He nodded, tugged my ritzy new hair, and departed to burn paper on the stove. I waited until an expensive box of chocolates returned to sight, and grabbed the air near it. I caught Tim’s arm and, invisibly, we slipped out the back door.
As we hurried down the delivery-entrance drive toward the road, I called Schwartz to tell him what had happened. He was a lieutenant now. He probably didn’t have jurisdiction out here, but he’d know best how to protect Andre. He wasn’t happy. He even used a swearword. But he was a Zonie now, whether he liked it or not.
“You can stay out if you like,” I told Tim when we reached the bike and I released his arm. I didn’t know if he could even turn himself back on. We’d seen some pretty scary stuff, and Tim was, well, timid. “Even if someone notices me, you won’t be involved.” I handed him a helmet. It disappeared when he took it.
“Just don’t grab for me if I take a bend too fast!” I shouted, bringing the Harley roaring back to life.
The disappearing trick was highly entertaining, but a seemingly riderless bike would cause wrecks all over the freeway. Malicious mischief was only my style if the parties involved were nasty. Really, I’m a boring gnome in normal life.
We careened back to the row of Victorians that constituted home. Before we reached my place, I slowed down and gaped at the sight of a six-foot guy in camouflage jogging down the hill with a toddler stroller in hand and an infant strapped to his broad chest. I hoped he had been one of the storm troopers and let myself smile with a tiny bit of triumph. Muscles could be put to better use than destruction, and the toddler was laughing in joy at the speed. If only all our problems could be solved so peacefully!
In hopes that this was a benefit from Saturn Daddy, I properly offered up gratitude at the sight.
Back home, I parked in my normal spot by Pearl’s shed. Tim was still scared and thus invisible. Maybe I’d gone a wee bit over the speed limit, but really, he had no cause to shake in his shoes.
An ugly thought belatedly occurred, and I glanced down at the bike, then over to the helmet that reappeared when he hung it on the seat. “Did we just ride here on an invisible bike?” I asked. I didn’t think so. I’d been sort of watching the gauges.
“Until today, I never disappeared anything as big as you,” he complained. “I can’t disappear Harleys any more than I can vanish buildings.”
“I’m not any bigger than you are.” By much, at least. No Viking blood ran in my veins. I’d been told that my mother’s family was from Iran, although she’d been born in the U.S. I’d never met her parents—unless you count the weird messages from Themis. I didn’t know my father, but he sure hadn’t passed on any tall genes.
“Yeah, but you’re different,” Tim concluded.
I sighed. The boy had a point. Hadn’t I wished myself invisible a little earlier in the day? Saturn or the Universe or Satan usually gifted me with my wishes when I sent someone to hell. Did that mean I’d buried one of the troops in the tunnel with my avalanche? And the way I’d been cursing, I’d probably sent him to the devil. Damn.
I’d have to quit cursing.
It had been a long, strange day. And it was far from over. I left Tim to take a nap or do whatever it is teen boys do when no one can see them. I had to warn Julius that all hell was about to break loose.
And call Max! Man, how could I forget? Gloria was Dane’s granny. And Paddy’s mom. Ugh, I hated to be the bearer of bad tidings, although in this case, I didn’t think Gloria would be universally mourned.
I punched in the senator’s number as I jogged over to Andre’s house. He didn’t answer, and I got voice mail.
“Ding-dong, the witch is dead,” I singsonged into the machine. Rude of me, I know, but Gloria had not been what she appeared, and I’d hated her for a long time. Max had once stupidly thought she was interested only in shopping. After she’d had him killed, he’d had to open his eyes. Dane’s eyes, because Max’s big beautiful brown ones were gone forever.
“I thought I’d warn you before the media and cops cornered you,” I continued. “Get your PR guys over to Gloria’s, pronto. Never say I don’t do anything for you. Smooch, big boy. Call me if you need to know more.” I hung up.
I caught Julius and Paddy in the process of carrying Katerina back to her tower. They needed Andre’s muscle. I didn’t think they’d have it soon. Setting down Milo’s bag, I shouldered the lower half of the stretcher next to Paddy so we could keep her semi-straight going up the stairs.
“Is Andre all right?” Julius asked worriedly, huffing only a little.
“Maybe I should wait until we put the lady down before talking,” I stalled, trying not to gasp from the effort of lifting the weight. “He’s fine,” I said hurriedly when the stretcher sagged. “Long story.”
I didn’t know how much to tell them. They didn’t know what I was, and since I didn’t really know myself, I didn’t want to say too much. So I couldn’t mention invisibility and demons and all the parts I wanted to discuss. I had to stick to the real and the legal, like the good little lawyer I was supposed to be. Especially now that I knew Julius had once been a judge.
Instead, in lieu of conversation, I asked, “Who was the bonehead who gave Andre the cloud can?”
“That would be me,” Paddy said wearily. “It had to be done. My mother hasn’t been right in the head for years. I’m not sure senility can explain it. If anything will slow down Acme’s dangerous experimentation, it’s removing Gloria. What happened, do you know?”
The cloud can was still in my bag with Milo. Well, still in the bag. Milo was following us up the stairs.
“I know what happened,” I said grimly, my shoulders aching from the weight. “You need an elevator in here.”
“Normally, we don’t carry much up and down the stairs,” Julius said, breathing heavily as he shouldered open the door at the top.
“Well, maybe we won’t be gassed again, so you won’t need another bomb shelter run.” I hadn’t given much thought to anything except how Andre was faring, but I needed to consider all the other ramifications of Gloria’s demise. Removing a demon from a chemical factory could only be good, I decided—unless, of course, I was crazy.
We swung the stretcher to the lovingly carved bed with its downy mattress. Sleeping Beauty didn’t move so much as a finger when Julius expertly rolled her between the fine-woven sheets.
“Explain now,” Paddy ordered curtly. “Where’s Andre? We can’t let that can loose into the world.”
“Yeah, that was kind of my thinking. It’s in my bag downstairs. Julius’s bag,” I corrected, remembering lifting it from the knob. “I’ll go get it.” I trotted back down to the kitchen. The bag was there. The can was not.
I’d told Tim to disappear it. Maybe he’d come in and taken it. I dashed back to the second floor and pounded on his apartment door. No answer.
Praying Tim had the can, I returned to the attic and handed Julius his canvas tote. “I think Tim took it. I told him it needed to stay disappeared. But he’s not in his room. He may have gone to the shop to water the plants.”
Paddy frowned but said nothing.
Julius waved away the bag. “Keep the tote. I’ll talk to the boy whenever he comes in. Where’s Andre?”
I checked my watch. After three. It had been over an hour since I’d left him. “Probably still giving his statement to a few dozen cops. And when they’re done, they’ll bring in a few dozen more. We won’t be seeing him anytime soon. I’ve called Schwartz. I’m hoping he’ll let us know if we need a lawyer.”
Julius rubbed his forehead and sank into a cushy recliner. I bet he spent a lot of nights sleeping in it.
Paddy helped himself to the floor. He seemed at home there. “Did the cloud work?”