The Devil Is a Gentleman by J. L. Murray Read Free Book Online Page A

wait outside. I need to talk to you alone.”
    “What’s this about?” I said.
    “I tell you when you get here. It concerns you, Sasha, me. Everyone.” The line went dead. I snapped the phone shut.
    “What was that about?” said Gage. “It was Naz?”
    “He wants me to meet him at the warehouse where Sasha disappeared,” I said. “He said it was urgent.”
    “You don’t think he wants to, you know,” Gage drew a finger across his throat, “finish us off?”
    “I think if he wanted to do that, we’d be dead already,” I said. “Besides, I want to ask him about Frank Bradley. He wants to talk to me alone. Do you mind?”
    “Waiting in the car?” he said.
    “I’m really sorry, Bobby,” I said. “He sounded different, though. I think I should talk to him.”
    “How do you know he’s not going to kill you? You think that’s smart? All alone with a Russian mob guy? ”
    “Ukrainian,” I said.
    “Whatever,” he said. “He’s a coward and I don’t trust him.”
    “Do you trust me?” I said.
    “Of course. How can you ask that?”
    “If you trust me,” I said, “then please, just let me do this one thing, okay? I’ll make it up to you, I promise.” I tapped the gun, hidden beneath my jacket in my holster. “I do know how to use this thing.”
    Gage snorted. “You’d probably be better in a fight than I am. Fine,” he said. “Go alone if you have to. But I’ll be right around the corner. If I hear anything, I’ll come running.”
    “To do what?”
    He shrugged. “Dunno. But you can bet it’ll be goddamn fantastic.”
    As we passed the empty space where the Deep Blue Sea used to be, I felt a pang of sadness. I was still mad at Sam for rushing me out and disappearing, then realized, to my surprise, that I wanted to see Sam. Not to get paid, or to ask him questions that no one else could answer, or even to yell at him about Eli or some other manipulation. I just wanted to see him and talk to him. I frowned. Best not to think about that too deeply right now.
    We pulled up to the warehouse just as the sun was coming up. I looked at the abandoned building, which looked even worse in the light than it had a month ago, when my father had been sucked into the earth in an attempt to save my life. The ground was littered with corroded tin and rotted wood. Gage and I, both remembering, looked up toward the roof, which had been the exit for Abaddon when he fled the building. We had followed him through the city to the edge of what turned out to be a gateway to Hell. I shot Abaddon with cartridges full of rock salt. I still had dreams about the demon’s insides melting out through the gaping hole in his neck.
    The warehouse was leaning slightly, towards the river. “Hopefully it’ll stay standing until after I come out,” I said. I looked at Gage. “Where will you be?” I said. I spotted the wandering ghosts out of the corner of my eye and looked out at them all, feeling slightly sick. They had helped me the last time I was here. I’d asked them to. One of them had even known my name. But spirits had short memories, especially lately. And if I’d learned anything the past few weeks it was that I didn’t want them to know who I was anymore. They could turn into a desperate mob in an instant, and I would rather fight any demon again than feel their cold hands trying to grab inside of me. I shivered.
    “They still here?” said Gage.
    “Of course,” I said. “Where are they going to go? No one crosses anymore.”
    “We’ll get to the bottom of it,” he said, his voice uncharacteristically gentle. “He nodded to the warehouse. “You sure about this?”
    I nodded.
    “I’ll park over there, behind that tree.” He pointed down the block at a thick-trunked oak tree that had seen better days. It was bare, either from the long winter, or because it was dead. “My car won’t look out of place around here. Looks like part of the junk.” He smiled and I couldn’t help smiling