“Oh, my God, we need to—”
“Angela, look, they’re already here.”
And they were.
EMTs were helping the woman who had been stretched out on the tomb, the woman they had called Lily Morgan, and even the figure she’d shot in the leg.
Jackson looked at Angela, shaking his head.
“Couldn’t wait for us, eh?” he asked her, but he was smiling.
She hesitated. But Jaden, the local lead on the case, had moved away to give instructions to a few of his officers.
“We weren’t sure that anything was happening! I just came out to see if there was anyone out here, and then . . .”
He laughed, pulling her to him. “And you might have saved a life in those few minutes, so . . . yeah, we got through this a lot. But you tend to prevail. So now . . . “
It was her turn to laugh.
“Paperwork!”
“It always exists. And then. . . well, we’re going to need to find out how far this thing has stretched. The media will be on it. Jaden is already worried about protecting the city and . . .”
He broke off, smiling, because Alain had come over by them.
“Time to give you our deepest thanks again,” Jackson told him.
“My city, my pleasure. But you know, if you want to hang around in a good cemetery, I’ll be happy to show you my family’s vault and . . . and my own resting place,” Alain told them.
“You’re not resting a whole lot,” Jackson told him. “Something for which we’re entirely grateful.”
“I do enjoy being useful! And . . . I see the light sometimes. And I’m tempted. But you two have a habit of showing up back here, I’ve been told. So, I believe I’ll keep up what I’m doing for a few more years. And I do love seeing games on those wide screen TVs in some of the bars!”
Angela and Jackson both smiled, and Angela told him.
“Alain, we are both grateful, and more grateful still to know you’re here when we might need you in the future!”
He smiled and nodded and told them, “I just ran into an old friend who is interred back in one of the old vaults. We’re going to go catch up. Because, thankfully, I can be a big help without all the paperwork!”
He left them just as Jared arrived to remind them things were being wrapped up there and that, yes . . .
Paperwork!
And of course, it took all night.
But in the morning, Angela decided that even if it was only for a very short time, they could fly their kids, Corby and Victoria, along with Mary Tiger, their amazing household assistant, down to the city they all loved so much.
And by late afternoon of the next day, there were no more monsters to catch—for the moment at least. Though, of course, there were the dire warnings they’d received about all the monsters they hadn’t begun to remember yet.
They had learned, long ago, to enjoy every moment that was good, every precious moment spent with family and friends and all that was wonderful in life. It was a short flight, and they could get the family down quickly.
They had picked them up by late afternoon.
That evening, they decided on a carriage ride through the city and then a restful night in the hotel. Because they were going to wake up early and have a full day. They planned to first go to the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas, loving everything they saw—even though they’d been there before—and then on to the Audubon Zoo. The two were Angela’s favorite things to do in the city with young people.
At the zoo when Angela shook her head and smiled, she started to explain to Corby and Victoria why she loved it so much.
“I came as a kid. And then when I was a little older, my dad showed me a movie called ‘Cat People,’ with David Bowie . . . oh, I guess, you don’t know who—”
