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Sometime later, we’re lying on my new coat and Janet is making finger guns to shoot at the nearby tombstones. When they catch me watching them, they lean over and bite my shoulder. It’s a nice moment and I don’t want to ruin it, but I’m an expert at ruining moments.
“You should know, I bring trouble to people I get close to.”
Janet laughs once and leans on her crossed arms.
“I’m not scared.”
“You should be.”
They sit up and say brightly, “In case you didn’t notice, scared isn’t my thing. What’s fun if it isn’t at least a little dangerous? Plus, I always have my knife.”
They pull it from the side pocket on their jeans. It’s a pricy Microtech automatic knife. Push a button and the blade flicks out in a fraction of a second. Push the button again and the blade is gone. I click it a couple of times and give it back to them.
“The blade’s more than two inches. That’s illegal in California.”
Janet looks shocked.
“Please don’t tell Mom.”
They put the knife away and lean against me.
“Admit it. Knowing I have a knife got you a little hard just then, didn’t it?”
“Maybe a little.”
She grabs me.
“Liar.”
An hour later, I drop Janet off at Donut Universe. Before they go in, they drag me around behind the place and we kiss like a couple of high school idiots.
When we come up for air, Janet says, “You should come with me tonight.”
“Where?”
“The Lodge. There’s a meeting. We’re not supposed to bring nonmembers, but after what happened last night, I think they’ll make an exception for you.”
I want to say they’re out of their fucking mind. That I never want to get near those people. But I have to admit that at this point I’m intrigued by these suicide-kick creeps. I wouldn’t mind finding out what makes them tick. And who knows? Maybe I’d get a chance to punch Dan and Juliette in the nose. I bet that would give dead Charlie Karden a laugh.
“Why do you like the Lodge so much?”
“Come and see.”
I say, “What time?”
“Pick me up at eleven.”
They go inside and I drive back to the flying saucer house, trailing a cloud of gray cemetery dust from my brand-new coat.
At home, I’m still confused by the whole thing with Janet. What am I supposed to do now? I want to cut things off with them before they get more complicated. But after today, I know that’s not going to happen. What am I going to tell Candy? Or anyone else? I’m in deep here. Deeper than I thought I was ever expecting. On the other hand, it feels good to be wanted by someone. But, seriously, what the hell am I doing?
To take my mind off all that and Samael’s idiot angel rescue mission, I go back through Stein’s folder, looking for anything I might have missed. Cop reports. Autopsy report. Witness reports. Photos. Then I find a second plastic envelope that was caught between a couple of sticky coffee-soaked report notes. It holds a small green address book. I take it out and thumb through it.
I recognize some names of actors, actresses, and directors. Theater addresses. Talent agency addresses. Some bars and clubs. All of the entries are written in very clean and precise block letters. Some of the names are coded with icons and colors.
Pace Ripley. A red dot.
Amber L. A green star.
