Sunny - Mona Lisa Eclipsing

Quentin flipped to another channel where a reporter was speaking to a fireman who remembered seeing Jarvis coming on the scene. “He just dropped this bag and then was suddenly gone. Must have ran past me up into the building, but I didn’t see him or I woulda stopped him.” The camera zoomed in on an old burlap bag opened to reveal two dead mallards inside.

The poor guy had probably dropped off the girl at home, then gone out hunting, returning to see his building up in flames. It was easy visualizing the rest. After determining Kelly wasn’t among the crowd outside, he must have run inside the burning building and made his way up to the nineteenth floor only to find the girl trapped, with the fire blocking their way back down, though not for him. Jarvis could have survived the fire, the lack of oxygen, had he zipped back down through the flames, but not a human. A human would not have been able to survive.

“I wonder what the girl is to him,” I said thoughtfully.

“Not lovers,” Dontaine said with certainty. “She’s human.”

“Not necessarily true,” I said, shaking my head. “She might be a Mixed Blood. They said she was an orphan, remember.” Like I myself had been. Left on the doorsteps of an orphanage. “The other Monère watching him wouldn’t be able to sense that unless they got in close to her. If she’s a Mixed Blood, it wouldn’t be unpleasant for him to mate with her.”

“Whatever they are, lovers or friends, he risked a hell of a lot for her,” said Dante grimly.

It seemed like forever before we finally touched down. And then, once we did, it suddenly seemed as if time had flown by much too quickly, and much too soon we were bidding farewell to the Queen Mother and Lord Thorane—my last physical contact with them in who knew how long.

“May the Goddess bless you, keep you, and guide you,” said the Queen Mother in warm benediction. One last quick embrace, and then we were on our own, armed with disposable cell phones, a list of names, and a million dollars in cash.

Our first expenditure was renting a passenger van with a portable GPS navigation system, the type you stick on the front windshield via suction cup.

Quentin punched in the address for the Residence Inn that we decided would be the best place to stay. It was two miles away from the hospital, and less crowded than a hotel, easier for us to exit. I flipped open my new cell phone while he drove, and dialed the first number my brother had printed out on his list.

“Adams, McManus, and Kent. How may I help you?” answered a receptionist’s pleasant voice.

“Oh, good, you’re open,” I said, breathing a sigh of relief. “I need a good criminal attorney.”

“We have four attorneys in our office who practice criminal defense,” said the woman in a smooth professional tone. “Which one would you like?”

I wanted to say the best one , but more pertinent was, “Who do you have in the office right now that I can speak to?”

“Mr. McManus is here. The others will be in later at nine.”

McManus. One of the partners. Highly driven or at least highly disciplined, if he came in earlier than everyone else. “Is he good? I need someone very aggressive and experienced.”

“Mr. McManus is our most experienced criminal defense attorney in the firm. I should also tell you that he charges the highest rate.”

That reassured me more than anything else. “Can I speak to him, please?”

“May I ask what this is regarding?”

“It’s about the man they’re calling ‘an angel’ on the news, the one who flew out of a burning building. I’m hoping Mr. McManus will agree to represent him.”

A momentary pause that went on just a tad too long before she recovered and said, “Hold on, please.”

A few seconds later, a rich, deep voice came on the line. “George McManus here. What can I do for you?”

“My name is Mona Lisa,” I began automatically.

“Like the painting?” Derision seeped into the deep baritone voice. “Look, lady, isn’t it a bit early to be starting prank calls?”

Well, crap, this wasn’t beginning well. “Forgive me,” I said stiffly. “My full legal name is Lisa Hamilton, and I’m looking to obtain legal representation for the man calling himself Jarvis Condorizi.”

“The winged wonder? And why would you do that, Ms. Hamilton? Are you a relative of his?”

In a very distant way , I could say, but I had a feeling any more of what McManus perceived as nonsense, and he would just hang up the phone. I chose my next words carefully. “No, I’m an interested party that wishes to see his rights protected, and I am willing to pay you for any service you might render in that regard.”

As I’d imagined, talk of money grounded the conversation more firmly. “Has he broken any law?” McManus asked, getting down to business. “Done any criminal acts?”

“All he’s broken, as far as I know, is the window of his apartment building.”

“Then why do you need my services?”

“Because I’m on my way right now to get him out of the hospital, and I need someone with legal clout to help me ease him gently out of the hands of the police officers, FBI, and whoever else might happen to be there with him. Is that something you see as within your abilities?”

“Police, yes. FBI, maybe not if they’re paranoid and view him as a threat to national security, or as an alien from outer space.” Which he actually happened to be, I thought, wincing, though many generations down the line.

His words ran a chill through me, but I was glad to see McManus taking my proposal more seriously. “Then all I ask is that you do your best to get me in to see him, and I will take it from there.”

“Are you a friend of his?”

“Yes.” That I could answer truthfully—though my interpretation of friend was not what Mr. McManus had really intended.

“I charge a lot of money, Ms. Hamilton. Four hundred dollars an hour, and I require an upfront retainer of one thousand dollars.”

“No problem. I can pay you the retainer in cash.”

“There’s no guarantee, you understand?”

“I know,” I said, feeling better about him. Tough and no nonsense—a fighter, by the way he was willing to lash into me, but he seemed to be honest. “Just do your best to keep him from being taken into custody.”

“That I can promise you to do.”

“Good. I’ll meet you in front of Washington Hospital in half an hour.”

“Wait a second. I’m not stepping out of my office without a paid retainer first. This could all be a waste of my time, a big hoax.”

“Come on,” I snorted. “Don’t tell me the idea of being Jarvis Condorizi’s lawyer isn’t enough to get your ass out of that office, however remote the chance might be. What, you’re too shy to speak to all the reporters waiting outside and get your face plastered on all the news channels? Give me a break. That type of exposure will be worth more to you and your law firm than what I’m going to pay you, which I’m quite sure in and of itself will be quite substantial. But hey, if you aren’t willing to take a small risk, so be it. I’ll just move on to the next lawyer on my list.”

McManus gave a short barking laugh, the least polished I’d heard that carefully cultivated voice become. “It seems you’ve got some balls on you, Ms. Hamilton. All right, I’ll meet you in the hospital lobby, but this had better be for real.”

“Oh, no worries on that,” I assured him. Sorting through the papers, I pulled out the other list Thaddeus had given me. “By the way, I’m also looking for a good law firm specializing in public law and policy.” And read aloud to him the names of the three law firms on the list. “Which one do you recommend?”