Hot Demon in the City (Latter Day Demons Book 1) (19 page)

Chapter 12

Lexsi

"What's this about?" Anita asked as I pulled her inside my bedroom and shut the door.

"He's dead," I whispered.

"Who's dead?"

"Loftin Qualls. Well, somebody who looked like Loftin Qualls."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Anita demanded. "Are you all right?" Her eyes narrowed as she attempted to feel my forehead.

"I'm fine," I said, although I let her feel my forehead anyway. "Loftin Qualls, you know who he was?"

"That rapist-murderer millionaire?" she asked.

"Yeah. That's the one. I think somebody else died in his place."

"That's not plausible," Anita said. "He's been on death row. How could they sneak somebody in to trade places with him?"

"Money?" I suggested. "His parents have loads of it."

"Here's my next question—where would he go if he did get out? Somebody would surely notice."

"Not if he looked like somebody else," I hissed.

"What are you basing this on?" she asked.

"I can show you the video somebody at the sister station in Texas sent to me."

"Let me see it."

We watched the video together; I told Anita that the prisoner depicted was telling the truth. She turned to me then, her eyes widening in shock. "You're sure about this?"

"Yeah. As sure as I've ever been," I nodded. "I don't know what to do about this."

"Tell those guys who were here the other night," Anita said.

"Oh. Yeah. Right. Uh, how do I tell them that I know truth from a lie?"

"There's that," Anita blew out a breath. "Look, they still need to know. Did anybody fingerprint that guy, or check DNA?"

"I don't know," I moaned. "What I do know is that somewhere, the real Loftin Qualls is on the loose and probably looking for more victims."

"Yeah. I didn't consider that."

"They're going to think I'm nuts," I sighed.

"Who?"

"Davis Stone and Thomas Williams. The werewolf agents," I replied.

"Then hold off for a while and think up a good way to explain it," Anita retorted. "But know this—he could kill between now and then."

"I know that."

"Look, I'll back you up as well as I can, but you have to convince them."

"I'll try. I have no idea what Kory will say."

"Lexsi, look at me," Anita said. I turned my gaze on her. "A murderer may be loose and already killing," she said. "That execution was two days ago."

"I know."

"Have you checked to see if there are any murders that could be attributed to this asshole? I heard he always got creative when he killed."

"Don't remind me." I felt sick for the second time in two days.

"Then make the call."

"All right. They'll kill me, then Kory will kill me," I mumbled and pulled out my cell phone.

* * *

"Kory," I approached him. I'd found him having a drink with Watson at the kitchen island.

"What is it, onion?" he asked.

"I called Davis and Thomas."

"What for?" He was on his feet in a second, his drink forgotten on the island.

"I need to talk to you in private before they get here," I said.

"All right." I reached for his hand, discovering that mine was shaking. What if he didn't believe me?

What if nobody but Anita believed me?

In truth, I was beginning to doubt myself. Nobody at the prison suspected anything—after all, they'd ignored the prisoner's claims and executed him anyway.

"Tell me," Kory said after I shut the door to the laundry room. At least it was empty at the moment.

"A prisoner was executed at a Texas Penitentiary," I began. With my voice trembling, I explained what I'd seen and heard. "He wasn't lying, Kory. You have to believe me."

* * *

Kordevik

Gulis were extremely rare, but I couldn't deny that it ran in her family. Her mother, from what I'd heard, was a guli—a truthspeaker of the High Demon race. They always recognized truth from a lie.

"I believe you, onion," I pulled both her hands into mine and squeezed them gently. "We just have to find a way to convince our agent friends to believe you, too."

"Oh, thank goodness." She pulled her hands from mine and wrapped both arms around my waist. That's where we were—in the laundry room, wrapped in an embrace when Anita knocked on the door to inform us that Davis and Thomas had arrived.

Convincing two werewolves proved to be a tougher job.

"The body's been cremated," Davis informed us. "There's nothing left to check," he added.

Lexsi was stricken by the news and huddled against me.

"His parents took custody of the body almost immediately and sent it to a facility for cremation," Thomas confirmed Davis' words and shut off his cell phone.

"Then I suppose you'll have to keep your eyes and ears open when the new murder spree commences," Anita's words were dry.

"If he's alive and his parents are involved, they ought to send him out of the country for treatment," Davis rose from his chair. "We'll send discreet requests through channels, in case any unusual murders crop up."

"We'll look into it as well as we can, but you have to understand that what's going on here takes precedence," Thomas said.

I thought Lexsi would collapse with the news. They may as well have told her they didn't believe what she'd said. The results were much the same. I had to congratulate anyone involved in this mess for destroying the body as quickly as they could.

For all anyone else knew, the real Loftin Qualls was dead.

"Thank you for your time," Anita said, her words as cold as the snow on Baetrah's winter summit.

"Keep us informed," I said.

Davis half waved as he and Thomas headed for the door.

"Come on, baby, I'll walk you to your room," I whispered against Lexsi's hair.

* * *

Lexsi

My sleep was troubled and sparse that night; I was grateful when Kory knocked on my door and reminded me of our trip to the gym before going to work. Mason and Klancy were still awake—dawn was still two hours away when we left the house.

My mind still churned about the how of replacing a psychotic killer with another person, who would be executed in his place. If this were another world, I could conjure up a way, perhaps, but Earth in the here and now had no such resources.

"Stop worrying about it," Kory patted my hand. "Buckle up and let me know if you see anybody following us."

"Okay."

I didn't look forward to dealing with Hannah at work on any day. Today was far worse than other days.

A potentially innocent man had been executed, while the real criminal had gotten away, somehow. My first boss was dead, and had been replaced by another from the legendary Hades. Rick, Anita and Tiburon's homes were nothing but ash. Farin couldn't go home and Kory had a price on his head, placed by vicious vampires. Watson worked for someone I perceived as evil, who was also in bed with previously mentioned vampires, as were the owners of the company I worked for. What else could possibly go wrong?

"Sweat it out of your system," Kory advised as he drove through an intersection. "I've always found exercise to be a good way to clear my head and put things in perspective."

"Thank you, Obi-Wan," I said.

"Just trying to help. I'd like to see a smile on your face again," he added.

"Yeah, well, there's not much to smile about right now. I have to deal with Hannah the Horrible today."

"Hannah's not so terrible," Kory teased. "Deep down. And covered by a big pile of rocks."

The laugh escaped before I could hold it back.

* * *

Before Hannah got in, I'd already checked with the station in Texas. I wanted to find out if anyone had interviewed Loftin Qualls' parents. I'd know whether they were telling the truth, too.

The family requested that the media respect their privacy at this time, while they grieve for their son
, came the reply.

Of course they'd asked for privacy. I imagined that somewhere, they were spiriting said son away to a safe place, so he could plot his escape and murder again. Frustrated, I lifted my now-empty coffee cup and headed for the break room.

"Any word on the missing again kidnap victim?" Lee was in the breakroom, pouring a cup of coffee for himself.

"Nothing." I'd checked on him, too, before I began my quest for more information on Loftin Qualls' parents. "They're looking for him—his family, the police, even the FBI is looking. I have the newsfeed from the Texas affiliate; forwarded it to Hannah first thing for her to take a look."

"I got compliments this morning from on high at the national news level," Lee said. "On your phone camera coverage of the condo explosion downtown. I was told it reminded them of old-school journalism, with a very modern twist."

I mulled that over for a moment. "What was the holdup on sending a weekend crew down there?" I asked.

"Well, the way I heard it, both drivers on duty thought they could go out drinking without telling anyone. That left us scrambling to find somebody to drive the van into the city. It took a while, as you well know."

"Does that happen often?" I frowned at Lee. "That the weekend drivers just go off on their own instead of doing their jobs?"

"First time ever," Lee shrugged. "Both got fired for it."

"Wow. That sounds so—irresponsible."

"Good thing you were there," Lee said. "You saved our bacon. Again."

"It was an accident," I said. "Farin's dating Tiburon, and her brother's condo was in the same building. We went to see if there was anything we could save. That's why I was there to begin with. At least we got the news out—Rick and Tibby's condos are a total loss."

"Rick Armstrong, the weather guy?"

"Yeah. Farin's brother."

"We tried to hire him, but the other station offered a raise to keep him there. Damn fine meteorologist."

"So is Farin," I said.

"I know. The Romes wanted a man as chief meteorologist. Remember, you didn't hear that from me," he added and walked out of the breakroom.

That information was something I could pass along to Anita, for her files. I needed to talk to her anyway, about George. The wheels were turning as I walked back to my cubicle.

* * *

I wanted to argue with Hannah about the assignment, but didn't. She'd just call me little bitch again and I was more than tired of that insult. She wanted me to go to a downtown hotel and interview the chef, who'd created a new dish that everyone was raving about.

"You know something about cooking, little bitch. I don't." She wiggled her manicured fingers, letting me know her hands never touched food except to eat it. "Oh, and if you see Kory, tell him I expect him to drive me to the downtown offices at noon—I'm having lunch with the CEO."

"Of course." I fumed as I left her office—she was still attempting to get her claws into Kory's back. Preferably during sex.

"What's wrong?" Farin stopped me as I marched toward my cubicle to call Kory and George.

"My gag reflex is at def-con five," I grumped. "Can't you smell it from here?"

"Smell what?"

"The knee-deep vomit in Hannah's office," I whispered.

"Oh," Farin covered her mouth to suppress a giggle.

"I gotta go," I said and waved as I continued down the hall. "Luigi Del Vigo is waiting to be interviewed."

"Good luck. I hear he's a tyrant in the kitchen," Farin called out.

"Yeah."

* * *

Luigi was just as much a spiteful tyrant as everyone said he was—behind his back. They all claimed he was a culinary genius to his face.

The dish everyone was making such a fuss over was snapper in a special cream-chili-paprika sauce. The sauce recipe was a closely-guarded secret, and he evaded any questions regarding its ingredients.

"Here, taste," he offered a plate of snapper with a dollop of the sauce, which had come straight from the kitchen.

I lifted an eyebrow at my first bite—yes it was very good, but his secret ingredient was guava paste. It paired well with the pepper-jack cheese used in the recipe. The sweet balanced the spicy, making the sauce a desirable accompaniment to the fish.

I wasn't about to leak his secret—he could keep it. I was determined to improve on his recipe, though, and make the dish at home—with shrimp and pasta, instead of snapper.

I finished the interview with Luigi, who was more interested in selling himself than his food, helped Chet and Jessie pack up and called for George to meet us in front of the hotel.

* * *

Kordevik

"Have you set a date for your wedding?" Hannah held up a mirror and primped in the back seat of the limo while I drove her toward the main office downtown.