Devil Said Bang (Sandman Slim 4)

“Really? You’re an actress. Can I find your movies in stores? I’ve just started watching movies.”

I shake my head at him.

“Stick to musicals and John Wayne for a while. You’re not ready for Brigitte.”

I whisper in Brigitte’s ear.

“Be nice. He was for real. Not one of your Hollywood hoodoo Holy Rollers.”

She touches his arm.

“A past-tense priest? What happened? Did you fall in love with a beautiful woman? A handsome boy?”

“He fell for giant-tentacle bastards from another dimension who want to eat us.”

“They sound charming. You must tell me all about them.”

The father’s eyes shift back and forth between us. I’ve revealed his darkest secret and he’s still standing.

“It’s okay, Father. She’s one of us. She’s probably taken out more monsters than you and me put together.”

I nod at Brigitte.

“Ask him about the Via Dolorosa.”

She smiles brightly.

“The Stations of the Cross? I did a movie about that too.”

“Please tell me about it.”

She loops her arm in his and leads him away.

Vidocq is coming my way. Allegra isn’t with him. When he reaches me, he clamps me in a big bear hug.

“I hear that I have you to thank for this sore jaw.”

“You came at me with a knife and I had to defend my new shirt.”

“I don’t remember any of it.”

At a table, a couple of civilian card sharks are going broke trying to hustle psychics at poker.

“And you won’t. That’s how it’s set up. Bastards get in your head. Play around and pop out and you never have a clue. They tried doing it to me.”

“Did it work?”

I shake my head.

“The tinfoil hat I had installed saved me.”

He raises a glass of whiskey.

“To the madness we choose. Not the madness others choose for us.”

“Is Allegra with you?”

He pats me on the shoulder.