Page 52 of When the Angel Falls First

“Thisis the matter. It’s not enough that you’ve filled my property with scurrilous, allergenic felines, no! You’ve got to go and bring the tax man down on me? No! This willnotstand!” He was angrily waving a sheaf of papers in the air, too quickly for me to read them.

I reached out and plucked the papers from his hands, and Josie snatched them from me just as quickly.

“I don’t understand, Mr. Anderson. How could I have brought you trouble with the tax man—my business only just started, and I always file on time. This doesn’t make any sense.” Her hands shook as she read, and I found myself glaring at Anderson, running through all the ways I could kick him to the curb without breaking any of my angelic vows.

Taxes weren’t something I was familiar with, given I didn’t technicallyexistaccording to the US government, and had never filed any. They weren’t equipped to deal with angelic immigrants, so it was just best for everyone that way.

“Oh, it’s not yoursales taxes,” he spat. “Apparently, you’ve been importing foreign goods to sell on my property without filing any of the proper paperwork or paying the business and occupational taxes for an importer!”

His entire face was red, his aura boiling with rage, and was that… desolation? I sent the suggestion that he calm down, and the man rocked back on his heels, eyes falling briefly to half-mast before springing back up. Apparently, it was stronger than my usual subtle intentions.

Tone it down, Caleb. This is not life or death.

I sucked a breath in through my nose, not letting myself do anything else but be a staunch presence by Josie’s side. But the color was steadily draining out of her cheeks as she read further down the paper, so whatever the issue, it had to be legitimate. That was a hard blow for my rule-following girl, but everything was fixable. I’d help her sort it out and make things right.

Something about the man’s aura was niggling at me. This was more than just a tax problem. It had to be.

“You don’t even deny it. Well, know this—you’ll be hearing from me again, and soon. I’m not going to allow this kind of reckless flaunting of the law on my property, I can promise you that!” He sneezed, turning for the door.

“Mr. Anderson, please! Give me a few days to sort this out. I didn’t know these taxesexisted, let alone that I could get you into trouble as the property owner. But now that I do, I’ll have everything filed and paid up immediately. Please!”

He sneezed again as he snatched the door open, not givingher a backward glance. “I’ve had about enough of you and your lawlessness for one day, Ms. Ray. This is not over.”

The door slammed behind him so hard it sent several bookshelves rattling. Josie sank heavily against the counter, shaking like a leaf.

“I’ve really fucked up this time, Caleb. What am I going to do? I don’t know how to file all this stuff! He already hates the cats. What if he uses this as a way to evict me? I can’t afford to lose my deposit and re-open in a new location, not without the shop’s income. I used every penny I had to get this place up and running as it is.”

Tears lined her lower lids, and I leapt into action, rubbing her arms lightly with my hands to distract her as I spoke. “No. That’s not going to happen, okay? There are rules, laws, about tenancy rights, aren’t there? You just have to figure this tax situation out. I’ve got a plan for him and the cats, and I’m already working on it. Don’t worry about them.”

As if talking about them made them magically appear, all three cats were suddenly purring and rubbing against Josie. Gatsby and Matilda were on the floor, keeping her ankles warm, and Heathcliff on top of the counter, rubbing his cheeks against her shoulder.

Good cats.I thought the praise, but the black one turned and made eye contact with me as if he’d heard it, a flash of magic in his eyes giving me a second of pause. But I quickly snapped out of it; Josie needed me, and I was not going to let her down.

“I’m going to follow him, see if I can move my plan ahead sooner. You stay here and read up on the taxes. We’re going to fix this; I promise.” I squeezed her shoulders and planted a reassuring kiss on her forehead, but she barely responded. Shock was rolling over her, tangling with the fear in a toxic combo.

I pushed a—very,verygentle—wave of calm at her, hoping it helped her settle enough to focus on the problem. After my last time using my angelic powers to calm her, I was terrified it wouldn’t work, but the power leapt at my command, clearly fine with soothing her, just not dampening her libido. Relief surged through me as her aura filled with a lighter blue, a sense of peace taking hold of her.

“Okay, you’re right. Yes. I need to look up these… B & O taxes and see how to file the paperwork.”

She was still wobbly, but she was moving forward, and I could see the determination in her eyes, trying to win out over the trepidation as she stepped around the counter to start up her tablet.

“We’ll work this out. I can sense Barb down the street. She’s on her way here, so you’ll have company. I’ll be back as soon as I can, okay?”

“Okay,” she said, her voice small as I raced out the door to catch up to the landlord. I hated to leave her when she was upset, but I needed as much time as possible to figure out what was going on with him, to see if I could fix this.

Josie losing the Bookish Cat was not going to happen, not as long as I was around.

TWENTY-ONE

Josie

I stared blanklyat the tablet’s screen, the harsh blue light illuminating the darkened space of the Bookish Cat, where I’d come back before sunrise in the hopes of having a little bit of divine inspiration.

But even running my fingers over the cover of the journal had no effect. I’d been shaking since Mr. Anderson showed up at my door yesterday and couldn’t sleep a wink. Every moment was dedicated to deciphering the complex labyrinth of US tax laws, reminding me just how muchI didn’t knowbefore I made those orders from England.

How could I have made such an awful mistake?

Spread across my screen were the intricate details of import taxes, paragraphs filled with dense legalese that threatened to drown me in a sea of confusion. Each sentence, each word seemed to be a carefully coded riddle, a cipher I couldn’t crack. No wonder no other bookstores around were working with these foreign booksellers, because the sheer wall of confusing text was enough to make me cry.

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