"A necessary job," H2 added pensively.

"He's angry at all of you for, well, running his name down into the filth," Lucy finished.

Tony could not believe what he was hearing. "But... he's Death for Christ's sakes! I mean, how the h.e.l.l can he be offended?!"

H2 looked concerned. "You sure your boy here is ready? Sounds to me like he isn't."

"I'm not some-what?-head shrink! You're telling me I have to f.u.c.king apologize to Death?" Tony demanded.

"Yes," Lucy said, allowing the four-letter swear words to fly like buckshot. Under the circ.u.mstances, she supposed it was okay.

"And why me, again?" Tony strained to understand.

"You're mortal," Lucy said, her eyes flicking to H2 for the briefest of moments. "Frank doesn't want to believe or hear us anymore. He won't listen. He wants you to see how life is without him around for a while. He's willing to let people suffer to prove his point."

Tony clasped his head. "He wants an apology from me, and he'll go back."

The pair exchanged looks again. "We think," H2 said with a little smile.

"A sincere apology, Anthony," Lucy said. "You have to convince him that you speak for all of your kind. You have to convince him to come back."

Tony shook his head. "Alright, f.u.c.k it. I'll apologize. Sure, why not."

"Anthony," Lucy met his eyes, "it has to be sincere. You have to convince him that you are being true."

This made Tony pause. "I dunno, then. I mean, I'm a brawler if anything. I don't know if I can sweet talk him like you want."

"A b.l.o.w. .j.o.b might do it, then," H2 threw in.

Both Lucy and Tony regarded the man with dangerous looks.

H2 shrugged. "What? He said to me that f.e.l.l.a.t.i.o fascinates the h.e.l.l out of him. I'm trying to help here."

Lucy's disgust was evident in the way she slowly looked away from him.

"Think of your mom, Anthony."

Tony's back straightened with shock. "How do you know about my mom?"

Lucy's voice was full of sympathy. "It's kind of my job to know these things, Anthony."

"I'm starting to get really suspicious about your job, Lucy," Tony almost barked. His nerves were jangled now.

"Look," H2 said calmly, "you need motivation. She's it. He hasn't come for her yet right? And with him being the way that he is now, he's not going to anytime soon. And if he doesn't get back to moving people really soon, none of this will mean s.h.i.t because we'll all be" H2's hand flopped around in the air, gesturing at everything around them. He didn't finish what he wanted to say. He did have a little spot remaining for Lucy and her sensibilities.

And although he didn't say it, Tony suddenly felt... f.u.c.ked as if by a telephone pole.

His mother.

If he convinced Frank to return to work, his mother dies. How did he feel about that? Wouldn't he be responsible then for killing her? No, he would be releasing her. He would be bringing back what should have happened naturally long ago. But it was his mother. He couldn't bear the thought of letting her go. Not her. Not letting her go to... him.

"Tony?" Lucy's voice.

"Yeah?"

"You okay?"

"Yeah. Fine." Tony looked at her. "Didn't you say before there were others like me looking for this guy?"

"Yes."

"So if I blow it, maybe another one will do it?"

"Possibly, but you are the closest now, Anthony. You could end all of this by tonight. But. We. Must. Go. Now."

"Where?"

"'Tis three in the afternoon," H2 smiled at him. "Old Frankie boy will be thirsty after all that swearing. He's going to the Paradise Lounge for drinks."

"Death drinks?" Tony said, mildly surprised.

"Like a school of fish," H2 informed him, his smile widening. "Good thing he's Death if you ask me. The man should be dead himself the way he slams them back. I could tell you stories."

Lucy glowered at him.

"But I won't." H2 drew up and coughed uncomfortably "Not today anyway. Like the lady said, we gotta go."

"You're not coming," Lucy told H2.

"I thought you'd never ask," H2 grinned at her.

"I mean it."

"But I have to go," H2 was serious now, "It's three! Truth be told, I drink like a school of fish, and Frank will be wondering where I am and hey, anyway, I want this whole mess cleared up ASAP just as much as you. Doesn't do my business any good for him to be tempting the "

H2 clamped his mouth shut.

But it wasn't fast enough. "Tempting the what?" Tony wanted to know.

"Nothing," H2 said. "But you still need me."

Lucy frowned. "He does know where this Paradise is."

The slick grin came back.

"I can find that in a phone book," Tony retorted, pleased at seeing the man's smile falter.

"We might need him anyway," Lucy said, looking disappointed.

"I'm really starting to dislike you," Tony pointed a finger. It made H2 grin again.

"Wait till you get to know him," Lucy said.

Tony flashed wary eyes at the man. "C'mon. This way. The sooner we get on with this the better."

The three of them began walking back to the parking lot. The desolate course was full of dampness. Unlike the rest of the country that was struggling through the last white coughs of winter, this part of British Columbia was experiencing unusually warm weather. Tony heard the province was one of those places a person could fall in love with. He supposed, glancing around, he wasn't in a particularly affectionate mood. They reached the parking lot and moved towards the car. At one point, H2 slowed and stopped in his tracks.

"You didn't drive up in that piece of s.h.i.t?"

Both Tony and Lucy turned about to see the man's mixed expression of horror and bewilderment.

"That piece of s.h.i.t's gotten me 'round for years," Tony said, feeling the heat coming into his cheeks like a pair of stove burners. He didn't like anyone mouthing off about his car.

"So I see," H2 stated, nodding.

"Look, if you don't like it you can" He remembered Lucy. "You can walk."

"Probably get there faster," H2 commented, sizing up the beast with a look of amazement. He came closer, stopped and dropped to his hands and b.a.l.l.s of his feet. He peered up underneath the vehicle. "Christ almighty. I think I see a dead cat."

"f.u.c.k you." Tony grated. That was enough. "You can walk then if you're this f.u.c.king righteous."

"Tasteful is more like it," H2 muttered back. He hopped to his feet and slapped his hands clean. "Really, I thought I saw a dead cat. Or a squirrel. Something with a tail anyway."

"f.u.c.k off, I said," Tony seethed.

"You do a lot of country driving? Or just like running over things?"

Tony turned an exasperated gaze to Lucy.

"Yes," he informed him. "he usually is like this."

"Lucy," H2 pleaded, "I picked you up in a limo for G.o.d's sake. A limo. Leather interior and champagne a push b.u.t.ton away. DVD's if we had the time. You want me to ride around in this?"

"In the back," Lucy told him.

"I don't want you along," Tony threw in. "Remember that. I'm really starting to dislike this f.u.c.king loser."

"I'm a loser?" H2 preened and smiled. "Lucy. Maybe we should let some of the other Mundanes for this job. I doubt this one could follow directions on a soup can. And he's going to talk to Frank? Try and convince him to get back into the field?" He slowly shook his head. "I don't think so."

"I do," Lucy declared. "You wanna make a bet he can't?"

For a moment, Lucy and H2 regarded each other with the coolness of professional Vegas poker players, and Tony felt the pull from both of them. It only took a moment to weigh in the amount of confidence Lucy was placing in him to make the wager. He recalled their bet only hours earlier it seemed, and how Lucy won it hands down. Hands down was the understatement of f.u.c.king infinity. How did she manage that anyway? He got the impression Lucy rarely, if ever, lost a bet of any kind to anyone, and the look on rat b.a.s.t.a.r.d H2's face confirmed it. The man's chiselled features, particularly the way his jaw twitched from the pressure of grinding his teeth, told Tony H2 knew she rarely, perhaps never, lost a wager.

Never lost a wager. Jesus. He'd have to convince her to get to the casino in Downtown Halifax. Or legendary Woodbine in Ontario. Do some betting on the ponies.

That made him pause. It suddenly occurred to him that this exquisite woman made his stomach shiver possessed a great deal of faith in his ability to bring Frank around. He wondered why. Confidence was not something he had in his speaking ability. Unless he was speaking in two- and three-punch combinations.

H2's hands came up over his head in surrender. "Alright. Alright! You command here. I'll ride in that. But I sit up front."

"You can sit on the toe of my boot," Tony quipped.

"I get the front," H2 insisted.

"I'll put you on the f.u.c.king roof if you keep this up, you complaining p.r.i.c.k."

"Lucy, you're not going to make me ride in the back of this thing are you? It'll ruin the crease in my pants!"

That made Tony grin.

"Yes, I am," Lucy put in forcefully. "You sit in the back."

H2 sucked his breath in between clenched teeth. "You know what you do to me when you give me orders like that."

Tony struggled hard not to say anything, and instead, turned and got into his car. Lucy allowed H2 to climb aboard on her side and she got in after.

"Awfully cramped back here," H2 squirmed to make himself comfortable.

Feeling evil, Tony reached down between his legs and adjusted the seat, ramming it further back. He was going to make the b.a.s.t.a.r.d's ride back there as unpleasant as possible. He made a mental promise to hit every pothole or speed b.u.mp he could see along the way.

"Hey!" H2 squealed indignantly, "You just put the seat back further, man!"

"I got long legs."

"Your legs ain't that long!"

"I'm the driver, man," Tony warned him. "You're baggage."

"You hear how he's talking to me, darling?" H2 directed at Lucy.

"Yeah, I do," she replied with a little smile at Tony, "and I'm liking every syllable."

Tony smiled back, and then turned his attention to the growl of engine starting up. When he fired up the beast, H2's expression became one of worry. He realized his seatbelt didn't fasten properly either.

From across the road, standing with his hands in the pockets of his black winter parka and looking anything like an agent longing for the release of total chaos upon the world, fireman Peters watched the Mustang swing around and cruise off towards distant traffic. The car backfired at one point. Peters dug his sneakers into the yellow gra.s.s covering the shoulder of the road. He looked at the ground where he left a scuff mark, memorizing the blue vehicle for the coming hunt. When he looked up again, the car was gone. Things were moving along now, faster than Maia had antic.i.p.ated. There had been five, then there were three, and the threesome was driving off. Two of the three were Ent.i.ties. Peters believed he could take all of them, but he suspected they were headed towards Death and the other one. Peters recalled the way Maia was talking as he was doing up the sleeping firemen with the axe. There was a lot riding on this, and the thought of it made him hesitate to act alone. Fighting four Ent.i.ties would be too risky. It would be better to bring in reinforcements. Peters would not be the one who would be remembered for botching up the Apocalypse. f.u.c.k that.

Digging into his coat jacket, he found his cell phone and speed dialed Maia's number.

Chapter 31.

They sighted the Holiday Inn within the border of New Brunswick and Quebec, and agreed that it would be a luxury after a day spent on the road. Danny parked the exhausted Celica, and they got a double bedroom. They saved a little cash by eating at a nearby McDonald's although Crew made it a point to have a decent breakfast in the morning. McDonald's twice in one month was enough for him. Two days in a row would just not do. He likened it to one night stands: one can live off it, but it isn't healthy. Danny promised him something good in the morning even if it meant dining in the expensive restaurant of the hotel.