Third Love (Heaven Sent Book 3) Read online

  EVERNIGHT PUBLISHING ®

  www.evernightpublishing.com

  Copyright© 2017 Mary Abshire

  ISBN: 978-1-77339-173-1

  Cover Artist: Jay Aheer

  Editor: Audrey Bobak

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  THIRD LOVE

  Heaven Sent, 3

  Mary Abshire

  Copyright © 2017

  Chapter One

  Emily yawned as she reached for her coffee in the cup holder between the seats. Cracks in the Jeep’s windows allowed the early morning air inside. The sun had started to rise and the birds sang their praises. A couple of rabbits ventured across the road. Andrew enjoyed watching the little creatures in the established neighborhood. Overall, the area was quiet and peaceful, a perfect one to raise a family. A mixture of ranch and multi-level homes sat on about a half of an acre of property with mature trees offering plenty of shade. Most of the lawns were vibrant green and trimmed. The houses appeared in good shape. Seven were on the side of the street they were observing. Another seven backed up to them. The back yards bumped up to each other. So far, only two vehicles had left in the early morning hour. Andrew hoped the woman they’d been monitoring for the last five days would be another one to leave soon.

  “Want some?” Emily asked as she held the large thermos above his thigh. Her long bangs threatened to poke her eyes. She scooted them aside with her free hand. The blue streaks in her dyed black hair had started to fade and light brown roots showed on top of her head.

  “I’m good, thanks.”

  She took another long drink and then returned the container in its spot. Her weariness continued to show through her yawns, heavy sighs, and droopy eyelids. They’d been sitting in the Jeep since ten the prior night, waiting for Susan Williamson to leave. Her name was inked on his arm by the powers that be in heaven.

  Andrew had taken a short nap earlier to give Emily time for a longer one, but she’d refused to doze off for a bit. He’d tried to persuade her several times. She wouldn’t budge. The woman was stubborn, thick-skinned, and more independent than any other female he’d ever met. And he’d met and bed plenty. But underneath the self-assured, tough-as-nails femme fatale was a kind, caring, and generous woman who made his heart rap faster and his dick stiffen all too often. Time and time again he yearned for her. He’d give anything to have and hold onto her, including an extra year on Earth.

  “She could be a stay-at-home mom,” Emily said, staring out the window. She wrapped her arms across her ribs as if she were chilled. She’d dressed in a jean jacket over a black top and tight denim covered the lower half of her body.

  “Maybe. We haven’t been here long enough to determine that.”

  Emily sighed again. “I hate not knowing about these demons. I wish I could just find everything I needed on Google.”

  “It would be nice to know their crimes so we would know how evil the person is, but it ultimately doesn’t matter if they’re named on my arm.”

  The council returned him to Earth to destroy six demons because of his continuous sexual relations with women. They’d also told him an extra year would be added to his sentence for each woman he had sex with. Justice moves swift in the kingdom above. Within ten minutes, they’d injected him to monitor and communicate with him. They shared little information other than demons have black auras and he should touch them after they leave the dead humans. The next thing he remembered was waking up naked on a dark country road. Emily had found him and had offered to help him.

  “It’s a shame the people in the sky can’t send you a report about the demon,” she said.

  “And how would they do that?”

  “If they can make tattoos appear on your arm and remove them, then I would think they have the ability to send other communications.”

  “I don’t know why they do the things they do.”

  Heaven had advance technology from the little he’d seen, but it wasn’t shared. The general population didn’t have cell phones, televisions, or computers like humans had on Earth. Although such luxuries were nice to have, he’d enjoyed his afterlife fine without them for twenty-seven years. He considered heaven a better place, even if the food and drinks didn’t taste as good and emotions were weakened. One day, he hoped to bring Emily upstairs with him.

  “Maybe they didn’t want me to know the reason why I have to kill these people.” He glanced down at his lap and found a white string on his jeans. He picked it off.

  “It’s fair to assume any normal person would want to know details about the demon.”

  “I agree, and I’m glad I met you because you’ve managed to do well finding information.”

  “Yeah, but it sometimes takes a long time to get it. I spent two and a half days researching and calling different places. We still don’t know much about her.”

  “But you did find information. You pulled the deed and found out she’s married. From the marriage license, you discovered a different surname. Then, you managed to learn she’d been married twice before. I think you’ve done outstanding work on your own, better than I could have ever done,” he said encouragingly.

  “Yeah, but I could’ve had the information within a day if I’d called Troy,” she grumbled.

  Truth be told, Andrew had been glad she hadn’t contacted her best male friend of the last twenty years. Troy had put Andrew on his shit list since Andrew had accidentally gotten Emily arrested in New York. Her best buddy wanted Andrew out of her life and had tried to persuade her to work for him. To Andrew’s surprise, she’d declined Troy’s offer. Troy cared deeply for Emily, but if she had decided to work with him, he would’ve likely involved her in his criminal activities, which would’ve led her from a pinkish aura to a red one. And had that happened, he doubted she would’ve ever been able to get into heaven.

  “Why didn’t you contact him?” Andrew asked. “I’m sure he’s curious to hear how you’re doing.”

  “Because he expects me to call him. He has connections I don’t have and he can hack into anything pretty much. That’s how he can gather data so fast. But I can access most things too. Anyone can if they know where to look. It just takes time. While I prefer the quick and easy method Troy can offer, I want to prove to him I can handle things on my own.”

  “Well, you’ve done a good job.” He tried to sound supportive since she seemed unhappy about the time it had taken to get where they were.

  “Yeah, but we still don’t know why she’s been named on your arm as a demon. What made heaven decide to put a target on her?”

  “I think it’s related to kids she’s had. Think about it, she had two children with her first husband. One drowned in a pool and the other died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.”

  “Both tragedies,” she said. “It happens sometimes.”

  “Okay, but the next child she had with husband number two drowned in a pond. That’s too much of a coincidence since one of her other children died of the same cause.”

  “I’m going to call her ex-husband and see what he has to say.”

  “I think it’s strange how she remarried a third time so quickly after her second divorce, and now she has three kids. Two of them are too old to be blood related, so maybe she’s decided to adopt. Regardless, all her ex-husbands are aliv
e, but not any of the kids she’s had.”

  “We’re talking about a woman who’s given life to children. A mother can’t just destroy that.”

  “We’re talking about a demon, Em. She gives life and takes it.”

  “You’re assuming that she’s taking it,” she argued.

  “Three kids related to her are dead. Don’t you find that a bit suspicious?”

  “I can’t fathom how anyone, especially a mother could kill a child.”

  He tried to help her see past the human shell so she could understand better, but he still hadn’t convinced her that the woman was a possible child murderer.

  “See what you can find out from her ex, but I think I’m on the right track with this one,” he said.

  “I realize there aren’t any other indicators to help us determine why she’s been named on your arm, but it’s difficult for me to believe a mother could be so cruel and heartless. My parents weren’t the best. They constantly put me down and made me struggle through life. But they never physically abused me or tried to hurt me.”

  “You’re parents aren’t demons. That’s the difference.”

  “Have you met my parents? They seemed pretty evil to me.”

  He smirked at her attempt at humor. “There are a lot of bad parents in the world, but that doesn’t make them demons.”

  She lifted the thermos from the cup holder. “Yeah, I know. It just makes me sick to think someone would want to hurt a child.”

  He couldn’t agree more with her. If he were right about Susan Williamson, killing her and destroying the demon would be a pleasure.

  The garage door of the Williamson’s tow-story house began to rise.

  Emily set the drink down. “I really hope it’s not the husband leaving this time.”

  An old blue Toyota backed out of the driveway. From where they were parked, the long distance prevented him from seeing who sat behind the wheel. Emily scooted lower in her seat while Andrew did the same. His knees hit the underside of the dashboard, so he had to lean slightly toward Emily. The tinted windows on the Jeep concealed them for the most part, but they could still be seen if the person peered close enough. The Toyota headed toward them. As the car turned the corner without stopping, Andrew spotted a female sitting in the driver’s seat.

  “It’s her,” he said as he straightened.

  The trunk had a dent near the center and the first three digits on the plate were 848. They’d seen the demon’s husband drive the car before, but they hadn’t followed him.

  Emily sat up and started the engine. Andrew strapped on his seatbelt. Within seconds, they were tracking the blue sedan.

  “Are you sure it was her?” Emily asked.

  “The person driving had blonde hair and a ponytail. From what I recall, her husband had short dark hair. Unless he puts on wigs, I think it’s her.”

  Emily kept a safe distance behind the Toyota. She trailed it from the small neighborhood and along the suburban streets of Springfield, Missouri. At the early hour, not many vehicles were on the roads, making the dinged-up sedan easy to spot.

  “I bet she’s going to work,” Emily said. “Normally people up at this time are either going or coming from their job.”

  Andrew recalled his days as a nurse before he’d died in 1989. He’d worked a variety of hours, some overnight shifts and some ten-hour day stretches. Nurses were in high demand, so he’d typically averaged fifty hours a week. Although he’d enjoyed his working days, he hadn’t missed them after he’d died.

  “Did you have to get up this early when you had a job in Chicago?” he asked, recalling she’d told him she had a technical position in a company before she’d bailed out of the Windy City.

  “Yeah, as you know from living there, the traffic is horrid. I tried to make it in early to avoid the rush, but there were always jams downtown.”

  Similar to Emily, Andrew had been born and raised in Chicago before his death. He knew about the busy highways and streets all too well.

  “Do you miss it?” he asked.

  “What, the traffic or the job?”

  “The job. Nobody misses the traffic.”

  She grinned as she steered onto another road. “No, this is much more fun.”

  “Am I to understand chasing demons and risking your life is more fun than your old job? Spending time in jail with the risk of being returned to Chicago is fun?”

  “Okay, not everything has been peaches and cream. But we’re making a difference in the world. I help you find and get close to these demons so you can send them away for good. We’re saving lives working together,” she said before changed driving lanes. “And that makes me feel a whole lot better than teaching someone the basics of using a computer.”

  “So it’s not my charming personality that inspired you to continue helping me?” he asked with a flirty grin.

  She glanced away from the road to him. “Sorry to break it to you, but no. However, if you were a total dick I wouldn’t be helping you.”

  “It’s good to know I’m only partially a dick.”

  A wide smile formed on her face. “Well, you do have a decent-size one.”

  “Decent? You think it’s decent?” He almost took offense. He’d been gifted with a large cock and every woman he’d ever had sex with seemed to enjoy it. Since she’d seen him naked twice, the first time when she’d found him on the road and then in a hotel when he’d been trying to get her attention, she knew all too well about his manhood.

  A reddish tint appeared on her cheeks. “Well, I have only seen you limp. Maybe what you have doesn’t get much bigger.”

  “In case you forgot, I’m human. I’m not an alien. My dick gets bigger when I get aroused. Much bigger.” And it had started to get hard within seconds of her decent-size comment.

  “Okay, okay.” She chuckled and stared forward at the road.

  He crossed his arms. “No, no, I want to hear you say it. Say I have a big one. I bet you can’t do it.”

  She lowered her window and more air blew inside the car. Strands of her long black hair took flight. “I’m not saying it.”

  “Chicken.”

  “I’m not chicken.”

  “Then say I have a big one.”

  “No!”

  “Why? Is it not true?” He’d gladly pull is erection out to prove his large size.

  She pressed her lips together and continued to stare ahead. As the silence extended, he realized she wouldn’t answer him. In time, his hard-on softened.

  Emily stayed a couple cars behind the demon and never lost track of her. Many businesses were closed except for gas stations and fast food restaurants. Emily remained in the same lane as the demon in case she would turn. Twenty minutes later, the Toyota’s turn signal illuminated as it neared a hospital on the left. The demon turned her car and then the light changed to yellow. Two cars in front of Emily kept going. The stoplight flashed red as Emily reached it, but she turned anyway since the few oncoming vehicles were crawling to a halt.

  “Maybe she works here,” Andrew said.

  “Or she’s visiting someone. Either way, I’ll have to drop you off so you can follow her on foot. I’ll find a parking spot and wait for you.”

  Emily followed at a slow speed toward the hospital. Steel and tinted windows made up the front of the large building. After curving right, Emily passed the heart institute on one side and the children’s hospital entrance on the other. All three cars in front of her, including the demon’s Toyota, continued forward to the multi-level parking garage. Emily waited in line behind them.

  Andrew looked back at the entrance to the children’s hospital. “What do you want to bet she works with children?”

  “It’s the closest way inside the hospital. Could be a coincidence.”

  He twisted around as the Jeep inched toward the garage. “I bet I’m right.”

  Emily leaned close to her open window. “I don’t think this is employee-only parking. I don’t see any signs.”

  “I
don’t either. You’ll probably have to pay.”

  “I’m sure we can handle it considering how much you won at the casinos.” She moved forward in line.

  “You’re not going to be one of those women who like to spend all my hard-earned money, are you?”

  She braked hard and he jerked forward slightly. “In case you hadn’t noticed, I am exactly the type of woman who will spend every cent you earned from the casinos. Yes sir, I’m going to find a way to bleed you dry of that twenty thousand dollars.”

  “Twenty-two thousand seventy-one and change to be exact.”

  During the drive to Missouri, they’d stopped at several casinos. He’d won each time she’d given him money to gamble with. At first he’d thought it was a fluke, but he’d tried his luck in another state and had won again. Since he’d never been a winner when he’d been alive, he suspected the powers that be had intervened somehow. In a way, it comforted him to know that if he ever got in a jam and needed cash, he could go to a casino with a few bucks and walk out with thousands. Better yet, a sense of dignity had returned to him since he no longer had to rely on Emily to pay for everything.

  She pressed the button on the machine and waited. “After everything we’ve been through, I can’t believe you’d think I’d take your money.”

  The ticket shot out. She snatched it and the gate lifted.

  “I was kidding. Please, spend my money. I figure I owe you more anyway after the time you spent in jail and the lawyer fees Troy is billing you for,” he said. “Has he sent you a bill yet?”

  He’d asked her a couple days ago and she’d told him she hadn’t gotten one yet. Andrew was curious to see exactly how much her best buddy charged her for his assistance.

  “We can talk about it later,” she said as she followed the arrows in the garage and hurried to catch up with the car in front of her. “Keep your eyes open for the Toyota. And get ready.”