CHAPTER 7

"An old farmhouse?" Monica looked at Phil curiously a moment after she had gotten into his car and he had explained to her what Annie had said on the phone. The angel rubbed her cold hands together, trying to get warm, but the truth was that not only was she cold, she had been rather frightened standing out on that dark corner all alone.

Phil grinned, "That's what she said and she didn't elaborate either on what lead she had in the story. She just gave me the directions and told me to find you. I was just getting ready to call you when you called me."

"I was worried when she didn't come home," Monica admitted, now warming up, calming down, and feeling better for knowing Annie was all right, "She called and told me she had left her keys."

"Really? Did she mention being with anyone? I'm just wondering who led her to this farmhouse."

"No, no. She only asked about my staying up to let her in the apartment. How far is this place?"

"Far enough that I need to stop up here and fill up my gas tank, Monica, then we'll be on our way to see what my girl has found."

The angel smiled, enjoying the love that was so evident in Phil's eyes when he spoke of Annie. It reminded her of her own love for Andrew and reminded her that in love, all things should always work out for the best.

Monica waited in the car while Phil pumped the gasoline and nodded her head when he tapped on her window and indicated that he was going inside to pay. She wished he had left the keys in the ignition as the car was once again turning chilly, but another tap, this time more urgent, on her window distracted her.

"Andrew!" A grin slid across her face as she opened her car door and got out to greet him. She was only stopped short, by the intense expression on his handsome face, "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Angel, I don't have time to explain. You just have to come with me now."

"Why? The Father hasn't told me anything," Her dark eyes were filled with confusion over his words.

"I..I know He hasn't, baby, but you have to trust me on this one. You can't go with Phil. This situation…it could be more than you can handle." Once those words were voiced, the blonde angel knew they were the wrong words, not because they weren't true, but because she didn't in any way understand.

Her eyes narrowed and her trademark stubborn expression slid into place, "Andrew. You promised…if this is about trusting me-."

His strong hand on her shoulder startled her as his green eyes bore into hers, "Monica, it is so much more than that."

"Monica?"

The sound of Phil's voice caused them both to turn to face him and the little angel felt uncertain about how to explain Andrew's presence. She actually wasn't even sure if she wanted to because she didn't know what to think. Monica only knew that once again, Andrew as acting as if she was unable to do her job, and she hated it.

"Phil, this is Andrew. He's a friend of mine," She murmured, refusing to meet Andrew's gaze.

"Nice to meet you," It was all the angel could do to keep the disgust out of his voice as he looked at the man who had been wreaking havoc all through the area and now had his sights centered on his Monica, "I'm in the same line of work as Monica and that's how we met. I was asking her if I could tag along…you get first break of the story, of course."

Phil missed the look of betrayal that Monica shot to her friend as he nodded his head, "Yeah, sure, beings you're a friend of Monica's. Hop in and let's get going."

Andrew begrudgingly got into the back seat though the thought of Monica sitting next to the animal made his skin crawl. Her anger with him was almost palpable, but it couldn't be helped. He was not about to leave her at the mercy of this man, not even for a second.

X

"Are you sure this is the place?" Monica peered out her window through the darkness at the ransacked farmhouse, "There aren't any lights on, Phil. Are you sure Annie is in there?"

"This is the address she gave me," Phil muttered worriedly as he turned off the ignition and reached across the angel to retrieve a flashlight from the glove compartment, "I just hope she isn't in any trouble."

Those were the only words Monica needed to hear to propel her from the car and send her walking in the direction of the building. Well, that and the fact that she felt the need to place a tiny bit of distance between herself and Andrew.

"Annie?" She called out, uncertainly as she pushed the door open, confident that Phil and Andrew were both close behind her. She was answered with silence and she frowned, certain that something was wrong.

"Phil, I don't think…"

It was in that moment when Monica turned around that Phil too, whirled around and threw a punch at Andrew that knocked the angel off his feet and caused him to lose consciousness.

"Andrew! Phil, what are you doing? Why did you do that?" The little angel started to run to Andrew's side, all previous anger with him forgotten, but the human was quicker as he grabbed her by the arm and slammed her into the side of the building, wringing a strangled cry from her throat.

"Shut up! He was never supposed to be here!" Angrily, he pulled a knife from his pocket and pressed the blade up against her neck, "And neither were you for that matter. Annie and I were supposed to consummate our love but you interrupted with your stupid phone call, so I had to kill her. So now, you get to finish with me what you interrupted before!"

The angel's head was spinning, trying to grasp what had just happened. Andrew was lying lifeless on the ground, Annie was dead and Phil….Phil was the rapist and the murderer and he had just said…

"N..no, please," She begged, tears clouding her vision but her words were cut short as he pressed the knife more firmly against her neck, causing a small line of blood to rise to the surface. Monica closed her eyes and felt hot tears escape from beneath her lashes, "Please…"