Inherit the Dead

thought, happy endings are for Pixar.
    “You don’t really believe that,” he said.
    Angel snorted. “All she cares about is money . She tried to stop me from finding out about the inheritance. She hid the papers and letters, anything about them. I only found them by accident when I was . . . ” Her voice trailed off as she tried to figure out a way to make herself the good guy. Inspiration lit her face. “When I was looking for my birth certificate so I could apply for a passport.”
    The lie didn’t come anywhere near fooling him. But why lie? “That doesn’t mean she wants you dead,” Perry said firmly.
    “You don’t understand.” She cast a quick, nervous glance around her and put a hand on his arm. “Look, let’s go someplace we can talk properly about this. I’m cold.”
    Perry moved away from her touch. “We could go inside to Athena’s.”
    Angel shook her head. “I don’t want to burden her with this. She doesn’t deserve to have this shit in her head.”
    He wanted to suggest his car. Sitting side by side, so close he could smell her, an intimacy impossible to ignore. “There’s a coffee shop on the corner,” he said, his voice gruff.
    “Okay,” she said. They set off down the street. Perry kept a couple of feet between them, fearing and distrusting the attraction he felt.He eyed the cars parked on the other side of the street, checking that they were empty.
    But it wasn’t the parked cars that were the problem. As they reached the end of the street, Perry picked up the high note of an accelerating engine behind them. He swiveled in time to see a black sedan racing up the street toward them. Dimly, he heard Angel scream as the car mounted the sidewalk in a screech of rubber. The rest was a blur of movement and color.
    Afterward, Perry reconstructed what had happened. He’d known exactly where Angel was, and he’d jumped straight backward, knocking her off her feet and over the low iron railings of the last house on Washington and St. James. Then he’d thrown himself sideways to land painfully on his hip beside her. He’d struggled to his feet, but the car had already been lost in traffic. Worst of all, none of the nearby pedestrians seemed inclined to break step in their busy day to offer support or witness. Nobody even started yelling about the damage they’d done to the shrubs. So much for a friendly neighborhood.
    Angel scrambled to her feet and threw her arms around Perry. “Now do you believe me? Now do you get it? She’s trying to kill me. She wants me dead so she can steal all the money.” She was quivering in his arms like a frightened animal. Which, he supposed, was exactly what she was. And she certainly provoked all his animal instincts.
    Gently, Perry tried to pry her free. But she wasn’t ready to let go. “You have to help me,” she pleaded. “You’re the only one who’s taken care of me. If I’d been with Randy, I’d be dead right now. Please, Perry, I need you.” She planted a kiss on his cheek, her smooth skin soft against his weathered cheek.
    Perry caught himself feeling he could be a hero. He would be the one she could depend on, the one she trusted, the one she wanted to wake up with. Then his better self kicked in, and he reminded himself he was a sorry sack of a middle-aged man seduced by the needsof a beautiful—and terrified—young woman. The oldest story in the book. He should know better than that. Hell, he was better than that.
    He unpeeled her arms from his body and stepped back over the railings onto the street. A line of wrought-iron spikes was just what he needed between them. “I believe you, that somebody is trying to kill you. But I don’t think it’s your mother. Whoever was behind the wheel of that car had to be waiting for an opportunity. He or she knew just where you were. If your mother knew that, she wouldn’t have needed to hire me.”
    Angel pushed her tousled hair away from her face and climbed over the railings. “Maybe she bugged you. Maybe she’s got a trace on you. Like in that movie.”
    Perry had no idea which movie she meant, but he didn’t care enough to ask. “We need to go to the police.”
    She shook her head. “No way. As soon as that happens, I’m public property again. I’m going back to Athena. I’m safe there. She won’t turn me in. And she’ll protect me till you find out who’s behind this.” She angrily tapped his chest hard with her index finger. “And I guarantee you it will be my