Waiting For August

Part 48 ~ A night at the morgue

"Are they still following?" I glanced in my rear-view mirror looking for the dark, nondescript car that had started to follow me soon after I had pulled out onto the street back at police headquarters.

"Two cars behind you." Henry's calm voice rang out from my cellphone on the seat behind me.

"And where are you?" I pulled to a stop at a red light.

"Two cars behind them."

The hotel was up ahead. When the light turned green, I pulled forward and turned into the first entrance to the lot the hotel sat on. I continued up towards the back of the building where I usually parked. I pulled into a spot close to the back of the building.

"They are following you around to the back of the building. You'll be seeing them shortly."

I was careful not to look as I stepped out of the car and headed to the back door. My key card would let me in. When the door swung closed behind me, I raced down the hall towards the foyer, passing the bay of elevators that would usually take me up to my room.

The girl at reception smiled strangely at me, as I ran through the empty lobby and out the front door. At this time of night, I imagine there were few guests for her to deal with.

Henry's car was parked under the carport, immediately in front of the hotel doors. I yanked open the back door and climbed into the car, ducking out of view as I pulled the door shut, just as Henry drove off.

"Do you think we lost them?" I was curled up on the seat, staring at the back of Henry's head.

"I imagine they waited to see you go in, and then one of them will come around to the lobby while the other watches the back of the building. It's late, so they probably expect you to head straight to your room, and that they won't be seeing you again for the rest of their shift."

"Let's hope that they don't."

A few minutes later, when Henry was sure that he wasn't being followed, he told me that I could sit up. I leaned back into the leather interior and secured my seat belt.

"Where have you been, Henry?" I asked as I gazed out of the window at the city lights. The streets were wet, and reflected the lights back as we made our way along. "When I got to the station and they asked me to identify a body, and I hadn't heard from you in days... well, I guess you can imagine what I thought."

"I apologize my child, but you know I am always at your disposal."

I frowned. "What about the text I sent? The one with the sketch of the knife? I thought for sure you would have responded before now."

Henry frowned as he peered into the rearview mirror. "I did, Augustus. I told you that I believed the symbols to be demonic, perhaps a bastardized version of Enochian."

"Enochian?" I pulled out my phone and turned to Henry's contact. The last message there was the one about my conversation with Zeke and a picture of the sketch he'd given me. "Let me see your phone, Henry."

He passed it back as he continued. "It makes sense if you think about it. The original demons were angels after all; and would have brought their language with them. Nowadays, most demons communicate in whichever human tongue they need to at the time, so I imagine it has become mostly forgotten."

I brought up my contact in Henry's phone and immediately identified the problem. "You forgot to hit send, Henry." I did and a moment later, heard my phone chirp.

"Did I?"

"Yes. I suppose that's one mystery solved." I read the text that appeared on my screen. Henry had even proposed a solution.