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“Let’s assume you can’t. What then?”
The kettle whistles and Candy turns off the flame.
I brush some bread crumbs off the counter.
“If the angels won’t come to me, I’ll have to go to the angels.”
“You mean Hell. How are you planning on getting there?”
“I have no idea.”
She scoops the Colombian into a coffeemaker and pours in water. Hits the on button. I don’t know if she’s mad at me for bringing up Hell or for making her think of ways to talk me out of it.
She looks at me.
“I’m coming with you.”
“I don’t even know if I can get there. And you got sick the one time you went.”
“A lot of that was shock and being scared out of my mind. I’m over that now.”
“I don’t know.”
“The last time you went down there alone you didn’t come back for a hundred days. I thought you were dead. I swear, if you do that to me again, I won’t be here when you get back.”
I don’t need any tricks to know she’s telling the truth.
“Like I said, I don’t know if I can even do it.”
“Yes, you do. You always figure out these things. Take me with you or I’m gone. I don’t like ultimatums any more than you do and I’ll never give you another, but I mean this one.”
I touch the gash on the side of my face. It’s almost gone, but it’s going to add another scar to my collection.
“All right. But you do what I say down there, including leaving me and getting out if things go wrong. That’s my ultimatum for you.”
She looks at me hard, hating me right then.
“Okay. I’ll leave if you say so, but don’t say it to be heroic. Only if there’s no alternative.”
“Deal.”
“How long will it take to get ready?”
“We could do it tonight if I knew how to get there. I have the guns. I have Spiritus Dei to prep the bullets. You can wear some of my old body armor. That’s nonnegotiable.”
“Don’t worry. I like the sound of body armor.”
“Then all I have to do is figure out a way.”
The coffee machine burbles in the background.
She says, “What about Allegra and Vidocq? We can’t leave them alone.”
“Brigitte can help with that.”
“She’s making a movie.”
“Then she can come by between takes. Is there anyone else you trust who can handle themselves in a fight?”
