Vicki Pettersson - The Given

Enjoying himself, Grif winked at Larry. It’d been a while since he’d been able to use this particular celestial trick. “You’re very drunk,” he said while they waited for Eric to come around. “You probably won’t remember a bit of this in the morning.”

They wouldn’t. This was not a true possession. Angels could take over the bodies of people, but not inanimate objects. The mugs weren’t sentient, just animated through an ethereal exchange. The men’s thoughts had been emptied out in trade for the divine elixir, which was another reason why Grif had chosen Frankie’s. Unless he wanted to gain their knowledge by sharing from the same cup, the vessel needed to have a face. A coffee cup, for example, would never work.

“Let’s try this again,” Grif said once Eric had recovered, earning a wink from Larry’s mug. “This time we’ll start with Eric. Do you steal money from the long-term residents at the Sunset Retirement Community?”

“I’m not going to—”

“I’ve got this one,” said his mug, and made a sound like cracking knuckles before angling Grif’s way. “We work in tandem with a few planted employees to extend the lives of . . . certain patients.”

“Shut up!” Eric blurted, not realizing it was his own consciousness talking.

Larry’s mug butted in. “For example, we have a couple of hospice workers who know that we’re skimming, and the receptionist takes care of them along with taking her own cut, but they’re in the dark about the trusts. For that, all you really need is an accountant and a good recruiter. You want to keep the pool small.”

“I’ll keep that in mind for the next time I wanna bilk old folks of their savings,” Grif said, glancing up and locking gazes with Larry. “And what do you do?”

“Whatever needs doing,” his mug answered, and Larry gritted his teeth so hard that Grif could hear them grind over the video screens blaring behind him.

“He’s the recruiter,” said Eric’s mug, wood stretching as he smiled smugly. Teacher’s pet. “Who wouldn’t trust that face?”

“And Eric?” Grif asked it.

“The accountant. Eric is a computer genius. He’s my brother, so that’s why we let him in.”

“Goddamn it!” Larry slammed his meaty hand down on the table.

Grif turned his attention back to him. “And have you ever killed anyone in your care, Larry?”

“No.” His headshake was exaggerated, but his eyes were clear. “No way.”

“What he means to say,” his mug elaborated, “is that by the time we’re through milking those old-timers dry, they’re beyond ready to die. Once the credit cards are maxed out and all revenues of possible income are depleted, the in-house physician returns their medication to normal recommended dosage—”

Eric’s mug interrupted. “You mean reasonable dosage.”

“And they let go pretty quickly after that,” Larry’s mug said. “Most of the time, as soon as someone gains even an iota of awareness of how badly they’ve deteriorated, they have no desire to go on.”

And now, thought Grif, he had heard it all. There were scams . . . and then there were people who had simply lost every ounce of their humanity.

“Look,” said Eric, palm up, catching Grif’s wince. “Most of that cash would end up in government pockets anyway. The families won’t ever see it, because they don’t know how to look. They have no idea how to exploit the loopholes, and it’s not like the IRS is going to point out the missed opportunities. So we file the proper forms on the patient’s behalf . . .”

“And keep the difference for yourself.”

“Finders keepers,” Eric’s mug sneered.

“It’s stealing,” Grif replied, shaking his head at the mug before redirecting his attention toward Eric.

“It’s free money,” the man tried, and Grif realized that for some reason he liked Eric the least. He was less physically intimidating than Justin and quieter than Larry, but Grif found his watchfulness unnerving. A man who let others make the big plays, then lunged for the opportunities created by that chaos.

Right now, with Grif’s heavy gaze upon him, he shrugged and said, “Hey, man. What would you do?”

Grif leaned forward, forcing Eric to look him in the eye. “I would choose not to be a stain on all of mankind.”

It was an effort to sit back in his seat, and a bigger one to unclench the fist at his side. He forced himself to turn to Larry. “So you use every means possible to extend a patient’s life—”

Larry’s mug snorted. “Hell, we drug ’em up to their eyeballs and force them to live past their body’s capability. It doesn’t matter if they’re begging to die, or as lonely as shit. As long as they’re breathing, they’re paying.”

Larry gave an enraged cry and swatted the mug with his free hand. It yelled as it clattered to the floor, and Larry stared at it with a mixture of satisfaction and horror. It was the same way Grif was studying him.

“You guys have no idea what you’re really doing,” Grif finally said. He had to work to unclench his jaw. His heart was beating too fast in his chest. How the hell was he supposed to talk about this, to explain it, and still keep his cool? He pushed out a hard breath, trying to empty himself of the anger roiling inside of him. It was getting harder and harder to sit across from these guys. “You are keeping souls trapped in their bodies long after they require release. It’s a form of torture, understand? And you’re doing it for money .”

Laughter burst out of Larry, harsh and high, and he looked at Grif like he was a kid, some rug rat in need of schooling. “We’re torturing them? What about the people who throw them into that place? It’s like they’re placing their belongings into storage. And why? Because it’s more convenient for them to pay for care instead of give it. If they actually gave a shit about their parents or grandparents, then they’d catch the monetary discrepancies, but you know what? Most of them can’t even bear to think about it. Their guilt over abandoning the people who raised them keeps them from looking at anything too closely. So if you ask me, they don’t deserve to profit from the old.”

“But you do?” Grif said coolly.

Eric’s slim jaw just flexed at that. Grif thought again about putting a fist through it, but the bar door opened just then, letting in light cut by a large shadow.

“Let’s nail these bastards,” Grif growled, as Dennis reached his side.

Kit retreated from the desk as Ray DiMartino advanced into the room. His sculpted nose and dark eyes were pronounced beneath his still-wet hair, and dimples flashed in his stubble as he clenched his jaw. Although there was no place to hide a weapon beneath his towel, she perched on the armrest of the long leather sofa, a good place from which to access either exit, but kept her gaze trained on Ray as he padded, barefoot, forward.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Ray said, gaze darting over his desk, cataloging its contents, trying to see if anything was missing.

Kit slipped one hand into the right pocket of her skirt and slid her fingers around the .22 weighted there, but didn’t pull it out. Her instructor had told her that pointing it at a human being wasn’t the same thing as leveling it at a paper target, and he was right. Even contemplating shooting at someone again made her light-headed. Still, seeing the dark look in Ray’s eyes, and the way they narrowed while assessing her, she was glad she had the gun with her.

“I have some questions about your dear deceased stepmother, Barbara. And Ray? Don’t lie to me this time.”

Ray’s expression shifted at Barbara’s name, morphing from one of surprise to hatred, with a brief pit stop at anger in between. Kit swallowed hard, unable to hold back her shudder. She had seen the look before—both on the face of a man who’d tried to kill her and in the gaze of a fallen angel. It was pure evil, and it made her uneasy, even though it was meant for a woman who was already dead.