“My mother, father, and me at the park. Perfect day, you know, a carousel, swans floating on the pond, like one of those old postcards. That’s my favorite. My favorite pretend memory.”
Jacks smiled softly. “That’s a nice pretend memory.
The park. I hadn’t thought of that one.”
“All this time I thought I was the only one,” she said.
“I mean, you know the memories aren’t real, you tell yourself that, but somehow, in some crazy way—”
“They help.”
They said it together. Jacks and Maddy stared at each other as the seconds drew out, and she only now was aware that she had leaned closer to him. She couldn’t be sure, but she thought he had come closer too. Now they were only inches apart. She leaned in, willing the moment to sweep them into a kiss, the most delicious kiss of her life. .
Jacks spoke.
“I don’t even know your name.”
“Maddy,” she said, holding out her hand. Jacks reached for it and, ever so gently, took it. His hand was hot to the touch, and Maddy thought she could feel a crackle of electricity, as if a current of energy was passing through Jacks and into her. From the look on Jacks’s face, he had felt something too.
A loud knock boomed at the door.
“Maddy? What are you doing in there?” It was Kevin.
“That’s my uncle,” Maddy whispered to Jacks. “He owns the place.” Jacks’s eyes focused, brought back to the present.
“Listen, Maddy, I need to get out of here. Is there a back door?”
“Yes, in the kitchen. What’s going on?”
“I’m not sure yet,” Jacks said in a low whisper. “But I need your help. Will you help me?”
“Okay,” she said, a little cautiously. “Stay here.” She went to the door and opened it just a crack.
“Hey Kevin, I was just interviewing someone for the part-time position.”
Kevin eyed her. “I do the interviews.”
“I know, I just thought I would help out.”
“Okay, well, I need you both to come out. There are two police officers here asking to see everyone.”
“Okay, be right out,” Maddy said a little too brightly.
Kevin walked back to the dining room and said something to one of the officers.
“This way,” Maddy whispered as she led Jacks out of the office and toward the back door. They were halfway across the kitchen when a voice shouted from the dining room.
“There he goes right there!” one of the officers yelled in alarm, drawing his gun. “Jackson, stop!”
“Stop right there, Jacks!” the other echoed as he lunged forward, sending a table and dishes crashing to the floor. Jacks stepped in front of Maddy, knocking her back with such force it took her wind away.
“Back up toward the rear door,” he whispered. “Do it now.”
Maddy did as she was told, her lungs gasping for air.
One of the officers shouted again.
“Leave the young lady! Freeze right there or I will shoot you!”
Jacks stopped. He reached a hand back and touched Maddy’s side, right on the curve of her hip. She could feel the heat of his fingers through her uniform.
“No,” Jacks replied calmly, “you won’t.” Then he took another step back, still touching Maddy.
The officer’s trembling finger squeezed the trigger.
BANG. The discharge of the gun was the last thing Maddy heard before a bright, white light filled the diner, as though the sun itself had risen in the restaurant. As her eyes adjusted, Maddy saw the most amazing sight of her life up to that point.
The entire dining room was frozen.
The two policemen were like statues, their faces masks of fear and surprise. One of them had knocked the coffeepot off the warmer, and it now hovered, mid-shatter, over the floor. Uncle Kevin was frozen too. He had dropped his spatula, and it was rendered motionless just beyond the tips of his fingers. Perhaps the most spectacular thing of all, the bullet that had been fired now hung in the air, absolutely still, like a model airplane on fishing line. Maddy looked up at the boy. His hand stretched out in front of him, as if telling the entire room to stop. He turned and looked at her with his perfect features and his piercing blue eyes.
There was no other explanation. He was an Angel.
The front door burst open, and an impeccably dressed older man rushed into the restaurant, the rest of the diner remaining stock-still. He looked around at the frozen scene and then at Jacks.
“Jacks,” he said sternly, “let’s go.”
Jacks held Maddy’s gaze for another breathless second and then, without saying anything, turned to leave.
Nonchalantly he grabbed the bullet out of the air and put it in his pocket. Only then did he let go of Maddy.
Time seemed to return to normal. SMASH went the coffeepot all over the floor, and glass and brown liquid rushed over the linoleum. Uncle Kevin’s spatula clanged to the ground. Jackson and the older Angel vanished out the front door. The two officers peered at each other, confused.
Maddy just stood there, immovable. It wasn’t just what she had seen; it was what she had felt. As she stood there still breathing his strange, wonderful smell, a conversation came back to her, a conversation with Gwen and Jessica and Samantha from earlier in the evening. A name rose to the surface of her mind.
“Jacks. . Jackson. . Jackson Godspeed.” Her face turned white with disbelief, then blushed pink with embarrassment. Finally, it turned deep crimson. With rage.
Outside, Jacks and Mark walked quickly to their cars.
Mark turned to his stepson. “Are you okay?”
“Yes. What is going on?”
“We’ll discuss it at home. I’ll follow, and don’t ever let me lose sight of you.” Jacks got into his Ferrari and started the throaty engine. Mark went to his M7. He unlocked the door, but before he could get in, a hand seized him by the arm. Hard. With supernatural speed Mark spun around, ready to defend himself and Jacks.
It was Kevin. His stare was cold. Mark relaxed his hand, which was already around Kevin’s throat.
“Hello, Kevin,” Mark said calmly.
“You know the agreement,” Kevin said, cutting him off. “I don’t ever want to see you, or your boy, around here again.”
“I’m sorry, Kevin, it was an emergency.”
Kevin leaned into Mark’s face.
“Stay the hell away from Maddy.”
CHAPTER NINE
Kris was waiting as Mark and Jacks came in from the garage. Her eyes were puffy from crying, her face creased with concern. She rushed to Jacks and hugged him. On the flat screen in the background, A! was replaying footage of Jacks’s arrival at the party.
“I’m fine, Mom,” Jacks said in answer to her questions. “Is Chloe okay? Where is she?”
“Upstairs, in bed,” Kris said. Jacks turned to his stepfather.
“Mark, what’s going on?”
Mark picked up the remote off the kitchen island and turned the TV off.
“We don’t have long. A detective from the ACPD will be here soon. Just let me do the talking.”
Jacks looked between them.
“Would someone please just tell me—”
A buzz echoed in from the foyer. Mark stepped over to the security cameras and looked at the image of the police officer waiting in his unmarked car at the gate. Mark studied the face. It was different now, he thought. The years had dulled the edges of David’s features. His eyes, though, still burned with that same righteous fury, and in that way, he was undeniably the same.
Mark activated the gate and watched on-screen as the vehicle pulled up the drive. Jacks gave Mark an expectant look when he returned. Mark looked at his stepson evenly.
“There’s been an incident on Angel Boulevard. There’s reason to believe an Angel was attacked. And mortalized.