The Devil and Danielle Webster by Cynthia Cross

really nice clients!” I said defensively.
    “Let’s stick with Jill for now,” Patty cut in
decisively.  “She’s got your back, Dannie, just like I do.” 
    But before we could act on this, or anything else, Daemon
Lucifer was back in the room, breathing a bit heavily.  And with him was
someone I recognized.
    
     
     
     

Chapter
7 – Angel Battle
     
     
    “Angel Battle?”  I said incredulously.  “What are
you doing here in Bullhead City?”
    “Miss Webster?  What are you doing here in
Laughlin?  We’re not in Bullhead City, we’re in Laughlin.  Um, aren’t
we?”
    Daemon Lucifer looked younger and handsomer than ever. 
“I need you to babysit for awhile,” he said.
    “Babysit?” I asked.  “Angel’s what, 17 by now?”
    “I’ll be 18 next month,” she offered.  Angel was in a
powder blue sundress and flipflops .  She was
just as beautiful as I remembered, her large blue eyes wide, her long streaked
blonde hair cascading about her.
    “I have some dealings with her mother to complete,” he said
in an undertone to me.
    “Yeah, I can imagine,” I said.
    “She’s a married woman.  Her husband’s the ward
bishop,” he said, assuming an air of outraged virtue. 
    Tina overheard part of our conversation.  “What’s a
ward bishop?” she asked.
    “My dad’s a ward bishop,” Angel said. 
    “Mormon,” I said succinctly, hoping Tina would say no
more.  They don’t understand these things in Schaumburg.  “Everyone,
this is Angel Battle.  I’m not sure why she’s here, but she was one of my
students my last year of teaching.”  Quickly I introduced everyone else in
the room.
    “So what are you doing here?” I asked again, dropping the
whole Bullhead City/Laughlin question.  No need to confuse her with a
discussion of state boundaries.
    “Mom had to go to Las Vegas.  She had to go to the
Temple.”
    “Temple?” Tina asked.
    “Mormon,” I said again.  “There’s a big Mormon temple
in Las Vegas.” 
    “So we had to go home through Laughlin,” Angel said,
innocently, “because she wanted to go to the casino.  Oh!” she said. 
“I’m not supposed to tell anyone that.  Can you forget that part?” 
She gave me her most appealing look.  
    I couldn’t help asking.  “Didn’t she go to a casino
while you guys were in Las Vegas?”
    “ Nooo ,” Angel Battle said, shaking
her head.  “She knows a lot of people in Las Vegas.  My dad’s not supposed
to know.” 
    I could hear Doug start to chuckle, but Tina elbowed him in
the ribs.
    “Is your mom still at the casino?” I asked.
    “I hope so!” Angel said, giggling.
    Knowing Angel, it had something to do with a boy.  “Is
Jesse up here, too?” I asked.  Jesse’s given name was Jesus, but that was
another difficult concept for Midwesterners.
    Angel looked impressed in spite of herself.  “No!” she
said, going all wide-eyed again.  “Well, yeah,” she said.  “But don’t
tell my mom, Miss Webster.  My mom would ground me and take away my iPhone .”
    “That would be terrible,” I said, trying my hardest to avoid
sounding ironic.
    “I remember you,” said Patty.
    “You do?” Angel said.  “I don’t remember you.”
    “I remember hearing about you.”
    “Oh.”
    “Looks like our friend Mr. Lucifer has left us again,” I
observed.
    “That’s not his name,” Angel said.  “That’s my seminary
teacher, Mr. Satin.”
    “Are you sure that’s his name?” I asked worriedly.
    “Of course I am,” she said, opening her big eyes even
bigger.
    “You’re sure it’s not Mr. Satan?” asked Patty.
    “It might be,” said Angel Battle.  “I don’t remember.”
    Patty came over and whispered, “Is this the one who cheated
and then blamed you?”
    I nodded.  Angel Battle was a factor in my decision to
leave teaching.  That last year, I’d had one class period especially full
of hellions, and Angel was arguably the worst.  The students were all in
special