Demons LLC (Damned and Cursed Book 7) (30 page)

It was late in the afternoon when they'd arrived.
 
His stomach grumbled from hunger, but he wanted to get the stop to the station out of the way.
 
If the trip went like he hoped he'd have plenty of information to digest.
 
The police station was in the middle of the busiest street in town.
 
There was only street-side parking, and Alex had to circle the block three times before he found a spot large enough to parallel park.
 
His parking skills weren't shabby, but he still held up traffic for a minute as he slid into a spot.
 
Irritated drivers honked their horns and glared at him as they drove past.

"You should have seen me trying to learn to drive," Nate said.
 
"My father took me out every night after school, and Saturday mornings.
 
He said he wanted to leave Sundays open to go to church and pray to God he'd survive."

Nate waited for the laughter that never came.
 
Alex almost laughed, but not quite.

"Did you drive, Kylie?" Nate asked.

"I have my license, but I didn't drive much."

"I kept bugging my parents to let me drive.
 
And of course, they'd never let me.
 
I was bugging them all the way up until we were in that car accident that killed us all.
 
We cried and moped for a while, but my first joke to them after that was 'See, I told you you should have let me drive.'"

Alex smiled and shook his head.
 
Kylie wanted to giggle, but looked out the window to keep her face hidden.

"And," Nate continued.
 
"Since the air is so thick I'm actually choking, I'm stepping out to breathe a little."

Sitting in the middle, Nate simply walked forward through the truck.
 
He found a nearby bench and sat down.
 
His gaze drifted to the occasional attractive passerby only once, choosing instead to keep an eye on Kylie.

Alex watched the police station for ten minutes.
 
Civilians and police both entered and exited, going about their own business.
 
Only once did a squad car pull up and stop in the middle of the road, long enough to let out a uniformed officer.
 
He led a man in handcuffs up the stairs into the station.

He scribbled notes on his phone from the visit with Zoey, just to kill a few minutes.
 
She didn't tell Alex anything of importance, but Cindy would insist on being complete.

The friends studied, then went to a club.
 
They had a fight, and separated.

"I'm sorry," Kylie said.

He didn't ask any questions.
 
Looking at her, she sat with her hands folded in her lap.
 
She reached to adjust her glasses, and glanced up just enough to offer a small, apologetic smile.

"Me, too."

"I like your family and friends," she said, still refusing to hold eye contact.

"They like you.
 
Listen, Kylie, I'm not trying to keep you from talking—"

"I know," she said, holding up her palm.
 
"It was stupid of me.
 
I know you can't go around introducing me to half the town.
 
It's just…I'd never seen her like that before."

He nodded.
 
Zoey was retreating from the world, retreating from her own health.

"When all this is over, you can talk to her as long as you want.
 
As long as I don't run out of vacation time."

She finally looked up and smiled.
 
Nodding appreciatively, she took a deep breath, a huge weight off her chest.

"Thank you, Alex."

"No problem."

The air clear between them, she looked out the window.
 
Nate was still on the bench, keeping an eye on the both of them.
 
He winked and held a double thumbs-up.
 
Kylie laughed and returned the gesture.

"Is it just me, or is Nate staring at me?"

Alex laughed and grabbed his phone.
 
He clipped it to his belt and pulled the keys from the ignition.
 
It was time to get started.

"I can't imagine why."

"What do you mean?"

He opened the door and climbed out, leaning into the truck to talk to her.

"Well, you're attractive and smart.
 
And Nate's not blind."

"You think me and Nate…?"

"Eh, maybe I'm the wrong person to ask.
 
I didn't even know Cindy was checking me out."
 
He glanced in Nate's direction.
 
"Oh, what do you know?
 
He's staring at you."
 
He waved Nate over.

"Alex!" Kylie said, averting her eyes and lowering her head.
 
"Don't!"

"Relax," he said, laughing.
 
"It's just business.
 
Do me a favor and stay out here."

"What are you going to do?"
 
She wrinkled her brow.
 
"You're not just going to ask the police if they know who killed me, are you?"

"Hmm, maybe I'll try that."

Smiling, he closed the driver-side door.
 
Nate approached, and the two had a quick conversation before Alex crossed the street for the police station alone.

The lobby to the station was empty, with the exception of two young women sitting behind glass windows.
 
An officer dressed in a shirt and tie flirted with one of them, and scowled when Alex approached.

"Can I help you?" the less busy of the women asked.

"Yeah.
 
I actually have some information on a girl that was murdered not long ago, Kylie Sinclair.
 
I was hoping I could speak to someone?"

Kylie's name was familiar, judging from the woman's reaction.
 
She glanced at her coworker next to her.
 
They locked eyes for a moment before the one resumed flirting once again.
 
The woman grabbed a phone and pointed to the bench seats near the door.

"Have a seat over there," she said.
 
"I'll see if I can get someone up here."

Alex sat and waited.
 
Patiently.
 
Almost an hour passed.
 
He was surprised at the delay.
 
He thought the police would be more responsive with someone claiming to have information, hence the ruse of having any information at all.

His stomach continued to scream at him, and he couldn't put food off any longer.
 
There was a snack machine in the lobby, and he was in the middle of a candy bar when a woman finally emerged from the bowels of the station.
 
She wore a skirt that stopped at the knees and a white blouse, with a pair of low heels.

"I'm Detective Lisa Nash," she said, extending her hand.
 
She glanced around the lobby to see Alex was alone.
 
"Are you here for Kylie?"

He nodded.
 
"Yes.
 
I'm Alex.
 
Alex Teague."

"Come with me," she said, leading the way.

Detective Lisa Nash led Alex through the police station.
 
He'd had his share of visits inside a station before, and although every department had their differences, there was a welcome sense of familiarity as he wound his way through the maze of desks and chairs.
 
The police in Stewardtown seemed a little less busy, but the phones still rang, officers still typed madly away at their computers.
 
Two men gossiped amongst themselves as a friend of theirs was being shouted at by a superior in a corner office.

Lisa sat at a desk near the side of the room.
 
Her area was clean, but still with a mountain of folders sitting in the corner.
 
There were no pictures of family or friends, no personal touches.
 
She was a no-nonsense, straightforward woman.
 
Alex took a moment to study her, and she did the same with him.

The detective was probably close to forty, but the stress of the job added a few extra years.
 
Her light blond hair had a streak of gray near the front, along with a few extra lines around her eyes.
 
She was in shape, moving through the station with confidence and grace.
 
Alex noticed some of the other men, both older and younger, stealing a glance as she walked past.

She pushed the keyboard aside, folded her arms across her desk, and gave Alex her undivided attention.
 
She didn't reach for a notepad or pencil, preferring instead to focus on his words first.

"I'm sorry for the wait," she said.
 
"I had some trouble getting away."

"Not a problem at all.
 
Are you the detective working Kylie's case?"

Lisa smiled, but she wasn't amused.
 
Ice formed in her eyes at Alex's attempt to fish for information.

"Do you have information for us about Kylie's murder, Alex?"

He looked down at his knees to avoid her gaze.

"Time to come clean, I guess.
 
Uh, no, I don't.
 
Actually, I hoping you could help me."

Now, Lisa was amused, along with a barely-contained level of fury.

"
Help
you?"

"Yeah.
 
I'm a private investigator, hired to investigate her murder.
 
I was hoping to get some information from you."

"Oh, were you, now?" Lisa said.
 
The amusement was gone.
 
Only anger remained.
 
"I'm so glad you're here.
 
Now I can just drop this case and wipe my hands from it."

"That's…sarcasm, right?
 
Wouldn't you be happy I'm here?
 
I can lend a hand."

Lisa rose from her seat.

"You've wasted enough of my time."

"Actually, I was the one waiting for an hour.
 
So it's my time that was—"

"Let me show you the way out."

He pleaded his case as she escorted him out of the station.
 
Several officers snickered and laughed at Alex's expense.
 
He gave up halfway through the walk, just content Lisa didn't decide to beat him with a nightstick.

There were no handshakes or goodbyes.
 
Lisa simply opened the door and gently pushed Alex outside by the shoulder.
 
He nearly bumped into a couple holding hands, enjoying a leisurely walk, as he stumbled past.
 
Turning to peer behind him, Lisa was already gone, having disappeared back inside the station.

Kylie was quiet when he sat behind the wheel.
 
Alex offered nothing, and she threw her hands in the air.

"Well?" she said.
 
"What did you do?"

"Believe it or not, I kind of asked if they know who killed you."

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah.
 
That didn't quite go over so well."

"Oh my God, Alex.
 
I could have told you that.
 
You were in there that whole time for that?"

"They made me wait an hour.
 
Assholes."

"Un-freaking-real," Kylie said, unable to hide her irritation.
 
"Did you honestly think you would just walk into the police station, and they'd
tell
you?
 
Oh, gee, Mr. Supernatural Detective, we'll tell you what's going on.
 
I don't think it works like that."

"I'll remember that next time."

"No.
 
Next time, tell me what the hell you're doing.
 
And I can tell you how stupid it is."

The silence stretched between them.
 
He pulled out his phone to check for any messages from Cindy.
 
He sent her a simple
I love you
.
 
She responded in kind within a minute, bringing a smile to his face.

"So," Kylie said.
 
"What's the plan now?
 
And actually, where the hell is Nate?
 
He's been gone a long time—"

Nate appeared.
 
He came into being on the sidewalk in front of the truck, drawing a startled jump from Kylie.
 
Laughing and waving, he quickly jogged over and stuck his head inside the door.
 
Kylie scooted over for space.

"Okay," Nate said.

"We're good?"

"Yeah.
 
Get your little pen out, man.
 
I can't remember this crap forever."

Alex quickly prepped his phone for notes as Kylie looked back and forth between them.

"Alright," Alex said.
 
"Go."

"The username is
linash
.
 
All lowercase, if that matters at all.
 
The password is
Michael429
, and I'm pretty sure the M is capital."

Alex smiled as he jotted everything down.
 
"Beautiful."

"The computer didn't look too hard to use.
 
There's only one little icon on the desktop.
 
That launches their database.
 
I didn't get to see anything after that.
 
The lady had to use the bathroom—" He paused to look at Kylie.
 
"Which I did
not
stop to spy on.
 
And I wanted to get moving before I forgot everything."

"Nate, this is awesome.
 
You did great."

"You got it, man."

"Wait," Kylie said.
 
"That was the idea the entire time?
 
Just go in there and get the password to her computer?"