Demons LLC (Damned and Cursed Book 7) (31 page)

"Yeah," Nate said first.
 
"Simple, and brilliant.
 
I was standing behind her the entire time, just waiting for her to start typing."

Kylie shook her head.
 
"Wow.
 
I thought you were just spying on girls somewhere else in the world."

For the first time since Alex had known him, Nate seemed truly hurt.
 
He lowered his eyes, avoiding eye contact with Kylie.

"Yeah.
 
You're welcome," he muttered.
 
He walked through the front of the truck, through the engine, to settle back in the seat.

"What now?" Kylie asked.
 
"Break into the police station?
 
Use her computer?"

"No."

"Good.
 
Because that would be crazy."

"First, lunch."
 
He checked the time.
 
"Actually, dinner.
 
Then
we'll do what you said."

She sighed.
 
"I should have known that was coming."

"We need to know what they know.
 
Suspects, time of death, location, anything at all.
 
Then we can take it from there."

"I'm on board," Nate said, smiling and wringing his hands together.
 
"This will be fun."

"You've never sneaked around a police station before?" Kylie asked.

"Actually, no, I haven't."

"Not enough pretty ladies there for you?"

Nate didn't smile.

"I guess not.
 
I like to check out the women at clubs, even though I'm not old enough.
 
Just like you."

Kylie's jaw dropped, not expecting such a harsh response.

"Hey—!"

"Knock it off, you two," Alex said, starting the engine.
 
His stomach was prepared to eat itself.
 
"Where's a good place for food around here?"

*****

It was eleven o'clock at night when Alex parked the truck alongside the street four blocks away from the police station.
 
There wasn't much planning to do with what he had in mind, but he did what he could.
 
He left his phone and wallet back at the motel.
 
Ironically, despite his resistance to technology over the years, he felt naked without his phone.
 
He'd only brought his keys, which he left under the seat.
 
Slipping out of his short-sleeved button-down shirt, he stood on the sidewalk wearing only a thin tank-top, the back narrow enough to fit in between his shoulder-blades.
 
He'd written Detective Nash's username and password on his forearm.

Kylie and Nate watched him from the sidewalk.

"Uh, Alex?" Kylie said.
 
"Aren't you cold?"

"It's not so bad."

"You look a little silly walking around like you're going to the gym."

Nate laughed.
 
"Please, Kylie.
 
You'd sound more convincing if your eyes weren't bugging out of your head and you weren't drooling."

"I am
not
drooling!" she said, adjusting her glasses.

"Watch out, man.
 
Tell Cindy she might have some competition."

"Shut up, Nate!
 
Why is it okay for you to stare at everything with tits?
 
But you want me to walk around with blinders on?"

"Man, touchy.
 
I was just kidding."

"It's getting old.
 
I'm sick of—"

"Hey!" Alex said, eying the both of them.
 
"Would you both calm down?"

Kylie looked down at the sidewalk, her cheeks flaring from guilt.
 
Nate felt no such guilt, and simply glanced at Kylie, and then at Alex, before shrugging.
 
Alex noticed tension between them throughout the day.
 
During dinner the two of them argued, nearly ruining his meal.
 
The issue was so ridiculous Alex couldn't even remember what it was.
 
Despite the fighting, the two were always close to one another, with Nate giving Kylie another lesson in teleporting after dinner.

He shook his head at the young, blossoming love.

It took ten minutes to walk the four blocks to the station.
 
The streets of Stewardtown were quiet, deserted, with only the occasional vehicle driving by.
 
The sidewalks were empty, except for a couple near a truck.
 
They probably should have taken their excitement to a private room.
 
The woman was sitting on the hood with her legs wrapped around her boyfriend's hips.
 
The woman's shirt was pulled halfway up her torso, giving access to her boyfriend's roaming hands.
 
Moans of passion escaped as they explored each other's mouths with their tongues.

"I know that woman," Kylie said as they passed.
 
"She works at the grocery store on Tenth Avenue.
 
And that is
not
her boyfriend."

Nate eyed them.
 
"Well, looks like that's her boyfriend tonight, at least."

"Yeah," Kylie said, smiling.
 
"You'd think they'd slow down a little with someone walking past."

"No," Alex said.
 
"They can't see me."

To illustrate, he held out his hand as they walked, letting it pass through the cars.
 
He felt the different materials, always an interesting sensation.
 
Glass, plastic, leather, metal.

Kylie shook her head.
 
"I'm not sure I'll ever get used to seeing a living person do that."

"Believe me, sometimes, that makes two of us," Alex said.

He still had his moments of self doubt.
 
Demons called him
Master
.
 
He had powers no one else possessed, not even a full-blooded witch.
 
There were times he felt more comfortable in the demon world than his own.
 
He didn't like mirrors.
 
He was in a class all by himself, and that brought its own elements of loneliness.

But he'd accepted what he was, and those closest to him accepted him as well.

Alex stopped as he stood in front of the police station.
 
Kylie and Nate drifted back, lost in their own conversation.
 
He could have parked across the street, but wanted his truck to be far away.
 
Peering through the glass door, there was only a single woman behind one of the desks, a different one from earlier in the day.
 

Kylie and Nate caught up with Alex.

"…I'm telling you, I can't dance," Kylie said.

"I thought you were fine on Halloween."

"That was a slow dance.
 
That doesn't count."

"Of course it counts.
 
We have to do that again."

"I don't think so."

"C'mon.
 
How many more times do you think you'll get to dance with someone?"

They went silent as they approached Alex.
 
Nate took up position next to him and peered inside.
 

"Okay, guys," Alex said.
 
"Follow me."

He walked through the glass door.
 
Kylie and Nate followed as he retraced his steps from earlier.
 
He stopped when he reached the sea of desks and computers.
 
The room was mostly empty, with the exception of three police officers.
 
One of those officers was Lisa Nash.

"You've got to be kidding," Nate said.
 
"Does she live here?"

"Who?" Kylie asked.

"That blond lady over there.
 
That's who Alex talked to today."

Kylie stepped forward.
 
"I know her.
 
She stopped at the house to talk to Mom a few times.
 
She actually went to my funeral.
 
Not even Zoey went to my funeral, not that I blame her."

"So, she
is
working your case," Alex said.

He watched the detective.
 
She sat with her heels off, nursing a cup of coffee.
 
Working at the computer, she took turns between using the mouse and taking handwritten notes on a pad.
 
Her expression changed from sadness to frustration, and then back again.

"She looks so tired," Nate said.

"What do we do now?" Kylie asked.

"We wait her out.
 
She has to go home sometime.
 
Until then, we need information.
 
Both of you spread out, study this place.
 
I need to know exits, hallways, who else is in the building.
 
Okay?"

Nate nodded.
 
"You got it."

The ghosts walked away in different directions, leaving Alex alone.
 
He walked in a straight line, through desks and chairs, toward Lisa.
 
Peering over her shoulder, it didn't surprise him to her working on Kylie's case.

He'd studied police reports before, but still didn't know exactly what he was looking at on the monitor.
 
Every report was different, and Alex didn't understand the vernacular, or even where to look at for certain information.
 
Only Kylie's name on top of the report clued him in.

Her handwritten notes were even worse.
 
It was a diagram of gibberish, with circles and arrows.

Despite her presence, Alex's plan remained the same.
 
Get a copy of the police report, and go back to the motel.

He scanned the folders on the corner of her desk, hoping that by chance one of them was Kylie's.
 
They overlapped, hiding the occasional label, but none had her name.
 
He couldn't have been that lucky.

Lisa let out a sigh as she rested her head against her palm.
 
Alex thought she looked at him for a moment, but only leaned back in her chair and stifled a yawn.
 
He was suddenly curious.
 
Why was she still there?
 
Did she have a family to go home to?

Slipping into her heels, she browsed through the folders on her desk.
 
She picked out several and retrieved her purse from the back of her chair.

"Hey Nash!" another officer called from across the room.
 
"You heading out?"

"Yeah.
 
Time to go home and pretend like I'll sleep."

"You want to get a beer?"

"No, thanks, though."

For a moment, Alex thought she'd leave her computer as it was.
 
However, she slid the chair under the desk and grabbed the mouse.
 
With a few quick clicks the database was closed, and a logon prompt filled the monitor.

Alex dropped to one knee and watched Lisa walk away.
 
The two remaining officers traded a few more words with her before she left.
 
Keeping his head low, he could remain hidden from view, as long as he was careful.

He rejoined the world of the living, and quickly snatched the keyboard from the desk.
 
His heart jumped when the first logon attempt failed.
 
He tried the password again, this time in all lowercase, and the desktop sprang into view.

One of the officers coughed across the room, and a chair began to squeak.
 
Alex slowly peeked over the desk to make sure no one was approaching.
 
An officer was scratching his head with his feet propped on the desk.

Grabbing the mouse, he launched the police database.
 
Luck finally smiled on him, as the most recently opened files were at the top.
 
He double clicked on her file.

"Hey, Alex!"

He jumped at the sound of his name.
 
He turned to see Nate, coming out of a hallway behind him.

"Oh, shit," he said, actually more panicked than Alex.
 
"Okay, okay.
 
We're rolling now."

Alex said nothing as Nate hovered above him.

"I think you're okay.
 
Those guys can't see you.
 
I'll holler if they start moving.
 
Although that cop on the left looks like he hasn't moved in years."

He smiled, and a chuckle nearly escaped before he caught himself.
 
Nate shrugged apologetically after Alex flashed him a glare.

"Sorry."

He clicked through the different menus, not finding what he was looking for.

"What's the problem?" Nate asked.

Alex kept his voice low.
 
"How do you print?"

"I don't know, but you might want to try that icon that looks like a printer in the upper right corner."

He finally saw it.
 
A ridiculous, minuscule icon.
 
He clicked it, and a printer four desks over roared to life.
 
Being as quiet as he could, he put the mouse and keyboard back on the desk, and logged out of the computer.

"Perfect."

Nate gasped when Alex stood up, until he realized Alex couldn't be seen.

He strolled to the printer.
 
It spit out page after page.
 
Police reports weren't short, and Kylie's was no exception.
 
The officers were still on the other side of the room.
 
That didn't make the challenge of getting the report out of the building any easier.

"Guys!"

It was Kylie.
 
She stood in another hallway not far behind them, frantically pointing.

"There's an exit door this way.
 
It leads to the side of the building.
 
It's pretty clear."