Hexed (24 page)

HONK!

“Dammit, Lucifer, get in the car!”

Lucifer turned at hearing her name. David was behind her, leaning out the window of his car and waving at her. She jumped into the passenger seat. “Drive!”

“Which way?”

“That way! Go go go!” she shouted as she pointed.

David rounded the corner onto a main thoroughfare. Lucifer spotted the Mercedes-Benz a few hundred yards ahead. Ethan's dad had slowed down, obviously assuming he had easily outrun a girl chasing him on foot. “There he is.”

David pressed the accelerator. “Do you want me to ram him?”

“The man nearly melted my eyes from my sockets. Of course I
want
you to ram him. But don't. He can barely control that car as it is. You ram him, somebody's going to get killed. Just get closer. I have an idea.”

As David pulled up to a few car lengths behind the Mercedes, Lucifer fished her phone out of her trick bag and dialed.

“Hello?”

“Buck? It's Lucifer. Listen to me—”

“Tell me you have something.”

“I found the guy who mugged me. It was Mr. Sinkowicz, Ethan's dad. He has the book and I need it to get Gina back.”

“
Mark
Sinkowicz? That doesn't make any sense. Why would he have the book?”

“As soon as I have my hands around his throat, I'll ask him. But he's in his car and I'm afraid if I try to stop him he'll run somebody down. I need you to pull him over, Buck, so I can search his car.”

“Where are you?” Buck growled the question.

Lucifer peered out the window and said, “Crossing Eighth Street now. He's heading north toward Graeae Towers.”

“On my way,” he barked.

“Buck, wait . . . dammit.”

“What is it?” David asked.

“I think Buck is going to kill Mr. Sinkowicz.”

Mr. Sinkowicz turned and pulled into a parking garage. He flashed an ID to the guard sitting in the small booth next to the gate. The guard nodded, the gate lifted, and Mr. Sinkowicz drove through.

David pulled up to the gate and smiled at the guard. The guard didn't smile back. “This is a private garage. Graeae Industries employees only,” the guard said. “There's public parking two blocks south. You'll have to back up.”

Lucifer was about to try to talk their way into the garage when she heard sirens approaching in the distance. “Back up,” she said.

David backed out and pulled off to the side of the street just as a police cruiser came screaming into view, sirens blaring, lights flashing. Lucifer hopped out and waved her hands as the cruiser came into view. The cruiser's brakes locked up, and the car slid to a halt just behind David's parked car in a cloud of shredded rubber.

When Buck stepped out of the car, Lucifer could tell he still hadn't slept. Heavy black circles rimmed his eyes, and thick stubble covered his granite jaw. When he spoke, his deep voice crackled with exhaustion. “Where is he?”

The passenger-side door of the cruiser opened, and another police officer stepped out. He was big, though nowhere near the size of Buck. He had military tattoos running the length of his arms, though they were difficult to see on his dark skin. Lucifer could tell by his expression that he had no idea what was happening. He was going along for the ride simply because that's what partners did.

“He went inside the garage, but only employees are allowed—”

Buck brushed past her and made a beeline for the guard shack at the entrance of the garage. Lucifer grabbed his arm. “I can't get answers if he's dead—”

In a flash, Lucifer was facedown on the ground with one arm pinned behind her back. But it wasn't Buck who put her there, it was his partner. “You're under arrest for assaulting a police officer,” he said, pressing all of his weight between her shoulder blades with his knee. Buck kept walking.

David stepped back and held up his hands, “Whoa, whoa, what's going on?”

“Dammit, Buck, I can't save Gina if I'm in jail!”

Buck stopped, took a deep breath, then turned back. “Let her up,” he said.

His partner kept the pressure on her back. Lucifer could feel the vertebrae of her spine compressing under his considerable weight, and what little air she had left was being squeezed out of her lungs.

“She put her hands on a cop,” the partner said.

“I said let her up, Ty!”

After what seemed like an eternity, Buck's partner Ty lifted Lucifer off the ground and put her back on her feet. “Don't move from that spot,” he said, pointing to the ground at Lucifer's feet. Lucifer was itching to get to Mr. Sinkowicz, but she had a feeling Ty wouldn't hesitate to fill her face full of mace. And she was never going to let that happen again.

Ty walked over to Buck and pulled him to the side. “You going to tell me just what the hell is going on with you? Past few days you've been . . .
off
, man.”

“You have to trust me on this,” Buck said, his eyes carrying a faraway stare that said more than any words could.

Ty put his hand on Buck's shoulder and said, “You don't want to tell me, that's cool. But remember what happened with Valdez. I should have told you about that mess, but I didn't. Don't make the same mistake I did, partner.”

Buck nodded but said nothing.

Ty turned and gave Lucifer a sour glance before saying, “I'm going to go get some coffee. I'll be back in fifteen.” He got behind the wheel of the cruiser and sped off.

“Let's go,” Lucifer said.

As Lucifer, David, and Buck ran toward the guard station, the guard yelled, “Officer, this is private property! You can't come in here without a warrant!” Buck stuck his head through the plexiglass window and snarled something at the guard. Lucifer couldn't hear what it was, but the guard went pale.

Threat successfully delivered, Buck caught up to Lucifer and David running up the concrete ramp toward the upper levels. But the parking garage was huge, and it seemed like every other car was a Mercedes. David paused every once in a while, double-checking to make sure he hadn't missed it, but Buck was like a mad bull. He charged through the parked cars, swiveling his thick head back and forth like a gun turret as he scanned the garage. Lucifer, on the other hand, was following the smell of scorched tire and over-revved engine.

She was beginning to lose hope until she found Mr. Sinkowicz on the top level, getting out of his car with his briefcase clutched to his chest.

Lucifer bolted toward him like a shot, her tennis shoes squeaking on the concrete of the garage floor with her every stride. As soon as Mr. Sinkowicz saw her rushing toward him, he fumbled with his briefcase, desperately trying to get it open. Lucifer had no desire to see what kind of face-melting device he had inside, but she was too far away, too slow to get to him before he pulled out whatever he was reaching for.

Sinkowicz's hand disappeared inside the briefcase. When it reappeared, Lucifer was expecting to see another can of mace or even a gun. But what Sinkowicz held in his hand was the last thing she was expecting: a Light King. The Light King was a mass of writhing disembodied electric tentacles that slithered between his fingers, spitting and hissing sparks of blue light that dripped to his feet. Lucifer took a step to dive behind a nearby car as Sinkowicz held out the ball of snaking light toward her.

Before he could release it, Buck tackled him from the side with such force that Sinkowicz's briefcase flew from his hand and into the air, sailing over two parked cars.

The mass of snaking lights hit the ground with a sound of lightbulbs breaking. It split into dozens of individual tentacles, each flicking and sparking with electrical hisses. Buck had Sinkowicz facedown, but before he could get handcuffs on him, the tentacles had wrapped themselves around Buck's ankles. There was a flash of silver light, and Buck stiffened, a scream of agony caught in his bull-sized throat.

Sinkowicz pulled himself out from under Buck's seizing mass and struggled to his feet. The tackle must have knocked the wind out of him because he still wasn't fully upright when Lucifer reached him. She hit the ground and slid between his legs like a runner stealing second base. As she passed through, she thrust her arms out, taking Sinkowicz out at the knees. He fell forward and hit his face against the concrete with a dull, wet thud. Lucifer flipped and was on his back before the man could lift his face from the puddle of blood pooling beneath his broken face.

Lucifer turned to see David rushing up. “Oh, god, what's wrong with him?” David asked. He bent to help Buck as the huge cop trembled violently from the shocks of the Light King tangled around his ankles.

“Don't touch him!” Lucifer shouted. She turned Sinkowicz on his back. “What element did you use?” she asked.

Blood poured out from his broken nose and down his sagging cheeks. He coughed, and a line of bloody phlegm slowly slid down his chin.

“What element?!” she screamed.

Sinkowicz's eyes slowly began to focus. “Fire,” he muttered before coughing up another mouthful of blood.

Lucifer was up and digging into her trick bag. She looked at David and said, “If he tries to stand up, hit him.”

“Lucifer, that's Ethan's dad.”

“Hit. Him.”

Lucifer found the small velvet pouch she was looking for and dumped its contents into the palm of her hand. They were orange gaming dice ranging from four- to twenty-sided. But instead of numbers, they had symbols of the four elements, air, earth, fire, and water carved into each side.

She took the pyramid-shaped four-sided die and placed it on the ground, making sure the symbol for water was showing. She then took a twenty-sided die and spun it on the tip of the pyramid.

“What is that?” David asked.

“It will neutralize the Light King, but whatever you do, don't touch Buck until it's completely gone.”

David nodded but said nothing. Lucifer was happy that he was learning to keep his questions to himself when she needed to concentrate.

The die spun faster and faster, perfectly balanced on its tip. The bright, pulsing light from the Light King began to fade. The tentacles themselves deflated like bad party balloons until they were nothing more than an oily mess on the concrete. As soon as the last tentacle disappeared, the spinning die shattered into dust.

Free of the Light King's biting energy, Buck took in a sharp breath and sat up.

“Are you all right?” Lucifer asked.

Buck nodded and turned to the bloody man lying on the ground next to Lucifer. The look he gave Mr. Sinkowicz sent a shiver down Lucifer's spine.

Buck was on his feet faster than Lucifer would have expected. The cop lifted Sinkowicz off the ground and slammed him into the side of a beige minivan parked nearby.

Lucifer heard something crack. Sinkowicz howled in agony, but his scream was cut short when Buck threw him back down to the ground and put his knee between the man's shoulder blades. In a flash, Buck had him handcuffed and up on his feet again. He shoved him back into the minivan. Sinkowicz yelped again, nearly collapsing from pain. “Ah! You broke my ribs—”

“
Where's
Gina?!
”

“Please, I—”

SLAM!

“
WHERE
IS
SHE?!
”

Lucifer stepped forward and said, “We already know where she is. And the man can't talk with a punctured lung.”

“He only needs one lung to talk.”

“Buck, I want to hurt this guy just as much as you do.” She pointed and said, “But I need you to get his briefcase. Then stand right there until I'm done. No arguments.”

The cop's herculean chest heaved as he struggled to calm himself. He turned on his heel and said, “Hurry up.”

Lucifer turned to Sinkowicz. “This is how this is going to work,” she said. “It's really easy. I'm going to ask you questions, you're going to give me answers. If you don't answer my questions, you'll have to answer his.” Lucifer thumbed over her shoulder toward Buck.

The blood drained from Sinkowicz's face, leaving his already pale expression even more ghostlike.

Buck came back and opened the briefcase, dumping everything on the ground at his feet. There were some papers, a notebook, a tablet, and various pens and pencils, but no Light Kings or other magical items. And no book.

“Where's the book?” Lucifer asked.

“I don't have it.”

“That isn't the question she asked you,” Buck growled.

Lucifer shot Buck a withering glance before turning back to Sinkowicz. “Where?”

“Please, you don't understand what will happen to me—”

“And I don't much care. Where?”

Sinkowicz dropped his chin to his chest. “In the office.”

“Let's go.”

Sinkowicz chuckled through his broken nose. “You can't go up there.”

“You're going to get me in,” Lucifer said.

“I can't.”

Buck pulled his gun and pressed it to Sinkowicz's head.

“Whoa, Mr. Pierce! Calm down,” David said.

Sinkowicz squeezed his eyes shut and whimpered. It was a stuttered wheezing that reminded Lucifer of someone trying to play a clarinet underwater.

Sadly, this wasn't the first time she had seen someone held at gunpoint. And if Buck pulled the trigger, it wouldn't be the first time she had seen that either. Growing up in a favela made one a witness to all manner of horrors. But even though it was eerily familiar, Lucifer had absolutely no desire to watch anyone die. Not even the guy who emptied a can of mace in her eyes.

“Buck,” she said in a calm, even-toned voice. “You don't want to do this.”

Buck didn't speak. His jaw was clenched so tight that the muscles in his jaw popped with the tension.

“If you kill him, then Gina is going to come home to a father in jail. Is that what you want?”

“I want my daughter home and
this
son-of-a-bitch is the one that took her!”