Marcella in the bathroom when I stick my head in. There’s a rollaway bed near the wall and a tray of uneaten food on the seats by the ball return. No problems here. I leave and go back upstairs before she sees me.
When I go into Sandoval’s office it’s just her, Sinclair, and Howard inside. They’re deep in discussion when I come in but quiet right down when they see me.
“Am I interrupting anything?”
Sandoval goes to the bar and pours herself a drink.
“Did you have a nice nap? I hope no one disturbed your beauty sleep.”
“Yeah. Sorry about that. I didn’t think I was going to sleep that long. It’s this body. It runs down fast.”
She looks at Howard.
“Is he telling the truth, Jonathan? Is there something wrong with his body?”
“There’s nothing wrong,” says Howard. “He’s simply in a liminal state between life and death. Consequently, his system runs a bit slower than normal. But aside from occasional bouts of fatigue, there should be no other impairments.”
“You’re sure? Our lives and holdings are riding on this man,” says Sinclair.
Howard looks at me like I’m a bug under a microscope.
“I understand that you were tortured and overpowered several people today. How did you feel while doing it? Any mental or physical problems?”
I hold up my wrist so that the others can get a good look. It’s healed but scarred and bruised, covered in patches of livid reds and purples. Sandoval and Sinclair frown at the sight.
“No problems at all. It wasn’t until I got back that I turned to jelly.”
He waves a hand at me.
“You see? No problems. He was able to perform his job, return, and is now awake, refreshed, and completely coherent.” He looks at Sandoval. “I know you’re not used to dealing with creatures such as this but trust me, Eva. He is functioning perfectly normally.”
Speaking of normal, I pour myself a drink at Eva’s bar.
“Thanks, Howard. And if you ever call me ‘creature’ again, I’m going to cut off your tongue with bolt cutters.”
Sandoval pats me on the arm.
“Careful, Stark. You want Howard to be your friend on your trip back to the world of the living.”
“Just tell Dr. Frankenstein to watch his language.”
“Of course. I’m sure he understands what a sensitive snowflake you are,” she says.
“What were you and Sinclair gossiping about when I came in?”
She looks over at him.
Sinclair says, “There were two more assassinations. Jared Glanton and Tetsuya Shin.”
“Here in L.A.?”
“No,” says Sandoval. “Jared was in our New York office, Tetsuya in Buenos Aires.”
“And they were the heads of their branches?”
“Yes.”
“Good. At least the pattern is confirmed. Which one of you runs L.A.?”
“That would be me,” says Sandoval.
“Then you’re not going to get a bullet in the head.”
“What makes you say that?” say Sinclair.
“Because they’re going to blow us up, Barron,” Sandoval says.
“Ah. Right.”
She looks at me. “That’s enough of you questioning us. What did you learn from that horrid woman in the basement?”
I glance at Howard, but he’s staring at a painting on the wall and won’t look at me.
“I’ve got good news. The ritual is tomorrow. And I know where and when.”
Eva goes over to Sinclair. They whisper to each other for a minute.
“Are you sure?” he says. “We were told it was the weekend.”
“She might be lying,” Sandoval says.
“She wasn’t. I made sure she knew it wasn’t in her best interest.”
Sandoval holds up a hand.
“Don’t tell me what you did. I don’t want to know.”
“Don’t worry. There were no bolt cutters involved.”
“Not another word.”
Sinclair says, “Where will the ritual take place?”
“At the Chapel of St. Alexis. Exactly at sunset.”
He looks at Sandoval.
“That’s right downtown. We could have a hundred armed associates there by then.”
“That’s a great idea,” I say. “Scare them off so they disappear and reschedule the ritual without us knowing when or where.”
“How do you want to handle it, then?” says Sandoval.
“I’ll take care of it myself. I don’t think there will be many faction people there because the ones who show up are committing suicide.”
“How will you do it?” says Sinclair.
“I’ll know when I see the setup, but I imagine I’ll basically just kill them all and take their stuff. Is that okay with everyone?”
Sandoval says, “It’s fine with me.”
“Me too,” says Sinclair.
Howard just grunts.
“Will you need anything from us?” says Sandoval.
“Body armor would be nice. Until I’m a hundred percent back, I’d like to keep bullets at a pleasant distance. I also need a couple of boxes of nine-millimeter ammo, plus three extended round clips. And bullets for the rifle I took from Marcella’s boys. A hundred rounds of 5.56 × 45 millimeter.”
“I don’t understand,” says Sandoval. “Can’t you simply use magic to kill them all?”
I shake my head.
“I won’t know that until I get there. There could be wards, charms, enchantments. A million little tricks that could slow down my hoodoo. I want to keep my body in one piece and that means being prepared for anything. Besides, sometimes a gun is just quicker.”
Sinclair
