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Allegra looks past me at the father.
“Set him down in the lobby and let me get my instruments. I don’t want to move the boy for a while.”
Traven makes it to the lobby under his own steam, though Candy and I walk behind to catch him if he falls. He drops onto one of the plastic chairs. He leans forward, resting his face in his hands.
“I think I left my bag at that place,” he says.
“Don’t worry, Father. We’ll retrieve it for you,” says Vidocq.
I hand him Allegra’s car keys.
“Sorry. I’d like to go back and get it, but I have things I need to do.”
“I understand,” he says. He looks at me like I’m ice and someone is about to toss boiling water on me. Will I explode or just melt?
He says, “We all heard what the demon said back at Avila. Don’t do anything insane based on the word of a creature like that, Jimmy. They are masters of lies.”
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I shake my head.
“That wasn’t the demon talking. That really was Mason. And he has Alice. I’m not going to do anything crazy. I’m going to do what I should have done all along.”
“What?” he says, but I ignore the question.
“Call Hunter’s parents,” I say. “Tell them he’s all right and give them the address. I need to go.”
I catch Candy’s eye and she follows me out into the parking lot.
“Where are you going?” she asks. There’s a little catch in her voice.
I get close and say, “I know this is the most fucked situation I could have dragged you into, but I need to talk to someone. Please trust me. I’ll meet you back at the hotel as soon as I can.”
She looks up at me.
“You’re coming back, right?”
“Of course.”
“Promise.”
“I promise.”
She kisses me. I kiss her back, though in the back of my mind I’m already going to do what I have to do.
She takes a step back.
“You’re going back, aren’t you? Back to Hell.”
“I don’t have any choice. They snatched Alice out of Heaven because of me. I can’t leave her down there.”
Candy nods.
“I know. You have to do the right thing. Ride into the sunset and do your Good, the Bad and the Ugly thing. I think that’s why I like you. You do the most fucked-up things for the best reasons.”
“I’ll see you back at the hotel. Scout’s honor.”
“Where are you going?”
