The Long Way Down (Daniel Faust #1)(22)
“Careful. He’s got an ego, but he ain’t dumb. That cop buddy of his looks like real trouble, too. You sure you aren’t in over your head?”
The real trouble, I thought, is the woman who could have shredded us both into bloody confetti without breaking a sweat, but Paolo doesn’t need to know that.
“If I’m not in over my head, I’m not trying hard enough. Thanks for the assist, Paolo. I’ve got it from here.”
I took the side streets on my way across town. I wasn’t afraid of being followed; I just needed time to think. I kept the Mustang’s top down. The breeze felt good on my skin, an antidote to the desert heat.
Detective Carl Holt. Same Holt, I’d bet cash money, as the one who gave Jud Pankow the runaround. He and Artie had dumped Stacy’s body and now he was in charge of investigating the case. Nice arrangement. Carl and Artie weren’t friends, that much was obvious. I had Artie pegged as a typical bully, happy to slap around women half his size but easily cowed by a more dominant personality. Carl fit the bill. Hell, he had a key to Artie’s house and walked in like he owned the place.
To see “her,” I reminded myself, and unless there was somebody else in the house, that means Caitlin. I remembered Artie’s protest about “marking her up” and bristled, squeezing the steering wheel.
What kind of demon would Artie summon? Obvious answer, the number one go-to choice for every wannabe sorcerer out there: a succubus. Thing is, according to all the lore I’d read, a succubus’s kiss could be just as potent as mainlining heroin. Just as addictive, too. I ran the numbers in my head and built a theory.
Artie binds Caitlin to his service. Artie murders Stacy. Artie introduces Caitlin to friendly Detective Holt and gets him hooked on her supernatural charms. The offer couldn’t be simpler: “You can romp in the sack with my pet demoness any time you want; just help me cover up this pesky little murder first.”
Both men had something to hold over the other. Carl could expose Artie as a killer, and Artie could take Caitlin away and introduce Carl to the joys of occult drug withdrawal. Mutually assured destruction. No wonder they hated each other.
I could work with that.
? ? ?
“So what are my options?” I asked Bentley, leaning against the front counter at the Scrivener’s Nook. He looked up at me from behind an antique cash register, arching an incredulous eyebrow.
“Well,” he said, “he can order his demon to tear you to pieces, or he can have his police officer friend shoot you and cover up the murder. Or maybe he can just beat you to death with his bare hands. It sounds like he might be abusing steroids, and that sort is prone to uncontrollable rages, I understand.”
I looked around at the clutter of books, stacks upon stacks covering vintage tables and overflowing mahogany shelves. Bentley and Corman’s store existed in a constant state of controlled chaos. They prided themselves on a filing system dictated by whimsy and decor that was trendy two hundred years ago. Every time I came in, I felt like I’d walked into a Charles Dickens novel.
“I was kind of hoping for some more concrete guidance in the research department? Maybe from the backroom collection?”
“Just exorcise her. You know how to do that,” Corman said, easing his way up a ladder on the other side of the store with a box of hardcovers precariously balanced against his hip. I jogged over to hold the box while he finished his climb.
“She’s not possessing a human. She’s an incarnate, I’m sure of it.”
“Incarnate demons are rare for a reason,” Bentley fretted. “The sheer power required to create a physical body out of nothing but raw spiritual energy…most of them just can’t do it. They have to climb inside a human or an animal to survive in our world. You’re absolutely certain?”
“Kid knows how possessions work,” Corman grunted, saving me the effort. “If he says she’s an incarnate, she’s an incarnate.”
Bentley held up a finger. “Point of order? Can we use ‘it’ rather than ‘she’? It’s an important distinction. Daniel, I know that these men are…abusing her, and I understand how you feel about that, but you must remember that you aren’t seeing what you think you’re seeing. That isn’t a woman, or even a person. It’s a creature born of sin and corruption in its purest form.”
“What he’s saying is…” Corman reached down to take another book from the box. “She’d gut you as soon as give you the time of day, no matter how nice she smiles.”
“I get that,” I said, pretending I hadn’t had Caitlin on my mind since the second we met. “If I’m going to take these guys down, though, I need to get around her somehow. Look, Kaufman must have a binding contract somewhere in his house. If I burn the contract, doesn’t that—”
“Set the demon free on the spot?” Bentley said. “Oh, yes, most assuredly, at which point it will thank you with a wet and messy death. Oh, and you’ll have succeeded in unleashing a free-willed menace upon the world to spread havoc and misery however it pleases.”
Corman shook his head. “Bad play, kiddo.”
“Don’t suppose I’d have any chance in a straight-up fight?” I asked.
Bentley tapped his bony finger against his chin. “You’re talking about an incarnate demon with at least a few centuries of power and experience. How do I draw a comparison for you? Let’s see. Cormie, what was that delightful science fiction movie we watched last weekend?”