A Cold Day in Hell (5 page)

She nodded. “Where’s my son?”

“Are you, Chuzah?” Angel asked. “Sonny’s told us about you. Sounds like we owe you.”

The keeper of the major voice appeared in the doorway and spread his arms. A rope of bones and bells clanged and clacked around his neck.

“Welcome, welcome. My humble home is your humble home. If you see what I mean. You come in. We been waitin’ for you. They here, Aaron, and they look like they been seeing ghosts. There’s that quiet boy, too. You come on up, quiet boy. Chuzah, he don’t bite.” He threw back his head and laughed, showing two rows of gleaming teeth.

Eileen pursed her lips and started to climb. The dog didn’t move.

“Locum,” Chuzah said, “you get your sorry ass up these steps and get in the house. You ain’t nothin’ but a poser. Fierce? You don’t know about fierce. You embarrass me. Excuse him, please.”

The dog’s mouth took on what looked like a smile and he tootled up and inside, looking back once with his tongue hanging out of his mouth and, Eileen was almost certain, giving her a wink.

“You three takin’ your time,” Chuzah hollered. “We gettin’ tired of waitin’.” He whirled one hand above his head in an exaggerated queenly wave. A turban and billowing kaftan, both in a Hawaiian print featuring palm trees and hula dancers in grass skirts, and nothing else set off his black skin. “You like my seasonal decorations? In your honor. I don’t get many guests around here.” He swept back inside.

“Up we go,” Angel said, but before either of them could move, Sonny passed them, taking two steps at a time.

Chuzah’s laughter spilled from inside the cabin. Angel and Eileen gave each other a final look and walked through the door, which slammed hard behind them under the master of the house’s foot. His long, well-shaped bare foot.

“Here we are,” he said, rocking onto his heels. “I am Chuzah, and this is my friend, Locum. My assistant. Like a locum tenens, he takes over my practice when I am forced to leave for a while. And I must be forced, I assure you, because this man don’t want to go nowhere but right here.”

“Sir,” Eileen said. She couldn’t handle this politely anymore.
“Where is my son?”

“All in good time, madam,” Chuzah said. “All in good time.”

A would-be Shakespeare thespian in a Hawaiian-print getup.

An altar took center stage, at least Angel thought it was an altar. Lit by many candles, giving off a variety of questionable odors, the tall, gilded base stood in the center of the room with a screen about a foot high on top. The screen, gold and enamel, stood open and Angel couldn’t begin to figure out the heavy load of items in front. He did note sticks of incense burning. He saw no reason to go closer.

There was nothing rustic about the furnishings—other than the oil lamps. Soft suede furniture in deep red invited you to sit or lie. Green and gold rugs covered the floor.

Root doctoring had to be paying better than Angel would have thought.

“Right this way,” Chuzah said and Angel stared at him. “You want to see the other boy, of course. Master Aaron, the curious. What amazement, discovering the depths to which an inquisitive youth will sink in order to investigate what he has no right to know about.”

Angel closed his mouth.

Chuzah walked on the balls of his feet to a door at the back of the room. He opened it gently and put his head inside. “We got company, boy. You put on your best face and make me proud, y’hear?”

Eileen didn’t dare to look at the other two. The gray dog returned, a wooden bowl in his mouth. This, he pushed at Angel.

“Water,” Chuzah said, flicking his fingers. “The dog, he need water.”

“Weimaraner,” Angel said. “Just remembered what he is. I’ve only seen a couple before. He’s a beautiful guy.” He took the bowl and looked around for a source of water.

“He has a large ego,” Chuzah said. “Do nothing to inflate his head. You’ll find water in there.” He indicated another door.

Eileen lowered her head, marched directly to the second door and passed Chuzah. She made it three steps into the room and stopped. “Aaron Moggeridge. What are you doing? You scared me out of my mind.”

“Mom—”

“No, don’t say a word. Be absolutely quiet while I take this in.”

“Mom—”

“One more word and I won’t be responsible for my actions.”

“Eileen?” Still holding the dog’s empty dish, Angel came into the room and had to fight not to laugh. “There you are, Aaron. Having a rough time, I see.”

Propped against multicolored silk pillows on a fluffy divan, Aaron wore a robe not dissimilar from Chuzah’s. As usual, his curly black hair was pulled into a tail at his nape. True, his eyes looked huge and very dark in his unusually pale face, but apparently he felt well enough to eat chocolates out of a huge box.

“Shee-it,” Sonny muttered. “I tell ya, last time I saw him he was dyin’.”

“Dramatist,” Chuzah said, examining incredibly long, curved nails with silver tips. “There was an incident. Oh, yes, an incident. I’d lie if I denied that, but the boy is mending nicely. He’s fortunate he had his little episode right under my nose.” He turned up his hands and shook his head with exasperation. “Oh, Angel. It
is
Angel?”

“Yeah.”

“Aaron here told me about your former career. I’ve got something I think you might find interesting. Would you excuse me please, Eileen? Such an elegant name,
Eileen.
”

Eileen nodded. “Start talking, Aaron.” She sat on the edge of the divan and Aaron promptly pushed the box of chocolates under her nose.

H
is kaftan billowing, Chuzah led Angel back into the other room, closed the bedroom door and swung to face him. “Let’s be honest with each other, shall we?” He waved Angel into an armchair and sat on a couch himself. “We must use what time we have well. It wouldn’t do for your lady or the boys to hear this.”

Seated, Angel propped his elbows on the arm of the chair and tapped his fingertips together. “Your lady,” was an interesting choice of terms from a stranger.

“You do know what I’m talking about?” Chuzah said, keeping his voice down.

Angel raised his eyebrows. If this clown wanted information, he was going to have to prove he had a right to it.

“Very well.” Chuzah shrugged. “You’re going to be difficult, not that I blame you.”

“I don’t know you,” Angel said. “From what I see here, I never will.”

“You carry a grudge against…” He swung out an arm, taking in the room, and Angel noted what he hadn’t noticed before, rows of herbs hung to dry on rods at the tops of the walls. And more bones, skulls and various shrunken lumps of unrecognizable material.

On the altar, one of those lumps sizzled on a tiny spit above a candle flame.

A chest with many small drawers, like a Chinese herbalist’s cabinet, covered an entire wall.

He turned toward one of the sash windows. The curtains billowed inward and he saw how an artfully placed skull propped the lower window open. A loop of the colored Christmas lights outside cast cheery spots on the shiny white dome that had once contained a human brain.

Angel took it all in. “I’ve always believed in creative freedom.”

Chuzah’s knowing eyes revealed that he was more amused than offended by Angel’s careful verbiage.

“You want to tell me your story?” Chuzah said.

“First,” Angel said, holding up a finger, “would you like to tell me why you sound as if you have a split identity?”

Chuzah gave another huge grin. “You mean my accent, mon? Me, I like to keep my options open. All o’dem options. Now, are you going to tell me about yourself?”

Angel let a few beats pass. “I think I’ll pass. Who are you?”

“More questions about me,” Chuzah said, turning his head to give a view of his dramatic profile. “I am a being. A creature of particular talents. I use my skills as I wish, and I trouble no one who recognizes my superiority.”

“That explains a lot.”

“I do not like company,” Chuzah announced. He pointed at Angel. “You should be grateful I was meditating when the boy, Aaron, had his unfortunate…encounter.”

“Thank you,” Angel said. Antagonizing unknown quantities was a don’t in ATF 101. “I’d appreciate knowing what happened.”

“I approve of sharing information.”

So if Angel didn’t toss the man a bone…some sort of supposedly interesting detail, there wouldn’t be any useful insight coming his way, either. “I’m making my home in Pointe Judah. Sonny is my nephew and he’s living with me. He’s been having problems settling down. Know what I mean? Teenage stuff.”

Chuzah shrugged. “I prefer high places,” he said. “Do you understand?”

“No,” Angel said honestly.

“My home is a high place. It’s peaceful up here. When I attend to my physical fitness, I use high places. Preferably trees. My skills are extraordinary. Some might say I fly.”

“I see.” Angel didn’t.

“Is the lovely Eileen your wife?”

Angel sucked in a breath. “No.”

“So Aaron isn’t related to you?”

“No.”

“But the lovely lady is your lover.”

“So far you’re batting zero.” Angel sighed. “Unfortunately.”

“Is Eileen your friend?”

“Yes.”

“But you would like her to be a closer friend. You are wanting sex with her?”

Angel puffed up his cheeks but wouldn’t let himself look away from the man. This was a test, he was sure of it, and he didn’t want to fail. “Yes, I am.”

“She’s luscious.”

“Hey—”

“A compliment, Angel. You have outstanding taste in womanly flesh. And she may even have a strong mind—or so her eyes suggest.”

“Is there a point here?” Angel said.

Chuzah folded his hands behind his head and looked to the ceiling. “If I am to help, I must understand all these currents I feel passing between the subjects. But—” he leaned forward abruptly, his handsome face stern “—there is a great deal at stake. There are those who wish harm. Not simple harm, but ultimate harm. You would do well to humor me.

“Now I understand what I feel between you and the woman, I can separate it from the other currents. Strong passion can cloud the messages that come to me. You may do well to consummate—”

“I don’t need your advice on how to deal with my personal affairs.”

“Of course not. But she is deeply disturbed. She desires you as much as you desire her. And you will not be disappointed with her nor she with you. You will ignite great fires together.”

Holy hell.
“Is that right?”

“Without doubt. But there are other currents. I don’t understand all of them yet, but I will. Others I read very well now that you have explained some issues to me.

“I can tell you that the lovely Eileen fears she will lose you if you do not become lovers. But you will have to be the, er, aggressor, because she is tied by her duty to the boy. She will sacrifice her chances for satisfaction unless you prove to her that it is right for the two of you to find mutual heaven.” Chuzah rolled his eyes then closed them. “If you could see what I see, you would not waste another moment. Her naked body is your vessel to fill, your ecstasy. Her breasts like white melons tipped dusky dark and only waiting for your lips, your teeth. When your manroot sinks slowly into her for the first time, the she-creature will explode with passion. She will draw you in again and again, scratch your skin, sob out her desire for more and more of you, until—”

“Right,” Angel said, finally finding a voice. “It won’t be easy, but trust me to—”

“Exactly. And I am fascinated by your strengths. Both those you have learned and those with which you were born.”

Angel cleared away any expression, a skill he’d learned when he was in the CIA, a part of his life he preferred to ignore.

“An important man to have around,” Chuzah said. “Your visions, are they as strong as ever?”

Angel’s heart made a momentary full stop. How did this man know anything about Angel’s premonitions or his ability to visualize trouble already in action? He was doing his best to forget these unwelcome gifts and he’d been doing well since he left the CIA. Until very recently, that was. Vague hints of the old plague had started to return.

“Not
as
strong, but nevertheless still with you?” Chuzah said. “Good. They will be useful, more than useful. They may save…I have smelled death.”

“Do you always talk in code?” Angel wanted to drop the subject. “Not that you’re right about me.” He knew he didn’t sound convincing but Chuzah had caught him off guard.

“I will be very clear.” Chuzah glanced toward the bedroom. “Soon there will be questions from your woman. We must finish. What has happened is not as it appears. The injury to Aaron was minor—no more than a small bruise or two.”

“When Sonny came for us he said Aaron was bleeding badly.”

Chuzah shrugged. “He saw blood—probably from a cut somewhere. He thought it must be serious, no more.”

Angel glanced away. “There’s blood on Sonny’s clothes.”

“What we know, we know,” Chuzah said softly. “But it’s best that the truth be denied. The injury was intended to be deadly. What I don’t know is which boy was supposed to die.”

“Damn,” Angel said under his breath.

“But you knew there was doubt,” Chuzah said. “Or you suspected it.” Locum rose from the floor abruptly, loped to Angel and looked up into his face. A faint scent, wood-smoke, hovered around the animal and his silvery-blue eyes didn’t blink. Angel felt the hair rise on the back of his neck.

“You cannot deny your intuition,” Chuzah said. “See how Locum feels it. Down, boy.”

“What is it you want to tell me?” Angel said.

“You believe Sonny is in danger?”

“I wish I didn’t.”

“I was in the trees when the trouble came,” Chuzah said. He stood up, breathing deeply, expanding his big chest. “Meditating. I saw the boys. They meant no harm. Curiosity about the practices is common.”

“Boys will be boys?” Angel said, biting his tongue, but wanting to hurry the man to the point.

“Mmm. That one who was quiet. The one you say is your nephew.”

“Sonny.”

“He is not your nephew. You are not related.”

Angel had regained control over his reactions. “You don’t know that.”

“I do know that. And I know the boy is in trouble. He fears a hunter.”

“Where are you getting all this?”

“Each of us has different talents.”

“I want to get Eileen and the boys home.”

Chuzah came toward him and Angel automatically got to his feet. The other man’s eyes were black, large, uptilted. And mysterious. But Angel saw no malice in him.

“Take them home,” Chuzah said. “But when you need me, I will be here.”

“Thanks. We’ll manage.”

“I will be here. And remember this. Out there—” He pointed both first fingers toward the outside. “Out there is an evil force made more fearsome because it has no discipline. What you face is a bitter desire for vengeance. I don’t know the reason yet, but I will. Do you know the reason?”

Did he?
What was he thinking? This joker had practiced his act and what he said could mean whatever he wanted it to mean. What Angel didn’t know was what the man wanted from him.

“You’re off-base,” Angel said. “Thanks for looking after Aaron. But you’re deliberately talking in circles. Were there really shots? Or did he scare himself into a collapse. He doesn’t look as if he was wounded.”

Chuzah smiled. “Perhaps not. You’ll see. I may be off-base, as you say. Regardless, don’t let your guard down.” He stood still and his smile faded. He turned toward the bedroom and back again. “It’s important not to make a mistake. It would be disastrous to misread the signs.”

“What signs?” Angel said. “If you’ve got something I need to know, tell me.”

The haughty face was all sharp angles. “Until you are ready to trust me, I cannot be certain I read the signs correctly. Trust will take time. I understand. But you don’t have much time, my friend.

“I can tell you one fact,” Chuzah continued. “Today someone was supposed to die. The attempt failed, but there will be another attempt.”

“Someone tried to kill Sonny?” Angel said.

“When the trouble comes again, it will be when you don’t expect it. You must guard against what is least likely. One death may not come close to satisfying our killer’s appetite.”