“Yes.”
She looks at me with a sly smile.
“I have my own TV show now, you know.”
“So I heard.”
“I should be drinking champagne at the Chateau Marmont.”
“But instead you’re on the run with a bunch of crazy people and a dead man.”
She flips pages of the book.
“Do you remember what I told you long ago?”
“No. What?”
Brigitte touches my duct-taped cheek.
“If you were just ten percent less scary …”
We both smile.
“Not much chance after this I guess.”
“First you must live. And then we shall see.”
She takes her hand away and points to some bolded letters.
“This says something about the resurrection of the dead.”
“Really?” says Ray. “What else?”
She reads a bit more and frowns.
“No. It’s about the resurrection of farm animals. Sheep and cows.”
“Keep reading. Maybe there’s something about people later.”
I lean into her ear and say, “Moo.” Give her a peck on the cheek.
She smiles and shrugs me away.
“Move, you silly oaf. Some of us are working.”
Everything I do or say at this point feels like some version of good-bye. At least I’m getting the chance this time. When Mason sent me to Hell and when Audsley Ishii killed me, it happened too fast to say anything to anyone. It’s good to have a little more time before I might make a last exit.
Kasabian is eyeing Vidocq’s liquor cabinet.
“Be careful,” I tell him. “Not all this stuff is for drinking.”
He points to a brown bottle near the top.
“My first clue was the frogs in this one.”
I pull out a bottle of Angel’s Envy rye from the bottom shelf.
“Try this. They make a bourbon, too, but the rye is better.”