I frowned, wondering at Hugh's urgency. "Okay. I'll call him now. Come talk to me later?"

 Doug nodded, and I started to pull out my cell phone until I remembered I'd broken it last night. Retreating to the back office instead, I sat on the desk's edge and called Hugh.

 "Hello?"

 "Hugh?"

 "Jesus Christ, Georgina. Where the hell have you been?"

 "I, er, nowhere..."

 "We've been trying to get ahold of you all last night and today."

 "I wasn't at home," I explained. "And my cell phone broke. Why? What's going on? Tell me there hasn't been another one."

 "Afraid so. Another murder this time, no more friendly beatings. When we couldn't reach you, the vampires and I thought he'd got you too, even though Jerome said he could feel that you were fine."

 I swallowed. "Who... who was it?"

 "Are you sitting down?"

 "Sort of."

 I braced myself, ready for anything. Demon. Imp. Vampire. Succubus.

 "Lucinda."

 I blinked. "What?" All my theories of an avenger of evil shattered. "But that's impossible. She's—she's—"

 "—an angel," Hugh finished for me.

 CHAPTER 16 

 "Georgina?"

 "I'm still here."

 "Pretty fucked up, huh? I guess this kills your angel theory."

 "I'm not so sure."

 My initial feeling of dismay was being replaced by a new idea, one that had been percolating in the back of my mind ever since I read the biblical passage at Terry and Andrea's. I wondered now... wondered exactly what we were dealing with, if it was an angel after all. The words in Genesis came back to me: There were giants in the earth in those days... the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown...

 "What's Jerome saying about all of this?"

 "Nothing. What'd you expect?"

 "Everyone else is okay, though?"

 "Fine, last I knew. What are you going to do? Nothing stupid, I hope."

 "I have to go check on something."

 "Georgina..." Hugh warned.

 "Yeah?"

 "Be careful. Jerome's in a terrible mood over all of this."

 I laughed harshly. "I can imagine."

 An awkward silence hung on the line.

 "What else aren't you telling me?"

 He hesitated a moment longer. "This... this is a surprise to you, right? This Lucinda thing?"

 "Of course it is. Why wouldn't it be?"

 Another pause. "It's just... well, you've got to admit it's kind of weird, first Duane..."

 "Hugh!"

 "And then, I mean, when no one could contact you..."

 "I told you, my cell phone broke. You can't be serious about this."

 "No, no. It's just... I don't know. I'll talk to you later."

 I disconnected.

 Lucinda dead? Lucinda, with her plaid skirt and bob? It was impossible. I felt terrible; I'd just seen her the other day. Sure, I'd called her a sanctimonious bitch, but I hadn't wanted this. Any more than I'd wanted Duane dead.

 Yet, the connections Hugh had drawn were weird, weirder than I liked to admit. I'd argued with both Duane and Lucinda, and they'd died shortly thereafter. But Hugh... how did he fit in? Some friend. From what I heard, he received a great deal of amusement telling anyone that would listen about your little whip and wings getup. I remembered Luanda's jibe. I had indeed had a small flare-up with the imp just before his attack. A small flare-up and a small attack, considering he had lived.

 I shivered, unsure as to what this meant. Doug walked in.

 "You get everything straightened out?"

 "Yeah. Thanks." We stood there uncomfortably for a moment until I finally unlocked the floodgates of my guilt. "Doug, I-"

 "Forget it, Kincaid. It's nothing."

 "What I said, I shouldn't have. I was—"

 "Wasted. Trashed. Flat on your ass drunk. It happens."

 "Still, I had no right. You were trying to be nice, and I turned complete psycho bitch on you."

 "You weren't that psycho."

 "But definitely a bitch?"

 "Well..." He hid a smile, not meeting my eyes.

 "I'm sorry, Doug. I'm really sorry."

 "Quit it. I can't take much more of this sentimentality."

 I leaned over and squeezed his arm, resting my head slightly on his shoulder. "You're a good guy, Doug. A really good guy. And a good friend. And I'm sorry... sorry for a lot of things that have—or haven't—happened between us."

 "Hey, forget about it. It's nothing between friends, Kin- caid." A pregnant pause hung between us; he was still clearly uncomfortable with this exchange. "Did... did everything turn out all right? I lost track of you after the show. That outfit you have on doesn't reassure me any."

 "You'll never believe whose shirt this is," I teased, subsequently telling him the whole tale of getting sick with Seth and the follow-up birthday party.

 Doug was pushing hysterics by the time I finished, albeit in a relieved sort of way. "Mortensen's a good guy," he finally said, still laughing.

 "He says the same thing about you."

 Doug grinned. "You know he's—oh, man. I forgot, what with all those phone calls." Turning to the desk, he sifted through papers and books, finally producing a small white envelope. "You got a note. Paige said she found it last night. I hope it's good news."

 "Yeah, me too."

 But I had my doubts when I saw it. I took it gingerly, like something that might burn me. The paper and calligraphy were identical to the last one's. Opening up the envelope, I read:

 So you're interested in fallen angels, are you? Well, there'll be a hands-on demonstration tonight. It should prove more informative than your current endeavors and won't require you screwing your boss in order to get help with extrapolation— not that watching you make a whore of yourself didn't have its moments.

 I looked up, meeting Doug's curious eyes. "No worries," I told him lightly, folding the note up and placing it in my purse. "This is old news."

 Hugh's report implied Lucinda had been killed last night, and this note had been slipped to me beforehand, according to Doug. The warning had gone unheeded. This person apparently didn't have a good grasp of my schedule, or they hadn't wanted me to actually act beforehand. It was more like a scare tactic.

 Whatever their point in giving me a heads-up on Lucinda, it was nothing compared to the other reference in the note. The thought that someone had watched me have sex with Warren made my skin crawl.

 "Where are you off to now?" Doug asked.

 "Believe it or not, I need to find a book."

 "You're in the right place."

 We went back out to the information desk, where Tammi stood. It pleased me to see Doug training her in this post; we'd need people available for all jobs when the holidays came.

 "Practice time," I told her. "Tell me where we keep this book."

 I gave her the name, and she looked it up in the computer, frowning at the results. "We don't. We can order it for you."

 I scowled, suddenly understanding why people seemed so pissed off when I told them that. "Great," I muttered. "Where am I going to get it tonight?" Erik probably stocked it, but he'd be closed by now.

 "I hate to recommend this," joked Doug, "but a library might have it."

 "Maybe..." I eyed a clock, unsure how late the local branches stayed open.

 "Um, Georgina?" began Tammi carefully. "I know a place that has it. And that's still open."

 I turned to her in surprise. "Really? Where—no. No. Not there."

 "I'm sorry." Her blue eyes pleaded with me to forgive her for such tidings. "But there were three copies in stock the last time I was there. They couldn't have sold out."

 I groaned, rubbing my temples. "I can't go in there. Doug, you want to run an errand for me?"

 "I've got to close," he admonished. "What place are you avoiding?"