“Umm-Boss? Could I talk to you for a minute?”
“Later, Guido.”
I repeated the gesture, and the girl responded with a quick smile that lit up the room.
“Thanks for the invite,” she said, “but I’ll have to take a rain check. I really can’t stay. In fact, I shouldn’t be here at all. I just thought that someone should let you know that your friend . . . Aahz is it? Anyway, your friend is in jail.”
That brought me back to earth in a hurry.
“Aahz? In jail? For what?”
“Murder.”
“MURDER!” I shrieked, dropping all attempts to be urbane. “But Aahz wouldn’t.. ..”
“Don’t shout at me! Oh, I knew I shouldn’t have come. Look, I know he didn’t do it. That’s why I had to let you know what was going on. If you don’t do something, they’re going to execute him . . . and they know how to execute demons over here.”
I spun around to face the others.
“Massha! Go get your jewelry case. Guido, Nunzio! Gear up. We’re going to pay a little call on our neighbors.”
I tried to keep my voice calm and level, but somehow the words came out a bit more intense than I had intended.
“Not so fast. Boss,” Guido said. “There’s something you oughta know first.”
“Later. I want you to….”
“NOW, Boss. It’s important!”
“WHAT IS IT!”
Needless to say, I was not eager to enter into any prolonged conversations just now.
“She’s one of ’em.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“The three that went out through the back door. The ones your partner is chasing. She’s the broad.”
Thunderstruck, I turned to the girl for confirmation, only to find the doorway was empty. My mysterious visitor had disappeared as suddenly as she had arrived.