Finale

the sun’s hottest rays. He was far more dangerous than he
appeared.
    “Am I supposed to take it from someone who knows?” I returned.
    His eyes darted both ways down the path. He sponged his forehead with a white handkerchief, further proof of his anxiety. His fingernails had been chewed to stubs. “If you know what I am,
and I’m betting Patch told you, then you know I can’t feel pain.”
    “I know you’re an archangel, and I know you haven’t been playing by the rules. Patch told me you’ve been living a double life, Pepper. A powerful archangel moonlighting
as a human? With your powers, you could really work the system. Are you after money? Power? A good time?”
    “I already told you what I’m after: Patch,” he said, a fresh sheen of sweat breaking across his forehead. He couldn’t seem to mop it up fast enough. “Why
won’t he meet me?”
    Uh, because you want to chain him in hell.
I jerked my chin at the cell phone in Pepper’s hand. “Nice trick, luring me here with his phone. How did you get it?”
    “I took it from him last night at the Devil’s Handbag. I found him hiding out in a brown van parked across the street from the entrance. He bolted before I got my hands on him, but
in his hurry, he missed grabbing his belongings, including his phone with all his contacts. I’ve been dialing and texting numbers all morning, trying to reach you.”
    Secretly, I breathed in relief. Patch had escaped. “If you brought me here to interrogate me, you’re out of luck. I don’t know where Patch is. I haven’t talked to him
since yesterday. In fact, it sounds like you were the last to see him.”
    “Interrogate?” The tips of his Dumbo ears glowed pink. “Golly, that sounds ominous. What do I look like? A common criminal?”
    “If you don’t want to question me, why lure me all the way out here?” So far, we’d kept our conversation light, but I was growing increasingly nervous. I didn’t
trust Pepper’s bungling, inept antics. They had to be a ploy.
    “See that boat over there?”
    I followed Pepper’s gaze to the river’s edge. A gleaming white motorboat bobbed on the water’s surface. Sleek, expensive, and probably very fast. “Nice boat. Going on a
trip?” I asked, trying not to sound worried.
    “Yes. And you’re coming with me.”

C HAPTER

9
    I GAVE YOU A CHANCE TO DO THIS THE EASY WAY , but I’m running out of patience,” Pepper said. He stuffed the
gun into the waistband of his trousers, freeing up both hands to wipe his gleaming brow. “If I can’t get to Patch, I’ll make him come to me.”
    I saw where this was going. “This is a kidnapping? You’re most definitely not a common criminal, Pepper. Felon, sociopath, and nefarious evildoer all sound a bit closer to the
mark.”
    He loosened his collar and grimaced. “I need Patch to do something for me. A little . . . favor. That’s all. Harmless, really.”
    I had a feeling that “favor” included following Pepper down to hell, just before he jumped clear and slammed the gates shut on Patch. It was one way to take care of a
blackmailer.
    “I’m one of the good guys,” Pepper said. “An archangel. He can trust me. You should have told him to trust me.”
    “The fastest way to break his trust would be to kidnap me. Think this through, Pepper. Taking me isn’t going to make Patch cooperate with you.”
    He tugged harder at his collar. His face had flushed to the point that he resembled a sweaty pink pig. “There’s a lot more going on here than meets the eye. I’m out of options,
can’t you see that?”
    “You’re an archangel, Pepper. And yet here you are, strolling around on Earth, carrying a gun and threatening me. I don’t believe you’re harmless, just like I don’t
believe you mean no ill will toward Patch. Archangels don’t hang around on Earth for extended periods of time, and they don’t take hostages. You know what I think? You’ve turned
bad.”
    “I’m down here on assignment. I’m not bad, but I do have to take certain . . . liberties.”
    “Gee, I’m almost tempted to believe you.”
    “I have a job for your boyfriend that only he can do. I don’t want to kidnap you, but you’ve forced my hand. I need Patch’s help, and I need it
now
. Walk toward
the boat, nice and easy. Any sudden movements and I shoot.”
    Pepper made a summoning gesture, the boat glided obediently through the water, moving toward the closest boat ramp. Patch hadn’t told me