I raised my eyebrows. “Are you sure that’s your gut talking?”
He gave me a dirty look. “Do you realize that when Hillerman died, her paycheck died with him? He was paying her in installments, and she only ever got the down payment. She’ll probably get the rest he owed her eventually, but not until the estate gets around to settling his debts, which could take months.”
“And this is relevant why?”
“Because she’s spending practically all her time doing this pro bono work for you and Adam, which means she doesn’t have time for her paying clients. I’d say that’s a good indicator that she’s dedicated to the cause.”
I shrugged. “And I’d say it’s a good indicator Adam is still threatening her with jail time if she doesn’t cooperate.”
Saul made an unpleasant growling sound in the back of his throat. He sneered, an expression I’d never seen on his face before. “You sound just like Raphael.”
I knew he meant that to be a dire insult, but it fell short of the mark. “Every once in a while, he says something I agree with. This is one of those times. Have your little fling if you must, but keep your mouth shut.”
He bristled. “I don’t take orders from you, and I certainly don’t need your permission to see Barbara.”
“But you do take orders from Lugh, don’t you?”
His hands were clenched into fists, and his face was dark with anger. “So is Lugh forbidding me to see her?”
“What about it, Lugh?” I asked, and Saul and I both fell silent as we waited for his answer.
I heard Lugh’s sigh in my head. I think it best for everyone if he refrains from romantic entanglements for the time being. He sounded regretful, but firm.
I made a sympathetic face at Saul. “Sorry, but he agrees with me.”
Saul pushed away from the table. “I don’t believe you. You’re just saying that because you know I can’t check with Lugh directly.”
Unfortunately, I had no way to refute his claim. I didn’t dare let Lugh into control for even a moment. Just the thought made me shudder and made my still-aching head throb harder.
“You’re well enough to take care of your own damn self now,” he said. “Adam said he should have my new identity all squared away in a couple of days, so I’m going to go apartment hunting. See you later.”
He was still mad as hell—though possibly more because he knew he was in the wrong than anything else—but I doubted anything I said to him would make him feel any better. So I bit my tongue as Saul slammed the door behind him on his way out.
Some bodyguard he turned out to be, I thought at Lugh, but he didn’t answer.
CHAPTER 27
After Saul left, I sat on the couch, meaning to call Laura. My head was a little woozy, so I decided I’d better do it lying down. I closed my eyes, intending to gather my strength for the ordeal of dialing.
When I woke up, I don’t know how much later, I wasn’t alone in the apartment anymore. Saul had returned with Adam and Dominic in tow. The three of them were talking quietly in the kitchen, huddled together. Trying not to wake me, I guess.
My head felt significantly better, so I tried slowly pushing myself up into a sitting position. I didn’t puke or pass out. It was almost enough to make me do a little happy dance. My stomach growled noisily, attracting the guys’ attention. Adam and Dom hurried to the living room to see how I was doing, while Saul, apparently still sulking, hung back.
“Feeling better, love?” Adam asked. I might almost have thought he cared about me, except he followed up with, “You look like death that still needs more warming over.”
Dom punched him in the arm. “Be nice.”
Adam made an innocent “Who, me?” face. Instead of being irritated, I actually laughed. The easygoing affection between Adam and Dom always brought a smile to my face, though my smile wilted when I remembered the state of my own love life. I wasn’t ready to give up on Brian yet—even if he was ready to give up on me—but I didn’t have the mental energy to figure out how to solve that problem in the midst of all the others.
“Saul tells me you’ve had broth and crackers,” Dom said. “Do you think you’re up to some more solid food?”
My stomach howled its opinion.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Dom said, then headed for the kitchen. “I’ll heat up some of that soup I brought for you.”
“Thanks,” I called after him.
Adam remained in the living room, slouching on the love seat nearby. “I talked to Laura Maguire about an hour ago,” he said.
“Oh.” So much for my hopes of making myself useful. “Did you find out anything that might be of interest?”
“Maybe. She wasn’t sure, but she thought Jessica Miles was starting to bug Maguire about the lawsuit. Something about how he shouldn’t abandon the suit, for his granddaughter’s sake.”
I remembered that Jordan Junior and Jessica had had a child together. Somehow, I’d forgotten all about that. “So you think Abraham has taken Jessica for his host?”
Adam shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe. But based on her history, she’s not exactly an angel. She could just be pushing it because she somehow thinks she’ll get money out of it.”
“Well, it’s the best possibility we have, isn’t it?”
He huffed out a sigh. “I suppose.”
“So when I get a little better, Raphael and I will try to get our hands on Jessica and hope it goes better than when we went after David Keller.”
Adam didn’t look happy. “What if we’re wrong? What if Jessica’s just a bitch and Abraham is lurking somewhere else? You can’t exorcize a person who’s not possessed, and if you’ve kidnapped her …”
Why was nothing ever easy? “Do you have any better ideas?”
“I’m planning to go have a chat with her later today. Maybe she’ll let something slip that will make me positive Abraham’s in there.”
I frowned. “You can see auras, can’t you? More easily than an exorcist, I mean?” He’d examined my aura once in the early days, when I was first discovering that I was possessed.
“Yeah, but I need skin-to-skin contact and maybe thirty seconds or so of quiet concentration. I doubt Jessica would allow that even if she’s not possessed. But I’ll see what I can do.”
“And you’ll let me know.”
“Of course.”
The soup was ready now, and Dominic brought it to me on a tray he must have brought with him. I certainly didn’t own such a thing. He saw the suspicious look on my face and smiled.
“Consider it a get-well gift. I expect you to eat most of your meals in bed until you’ve fully regained your strength.”
It felt surprisingly good to be taken care of like this. It was an entirely unfamiliar situation, mainly because I usually pushed people away if they tried to pamper me. Hell, I just push people away, period. But just this once, I allowed myself to revel in it. Even Saul’s undisguised sulking and Adam’s brooding didn’t spoil the mood for me. And when all three of the guys left me so I could get some more sleep, I felt strangely bereft.
I dozed on and off for maybe an hour or two. My head no longer hurt at all, though my mind still felt slow and clouded. My stomach seemed to have recovered fully, growling at me to get more food into my system. I dragged myself to my feet and shambled toward the kitchen, hoping there was more of Dominic’s chicken soup awaiting me in the fridge. And that was when I noticed the envelope, peeking out from under my door.
Every once in a while, I get a premonition that my life is about to take a turn for the worse. I was getting one of those right now. Unfortunately, my premonitions are usually frighteningly accurate.
My appetite vanished as I stared at that envelope. Nothing good ever seemed to come from mysterious envelopes, and I wondered if the universe would mind if I just pretended it didn’t exist.