, I went back and got Dog. Heas in our truck, happy as a little clam.a aSo Iam dead?a aAs a doornail. Thatas the way it works.a aBut I still get to keep Dog even though Iamaa A stiff?

G.o.d, was there a politically correct word for the dead? he wondered. Or was it a case of, if youad bit the big one, you didnat have to worry about politics?

aYup, heas yours. Wherever you are, heall be.a This was a momentous relief for some reason.

aSo you want these threads?a Jim looked at what was in Eddieas arms and then down at himself. His body seemed the same, big and muscular and solid. Eyes, nose and ears seemed to function just fine.

How the h.e.l.l was this going to work?

aThereall be a better time and place to explain s.h.i.+t,a Eddie said, holding out the clothes.

aNo doubt.a Jim took the jeans and the AC/DC T-s.h.i.+rt and the leather jacket. The boots were s.h.i.+tkickers. Socks were thick and white. And everything fit.

As he dressed, he kept glancing back at Adrian every now and again.

aIs he going to be all right?a Jim asked quietly.

aIn a couple of days.a aAnything I can do?a aYup. Donat ask him about it.a aRoger that.a After he did up the buckles on the boots, Jim pulled the jacket on over his shoulders. aListen, how are we going to explain that Iam back from the dead? I mean, thereas going to be a body missinga"a aNo, there wonat.a Eddie pointed to the table Jim had been on andaholy s.h.i.+t. It was his body. Lying there like a slab of beef, with gray skin and a bullet hole right in the center of the chest.

aYour probationary period is over,a Eddie said as he tugged the sheet in place over the face. aThereas no going back now.a Jim stared down at the peaks and valleys that contoured the shroud and decided he was really glad his mother wasnat alive to amourna him. Made s.h.i.+t much easier.

And now Matthias was off his back.

This made him smile briefly. aThere are advantages to being dead and gone, arenat there.a aSometimes, sometimes not. It just is what it is. Come on, letas blow this place.a Still staring down at his corpse, he said, aIam going to go up to Boston for a little while. Not sure how long. The boys upstairs were cool with it.a aAnd weare going with you. Teams stick together.a aEven if itas not your fight?a aYup.a The idea of having his own backup was attractive. Three could definitely cover more ground than one, and G.o.d only knew how long it was going to take to find Matthiasas target.

aOkay, cool.a At that moment, two white coats came in, both with coffee mugs in their hands and mouths that were flapping. Jim got ready to bolt behind something, anythinga"and then realized that whereas he could see the pair, and smell what they were drinking, and hear their Crocs across the tile floor, they were utterly unaware that there were three other people in the room with them.

Or not people, he supposed.

aYou want to do the paperwork on that one?a the guy on the right said, nodding to Jimas body.

aYup. And I have a name to call if no one claims him. ItasaVincent diPietro.a aHey, he built my house.a aOh?a The two put their mugs down on a desk and picked up clipboards with forms on them.

aYeah, me and my wife are in that subdivision down by the river.a The man walked over, lifted the sheet up off Jimas feet, and read the tag tied to his big toe.

aMust be nice.a aIt is.a He started to fill out the squares one by one. aBut it was expensive. Iall be lucky if I can retire at the age of eighty.a Jim took a moment to say good-bye to himselfa"which was f.u.c.king weird, but also a relief: Head been looking for a fresh start when head come to Caldwell, and man, had he gotten one. Everything was different nowa"who he was, what he was doing, who he was working for.

It was as if he had been reborn and the world was fresh once more.

As Jim left the morgue with his wingmen, he was curiously upliftedaand totally ready to fight again. And he had a feeling that for the next couple of years, Bring it on, b.i.t.c.h was going to be his G.o.dd.a.m.n theme song.

And then he remembered.

aI need to go back to that warehouse,a he told them out in the hall. aNow. I want the body of that girl.a Adrianas voice was little but a rasp. aItas gone. All of what was in there is gone.a Jim stopped in the middle of the corridor. As an orderly pus.h.i.+ng a cartload full of sheets went through the three of them, literally, Jim felt nothing more than a s.h.i.+ver in his bodya"and maybe he would have done a hey-check-this-s.h.i.+t-out under different circ.u.mstances, but he was instantly obsessed and cared only about one thing.

aWhere did Devina take her?a he demanded.

Adrian just shrugged, his eyes still locked on the floor, his piercings glowing darkly in the corridoras fluorescent lighting. aWherever she wants. When I woke up on the floor in the middle of that place, it was empty.a aHowad she move the s.h.i.+t so fast? There was a lot of it.a aShe has help. The kind that she can mobilize quick enough. I was chained or I would havea"a The guy stopped himself. aIt took aem about two hours, I think. Maybe longer. I was kind of in and out at that point.a aAnd they removed the girlas body?a Adrian nodded his head. aFor disposal.a aHow do they get rid of it?a The angel started walking again, like he was finished with the conversating business for a while. aSame way anybody ditches one. Theyall cut it up in pieces and bury it.a As Jim followed, the need for vengeance choked him up and his focus sharpened to the point of pain. He was going to need to find out more about the girl, her family, where her body ended up. And sooner or later he was going to take that innocentas death right out of Devinaas hide.

Oh, yeah, things were gonna get personal, all right.

Real, b.l.o.o.d.y and personal.

Jim had a job to do.

NOVELS IN THE BLACK DAGGER BROTHERHOOD SERIES.

Dark Lover Lover Eternal Lover Awakened Lover Revealed Lover Unbound Lover Enshrined Lover Avenged