“Mac, I need some help.”
Lincoln MacAllister recognized the voice of Laura O’Leary. He’d heard it enough in the years since he’d arranged for her to attend law school. He turned away from the glass window overlooking the desert beyond the sanctuary called Shangrila and concentrated on the most famous O’Leary in Chicago.
“What’s wrong? Has one of your homeless shelters run out of funds again?”
“No, for an attorney I’m turning into a pretty good fund-raiser. This problem is a little different. You know I’ve been trying to get to the slumlord responsible for Learytown.”
“Yes, I’ve been reading your accounts. I told you I didn’t need written reports of your work.”
“You paid for my law degree and helped me open my office. I owe you.”
“I’d have been willing to spring for better quarters, if you’d let me.”
“No, Learytown is where my family started and where I’m needed. But I’ve run into a stone wall here.”
Mac smiled. Problems were nothing new to Laura. Neither were solutions. She must really be up against it to ask for help. “What can I do?”
“I want an invitation to a masquerade ball.”
Lincoln MacAllister smothered a laugh as he prepared to listen to Laura’s latest attempt to make the world better. “An invitation to a party? Explain.”
“Maybe I ought not to. It might involve breaking the law, and I wouldn’t want to get you into trouble. Do you know B. J. Cameron?”
“I know of him.”
“Well, he’s having a very elegant winter ball, complete with costumes and masks. I need to go.”
Mac suspected he was going to regret helping, but this was the first time Laura had ever asked anything personal.
“Why? That doesn’t sound like you.”
“I’m going straight to the top, or, to put it another way, I’m planning to confront the devil directly.”
Mac bit back a smile. She might just do it. He scanned his angel directory. Who did he know in Chicago who owed him?
Of course. He knew of B. J. Cameron, but he was better acquainted with his son Ben. If Laura wanted to go to the ball, she’d get her invitation all right.
Straight from the devil himself.
“I think I can arrange it, Laura. Just sit tight.”
Moments later he dialed the proper set of numbers and listened to the phone ring.
“Ben, this is Lincoln MacAllister. Wonder if you’d do something for me.”