“Afraid not.”
“Who are you trying to break out?”
Ben wondered how much he should share with her and decided not to hold anything back. “An angel named Daniel.”
Another stretch of silence. “Daniel.”
“Makes you wonder why he’s their prisoner, doesn’t it? He’s got something they want, which is all the more reason to free him.”
“What does this Daniel look like?”
“I only saw him once. He’s…” Ben’s grip on the phone tightened. “Tall, pale, red hair… green eyes.”
“Where should I meet you?”
She hadn’t taken much convincing. That was good. In fact, she’d agreed much quicker than he thought she would. This wasn’t going to be safe or easy.
Ben told her where to meet him and when — fifteen minutes. Then he headed for his rented van.
Leena was already sitting on the passenger side, inspecting the cuff he hadn’t removed from her wrist yet. He knew the moment he did she’d take off on him. She must have been watching him, waiting for him to leave. It was only a little after seven o’clock.
“No way,” he said. “You’re staying here.”
She looked at him like he was stupid. “You obviously don’t know me very well. Anything I can do to screw up the Malleus’s plans is something I want to help with as much as possible. Don’t argue, Ken doll. I’m coming.”
Ben knew anything he said would be a waste of breath, and he didn’t have time for this. “Fine. But you’re staying in the van as a lookout.”
“I can do that.”
He got in and put the key in the ignition. “I know the real reason you want to come along.”
“Oh yeah? Do tell.”
“You want to stick with me because you’re afraid to be alone. You think if you stay in that motel somebody’s going to come for you. But when you’re with me you know I’ll protect you.”
She glared at him. “I don’t need anyone’s protection. Especially not yours.”
His grip closed on the steering wheel as he backed out of the motel’s parking lot. “You don’t have to worry. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
“Yeah, well. Maybe I’m the one who’s going to protect you.”
“I’ll take all the help I can get, actually.”
There was silence for a moment. “You used to be a cop, right?”
“Yes.” He eyed her sideways. “And let me guess, you used to be a criminal.”
This earned him a true smile. The woman really should smile more often — it was a good look for her. “I did what I had to do to survive.”
He was quite certain she had.
Ben drove to the meeting spot to find Caroline already waiting for them. Good. He was determined in a way he’d rarely felt before. It might be the last thing he ever did, but freeing an angel seemed like a good decision after a mountain of bad ones.
Caroline wasn’t the only one looking for redemption these days.
“Wait here,” he told Leena. “And keep the engine running.”
She saluted. “Yes, sir.”
Caroline followed him to the nondescript entranceway in the side of the brick wall. She looked tense.
“Everything okay?” he asked. Stupid question to ask at a time like this but he wanted to make sure she wasn’t about to flake out on him.
“The angel,” she whispered. “I think I know him.”
He frowned. “You’re kidding.”
She shook her head, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. “His name’s Daniel. Red hair, green eyes. I’m not positive, but… I think he might be Eden’s father.”
It was as if someone had just thrown a glass of ice-cold clarity in his face.
He was such an idiot. Oliver told him that Eden’s angel father would inevitably learn that his daughter had been possessed by a demon. Oliver said the angel would be sure to arrive and set things right.
But that never happened and Ben had forgotten about it.
How could he forget?
The angel’s eyes… they were just like Eden’s.
He was Eden’s father. And Oliver had him locked away in the basement and was ingesting his wings for some nefarious plan of his.
What the hell was going on?
“We’ll get him,” Ben promised, taking Caroline’s arm as he pushed open the door and they slipped inside. It led to a stairwell and they went down three flights before they emerged on the prisoner level.
An alarm was blaring.
“What’s going on?” Caroline asked, covering her ears to block out the jarring sound.
“I don’t know.”
This couldn’t be because of breaking out Leena. That had been hours ago.
A guard Ben recognized stormed toward them, and he braced himself.
“Ben! Thank God you’re here! Where have you been? We’ve been trying to contact you!”
Ben chose his words carefully. “Sorry, I’ve been busy. Came in early to check on things. What’s going on?”
“A prisoner broke loose.”
“What prisoner?”
“I don’t know. Guy had red hair and… and wings. Got out of his cell and disappeared. But that’s not the worst of it. It’s — it’s Oliver.”
Shit. “What about him?”
“He’s dead.”
Ben gasped and Caroline clutched his arm tighter, although she didn’t say a word. “What do you mean, he’s dead?”
“He was murdered in his office less than an hour ago. We think the angel stabbed him in the heart with some ceremonial dagger. I saw the body myself.”
Oliver was dead and the angel killed him? “No, this is — it’s impossible.”
“The shifter broke out last night, too. I don’t know what’s going on, Ben, but it’s bad. I have to go. I’ll touch base with you later, okay?”
Ben forced himself to nod. “Yeah, okay.”
The guard was gone. The one Caroline could have possessed to help them break Eden’s father out of his cell.
But he’d already been broken out.
“This is wrong,” Caroline said. “All wrong. Daniel wouldn’t have killed anyone. He’s an angel.”
It didn’t make sense. None of this made sense. Why would Oliver lock up an angel like Daniel and ingest his feathers for weeks now? He’d been so interested in Eden and Darrak’s strange relationship, almost too interested, but then that faded. It was as if something new had taken his attention. He still wanted to know how Eden’s celestial energy had affected Darrak, enough to lock up Leena and grill her for information. But why?
He’d wanted Sandy to make Ben fall in love with her so he would be more of a help than a hindrance. So he wouldn’t get in the way.
And now Oliver was dead. Murdered.
“I don’t know what’s going on,” Ben said. “But we need to get out of here.”
“Good idea.”
They raced back up the stairs. Whatever they decided to do next, staying clear of the Malleus headquarters would be a good start. The news that Ben was the one to break Leena out hadn’t gotten around yet. He had to count his blessings for that, at least. This could have turned out much worse.
Ben knew he had to call Eden and explain everything to her. Tell her she was in danger. If Daniel was the one who murdered Oliver…
No, it just didn’t make sense, but he wasn’t willing to take the chance there was a murderous angel on the loose in the city right now.
He pushed open the door to the alleyway and he and Caroline ran to the van that was still idling. Ben opened the driver’s side door and looked in at Leena.
She was sprawled unconscious across the seats.
“Hey, lover,” a voice called from behind him.
He slowly turned to see Sandy standing there with her arms crossed over her chest.
“So,” she continued, eyeing the pair of them. “You haven’t returned my calls. I have a funny feeling, between these two”—she nodded at Caroline and the unconscious Leena—“you might want to start seeing other people.”