Color of Angels' Souls (15 page)

Early that evening as he was following her, and looking around yet again to make sure the killer wasn't waiting somewhere to pounce, Allison hailed a cab and jumped in so quickly that Jeremy didn't even have time to react before the car sped away.

He cursed under his breath, filled with fear. He had no idea where she could be going, so he decided to head back to her place to wait.

When he passed through the door of her apartment he immediately froze in his tracks: Someone was inside. He could just make out a masked figure in the shadows. At first he didn't know who it was, but then he saw the three Angels floating above the intruder.

The killer. The killer had broken into Allison's apartment! He had tied up and muzzled Frankenstein, who lay on his side trying to yap with all his might. Jeremy began yelling frantically at the hit man as the three red Angels looked on with amusement. Of course the intruder only ignored him. He was doing something with Allison's telephone. Jeremy watched as he placed a small microphone inside the receiver and carefully closed the casing. He then looked slowly around the apartment, placed a second microphone inside one of the telephone sockets in the bedroom, and a third one in the socket in the living room.

Jeremy eventually calmed down. Apparently, the man hadn't received instructions to kill Allison. At least, not yet. He decided that this was good news. The killer must have figured that Allison had seen him. Jeremy would have to find some way to make her say that she hadn't seen the murderer—either out loud or to someone on the telephone. That way, he wouldn't have any reason to want to kill her anymore. Or maybe he had bugged her apartment to find out if she had talked to anybody, so that he could get rid of that person as well.

The man moved around the apartment with deadly precision. Quiet as a ghost, he grabbed the little dog, untied its bonds, removed the muzzle while at the same time holding its mouth clamped shut so Frankenstein couldn't bite him, and then tossed the dog into the middle of the room as he closed the door, sending the dog into a frenzy. The wood floor had been polished to a sheen, and by the time Frankenstein had slid to a halt and threw himself at the door, the killer was long gone. The animal barked furiously and jumped against the closed door, then after a while went off to smell the areas where the intruder had bugged the apartment.

When Allison finally arrived, her dog was out of sorts for some strange reason. She also couldn't figure out why he kept scratching at the baseboards, but she angrily told him to knock it off. She had no idea that her apartment had been broken into. What worried Jeremy the most was how easy it had been for the man to enter. It had been a cinch for him to open the lock without leaving the slightest trace. Now he wasn't sure if he preferred that Allison stay in her apartment, which was hardly a fortress, or go somewhere else. He didn't have any say in the matter anyway, because after taking a shower, Allison pulled on a stunning black dress. Then a white dress. Then a blue one, then a red one. Then a pair of pants, a tunic with leggings, high heels, and then slippers. Then a long dress, a short skirt, a see-through blouse, then one made of a thicker material, a broad belt, cropped pants, then the first black dress again. Jeremy couldn't believe how much time it took her to finally decide what to wear: a cream-colored dress with gold, high-heeled shoes and a matching clutch. Next she applied some makeup to her big blue eyes, creating a dazzling effect that made Jeremy weak in the knees. Then, after a dash of perfume and one last grimace as she examined herself in the mirror—even though she looked fantastic—she was finally ready.

Jeremy was ready this time, and jumped in the taxi with Allison. Unfortunately for him, she wasn't going out with her girlfriends, but with a man.

Oh no, she was actually going out on a date! Well, considering how long it had taken her to pick out her clothes, he should have known.

It was with some guy named Mark, a brilliant and witty intern that Misty had introduced her to. All evening long he was perfectly charming and made Allison laugh a lot. They chatted away about all sorts of things, but when Mark got up to use the restroom, Jeremy, who was green with jealousy, followed behind him and listened in on his telephone conversation.

“Hi Misty,” Mark said, after making sure that no one else could hear him. “I did everything you told me. No sexual innuendos. The perfect gentleman. But this isn't going to be easy, you know! She's totally hot!”

It was true that Allison was already sexy without all the fuss, but with her makeup and high-cut dress that showed off her long legs, she was absolutely irresistible. Although Jeremy did see her discreetly pull down the hem of her dress when she sat down to make sure she didn't show too much thigh. He liked her sense of propriety. Sure, he would have liked her dress to be a tad bit shorter—but just for him, and not so all the guys in the restaurant could ogle her.

“Yes, yes, I know: She won't sleep with me,” groaned Mark. “You must have told me about ten million times already. So could you tell me again why I'm going out with a girl—a very pretty girl, granted—who doesn't want to have sex? Why even bother?”

He sighed as he listened to her reply.

“Oh that's right, I'd almost forgotten! Your father is my boss, isn't he? How stupid of me! But you're not going to force me to marry her, are you?”

He chuckled softly at Misty's answer.

“Oof! That's a relief. Yes, I'll be most kind and considerate with your friend. But I'm telling you, virgins are a complete pain in the ass! And I should know. I'm only doing this because I adore you … OK, OK, and so you can tell your dad what a great surgeon I am! Can I still at least try to sleep with her? Yeah, I know, without coming on too strong or acting like a jerk. Great, thanks Misty, you're like a mo—like a sister to me.”

He sighed again as he hung up, then went off to wash his hands before going back to the table.

Jeremy was furious. The Angel that was feeding off the surgeon—a blue Angel with a pronounced streak of pink—only shrugged when Jeremy cursed at Mark as he walked off to the men's room.

“He does stuff like this all the time. But you have to forgive him because he saves tons of lives. I hope he won't make your protégée too unhappy. It's kind of weird though, because normally men feed off men and women feed off women. It's better that way. Why are you feeding off a woman?”

“I don't
feed off of her
,” snapped Jeremy, still livid.

“Oh, an Angel in love. Well good luck to you, my friend; your troubles are only just beginning!”

Jeremy grimaced. Why didn't all the other Angels leave him alone? He wasn't in love with Allison, he was just … protecting her, that's all.

Jeremy grabbed a bite to eat as well at the restaurant, then went back home with Allison. Or, to be more precise, he followed Mark, who went back home with Allison. Ever the perfect gentleman, Mark said goodnight at the front entrance to her apartment building, after giving her a friendly peck on the cheek. Then he sped away in his sleek roadster.

“What a show-off,” Jeremy grumbled disgustedly while Allison, who looked absolutely radiant, waved goodbye.

She went up to her apartment and told Frankenstein all about her date. Jeremy's heart sank when he realized how wonderful Allison thought that jerk Mark was.

“Can you believe it, Franky?” she gushed. “He has a house in the Hamptons … well, his parents do anyway, and he invited me! He's totally cute, and he didn't even try to kiss me or go down my pants or anything. Plus he's got a great sense of humor and he saves people's lives! I absolutely adore him!”

She spun her dog around in the air. But flying hardly appeared to be Frankenstein's cup of tea, and he began barking nervously. She quickly set him down and apologized.

“He wants to see me again. Monday night. I can't believe it! I have to tell Misty!” She looked at her watch in surprise. “Ooh, maybe I'll wait until tomorrow; it's already so late! Time just flew by tonight! I'll text her to let her know how dreamy her friend is … Bingo!”

Jeremy sank onto the couch. How depressing! She was falling in love with a guy who couldn't care less about her. It broke his heart. Well, at least all her stup—all her babbling would probably reassure the hit man who was listening in.

They say love makes you blind. And stupid.

Once Allison had taken the dog for a walk and was tucked safely in her bed, Jeremy finally pulled himself away from her and went to meet the Angels.

Jeremy wasn't sure why he was getting so worked up about the whole thing anyway. After all, there was nothing he could do to protect Allison, and even if he did figure out who was behind his murder, what good would it do? He had no intention of transforming himself into a red Angel to seek vengeance.

He was down in the dumps as he mulled it over, slowly making his way to Rose's & Blues.

Unfortunately, neither his grandfather nor his father was there. He didn't see the two Angels who were supposed to keep track of Clark's investigations for him either. It was hardly a surprise though, since they had told him to meet them there in two days.

After eating some Mist, Jeremy decided to pay a little visit to his stepfather. First he stopped off at Angela's room. He was greatly relieved to find her sleeping peacefully, and the red Angel was nowhere in sight. The bottle of medicine was gone from her night table, which meant that his mother hadn't needed to give her any help getting to sleep. It gladdened his heart, and he gently stroked the little girl's blond hair with his ephemeral hand.

“I wasn't much of a brother,” he whispered. “But I promise I'll try to make up for it. I'll get rid of that horrible red Angel who's terrorizing you. I promise, sweetheart.”

Claire was sleeping as well. She tossed and turned, probably still trying to cope with her son's death. Frank was still awake, however. Even though it was nearly two in the morning, he was pacing back and forth in his office. He looked tired. The Mist that rose from his body was a strange mixture of blue and pink, both satisfaction and anger. Curious now, Jeremy walked up close to him and began talking in a soft, persuasive voice.

“Go on, tell me what's bothering you. You managed to get rid of me, to get your revenge. You're still in love with my mother, and you're worried about my sister, is that it? Tell me what's going on inside your head.”

To his great surprise, Frank was much more receptive to his calm, reassuring voice than Allison had been when he'd yelled and screamed.

“Damn it!” he cursed. “What a mess! I'd just about gotten everything worked out, and now she wants to leave me! What am I going to do?”

His Mist turned brown, the brown of intense grief. Jeremy frowned and took a step back. That color. It reminded him of something—suddenly it struck him. What a fool he'd been! When he had first seen Frank and he had been congratulating himself on having “taken care of both problems,” and had talked about the “meddler who wouldn't be bothering them anymore,” the Mist that had emanated from his stepfather was blue! Which meant that he had been sincerely happy, and hadn't felt any unhealthy satisfaction! So Frank hadn't been behind his murder. He'd had nothing to do with it. If he had, his Mist never would have been blue when he heard the news!

Frank unwittingly confirmed Jeremy's conclusions when he punched his clenched fist into his other hand and uttered: “That little idiot! He goes and gets himself murdered just when I was about to tell him that I had finally managed to liquidate all my shady business dealings, and that he could finally make peace with his mother, after all the suffering she'd been through, and me, too! But now the fool's mucked everything up!”

“Gee, thanks,” Jeremy replied wryly. “I love you too.”

This new turn of events galvanized Jeremy. Someway, somehow, he would have to make up for his mistakes. He had done everything he could to separate his stepfather and his mother, but now he had to admit that the man she'd married had been sincere.

Maybe not completely honest, but sincerely in love with his mother.

He had to save Allison. She was in more danger than ever. He now knew for certain that he really had been murdered because of her.

Jeremy jumped to his feet and sped out of the room.

He had to find Einstein immediately.

Jeremy was nearly out of breath when he barged into Rose's & Blues, hoping and praying that Einstein would be there. Someone up in heaven must have been listening, if there actually were a heaven somewhere, because he quickly spotted Einstein at the club, sitting with a group of other young boys. They were floating in chairs around a big table, and all of them looked absolutely furious. Since Jeremy still hadn't learned how to fly, all he could do was raise his head and stare.

“… Und ich bin nicht einverstanden mit ihnen!”
Einstein bellowed.

“Vaffanculo!”
snapped a kid whose face was pockmarked from chicken pox.

“Galileo!” one of the others reproached him. “What did we say about insulting people! Keep your filthy sixteenth-century expressions to yourself, please!”

“I died in the seventeenth century—in 1642!” shot back Galileo. “You want me to say it in your own language, Mister Benjamin Franklin Know-It-All? Fuck—”

“Hello up there!” Jeremy yelled. “Can you hear me? Albert! Could you come down here for a second, please?”

Einstein looked down. His eyes lit up when he saw it was Jeremy.

“Ah,” he said as he graciously floated down to the ground. “If it isn't my favorite aberration. You're just in time. We were having a small conference with our fellow Angel physicists, and quite frankly, except for Leonardo and Benjamin, who is actually quite a funny chap, all the others are so full of themselves! How are you? So tell me, have you been able to do any other things that normal Angels are incapable of doing in such a short period of time?”