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."God, Mom.I know.I'm just, you know, making conversation."I let that one sit for a while as we maneuvered down the 101 Freeway, through Reseda, Encino, Sherman Oaks.I concentrated on the signs until I found the exit for Pasadena.Once I'd merged onto the 134 and picked a lane, I relaxed a little."So tell me about him," I said."Who?" Allie asked, looking a bit like a bunny confronted by the big, bad wolf."Santa Claus," I said."Who do you think?""Oh, Troy?" she said, just a little too casually."We're just friends.""Uh-huh.""I mean, I like him and all.And, well, I think he likes me.But…""But your pain-in-the-butt mom won't let you date?""I didn't say that.""No, and I love you for it." I considered only for a moment before diving in."How about you invite him over for dinner Friday.Give Stuart and me the chance to meet him.""Really? And you won't, like, embarrass me? I mean, you're not going to pull out the baby pictures or anything, are you?""Pictures? No way.I figure the videotapes are much more effective.""Ha-ha.My mom is such a comedian.""I'm not saying you can do a car date—or even a double date—but once we meet him, you can probably go out as a group.""I do that already.""A group date.And when do you go out?"She lifted a shoulder."I dunno.Surf club, I guess.He's always at the meetings, and I go watch him practice all the time.""All the time?" I repeated."Well, it's not like it's just me.I mean, the other guys on the team are there, too.And sometimes Mindy comes.And JoAnn and Bethany almost always come, too.""Wonderful," I said."A whole gaggle of teenagers in bathing suits on the beach without adult supervision.""Honestly, Mom.It's not like we're living in the olden days.""I know.I'm just so pathetically old fashioned."She rolled her eyes."Anyway, we do have a chaperone.Cool's been to almost every practice." That caught my attention."He has?""Sure.I mean, he's already brilliant on a board, but he's got to practice.And he's like the coach.He's shown the guys all sorts of cool tricks.Troy's tons better now.""Mmm." The idea of my daughter in such close proximity to Cool gave me the willies, and it wasn't just his bizarre name that had me worried.Anyone who hung out at Coastal Mists—who'd searched the room of a resident-turned-demon—was suspicious in my book.I had nothing more concrete to base my fears on.Not yet, anyway.But where my kids are concerned, a single bad vibe was one too many.I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel, trying to decide what to do.I wanted to forbid her to go anywhere near Cool, but if I did that, I'd have to fabricate a reason.And nothing rational sprang to mind."Is Cool the only adult at these things?""Mr.Long's always there, too.""Right," I said, immediately relieved."He's the faculty adviser, isn't he? So of course he'd be there.Okay.That's good."Allie was turned in her seat, looking at me as if I'd lost my mind."What?""We're not babies, Mom.And we're not rolling around in the sand making out like porn stars, either.""Thanks," I said."I feel a lot better now.""I just mean that you raised me right, okay? So chill out."I couldn't help my grin."Right.Chilling.""Jeez," she muttered, but loud enough for me to hear.She was right, too.I'd done a good job with this kid.My only regret, in fact, was that I hadn't started teaching her how to kick a little butt from the time she was age three.But still, better late than never.And at least David Long was around to keep an eye on things.Considering that only a day before I'd thought him a prime candidate for demonic infestation, my sudden relief that he was there to watch over my kid seemed a little abrupt.But the reaction was honest.For better or for worse, and despite all my lingering questions, at the end of the day, I did trust David Long.And until I could figure out a way to keep Allie away from Cool, I thanked God that David was there to be a buffer between them."Here!" Allie yelled."Turn here!"She waved the map in one hand and gestured wildly with the other.I slammed on the brakes, but missed the turn."Okay, okay.No problem." I did an illegal U-turn, braced myself for the sound of police sirens, heard none, and then gunned it onto the street.We were in Pasadena now, following the directions to St.Ignatius Catholic Church that Allie had downloaded from MapQuest.Father Oliver had been the pastor there until his retirement.After that, he'd continued working in secret as an alimentatore.He'd never been my mentor, nor Eric's, but we'd both known and respected him.After Eric and I had retired from Forza, we'd moved from our base in Italy to Los Angeles.Father Oliver had been our only connection to our old life, and even though we'd left Forza willingly and with no plans to look back, sometimes we wanted to be around people who understood.Who shared our knowledge of the bad things in the world.Not because they'd seen a movie or read a book, but because they'd lived it, too.Father Oliver filled that role.And although we'd never joined his parish, we'd used to meet him for hot dogs at Tail O' the Pup in West Hollywood.We'd sit and watch the traffic go by and talk about completely mundane things.Never about demons.Never about hunting.But somehow, just the act of being normal around someone who knew made the whole world seem safer, too.We'd lost touch with Father Oliver after we'd moved to San Diablo.Or, at least, I had.I'd always assumed that Eric had, too.That he'd lost himself in suburbia with me, relishing our new life in our safe new town.Now, though, I had to wonder.Had Eric kept in touch with Father Oliver all those years? And if he had, then why?Allie gestured frantically toward a nearly hidden driveway, and I turned in.The church loomed in front of us, a mission-style structure that had been built into the hills hundreds of years ago.The parking lot was mostly empty, which wasn't unusual for a weekday.I drove the length of the driveway, squinting at the signs as I tried to find the residence hall.Like so many parishes, St.Ignatius provided housing for retired priests.I didn't see a sign, though, and I stifled a frown.I'd been so certain he lived on site.If he had an apartment somewhere with an unlisted phone number, I was going to have a difficult time tracking him down.Inside the office, a twentysomething brunette greeted us with a perky smile."Hi," I said."I'm an old friend of Father Oliver, and since I happen to be in town, I thought I'd drop in and visit.But I can't seem to find the residence halls.""Oh, wow.Like, the residence halls are just back there." She pointed vaguely out the window.I started to thank her, but she wasn't finished [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]