“Well, either way,” I said, going to warm up my coffee, “I’m glad she’s doing well.”
“Yeah, me, too.”
“I have two jobs for you.”
“Okay, but I’ve decided I need weekends and holidays off.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. It just sounds good. And I need benefits.”
I gave him my best deadpan expression. “Isn’t it a little late for medical?”
“No, I need other benefits. Like seeing you naked. But only sometimes. I’m not greedy.”
“You are not seeing me naked. Now, do you want to know the jobs or not?”
“Sure. Why not? I’m only dead. It’s not like I can argue.”
I curled up beside him, and he put an arm around my shoulders. “Can we make out?”
“No. Can you draw?”
He shrugged. “I used to be pretty good. Haven’t tried it in about thirty years.”
“But you can manipulate objects sometimes. I’ve seen you.”
“Yeah. Do you need a nude portrait done?”
“Yes, actually, I do.”
He rose slightly. “Really?”
“Yes. Of Mr. Wong’s back.”
Disappointment lined his handsome face. “That old guy? I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. He’s … escalofriante.”
“Angel Garza,” I said, leaning away from him. “Mr. Wong is not creepy. Why would he give you the chills?”
“He just does.”
“That’s not nice.”
“Whatever you say, ’jita.”
“And you can’t call me ’jita. It’s wrong. I’m older than you are.”
He still had his arm on my shoulders when his full mouth tilted playfully. “You are not older than me. If you’ll let me see you naked, I’ll prove it to you.”
The way Angel talked, the departed could have sex. But really? Could they? I wasn’t about to find out with a thirteen-year-old. “You are not seeing me naked. I need you to draw the tattoos on his back.”
“I can try, but I don’t think he’ll like it. What if he’s ticklish?”
I pursed my lips in reprimand. “I don’t know what else to do, unless you can talk to him and find out who he is.”
“I’ve already told you: I’m not a ghost whisperer. And if you could see what I see, you wouldn’t even want to know who he is.”
I bolted upright. “Why? What do you see?” Then I remembered something. When I was hurt and almost burned alive, I’d seen Reyes’s darkness, the flames that forever engulfed him, the scars from his past. Reyes said I was looking at him from another plane. Now I just had to remember how I did that.
I looked back at Mr. Wong and concentrated. Then I squinted. Then I squinted harder until he became a blurry patch of gray.
“Is it working?” Angel asked, a soft laugh escaping him.
I gave up with a hopeless sigh. “No.”
“You’re the grim freaking reaper. You can do anything. You just haven’t figured that out yet.”
“Dude, how do you know more than I do? Are my abilities, like, common departed knowledge?”
“No,” he said with a shrug. “You kind of learn things as you go. It’s like on-the-job training.”
“That’s exactly how I feel. So, like what? What can I do that I don’t know about?”
“I just told you. Pretty much anything.”
“That’s so helpful. Thanks,” I said, giving up. Again. “What do you see?”
He looked at him, studied him a long while, then said, “Power.”
My eyes rounded. “Power? What do you mean? What kind of power?”
“That’s it. Just power. You’d have to see it to understand. Me da mala espina.”
Well, that was a huge help. “Something ominous is coming, huh? When isn’t it? I want you to try to draw the tattoos on his back onto this paper when you can.” I pointed to my sketchpad.
“Okay. Most likely the pencil will slip through my fingers, but I can try right now if you want.”
“Nope—right now, you have another job.”
“Okay. I get paid time and a half for overtime, right?”
“No. I need you to go check out a demon posing as a man.”
“I don’t like demons.”
“I don’t either.”
“That’s funny, since you’re sleeping with one.”
“Reyes is not a demon.”
“Keep telling yourself that, mijita. He is the most notorious demon of them all.”
“Are you going to go check this guy out or what?”
“Sure, but when the prince of hell turns on you and decides to engulf the world in a blazing inferno, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“Deal,” I said, plastering a smile on my face.
5
I’m only here to establish an alibi.
—T-SHIRT
I told Angel where he could find the Dealer, with instructions to just get a feel for him. For his power. “But don’t get too close, else he’ll sup on your soul,” I’d added, after which he’d rolled his eyes. He could be such a drama queen.
I looked back at Mr. Wong and studied him. Power. I just didn’t see it. Duff!