Personal note:
The Gabriel and Michael referenced in this chapter are NOT from Lucifer Season 5. They are depicted in a series called Dominion (which was an off shoot of a movie called Legion. And, as much as I loved Lucifer - the archangels from Dominion would have wiped the floor with the angels of Lucifer. Just my opinion.
and on with the story
Hour later
Ella flagged down Dan as the detective entered the precinct. He was minus Amenadiel who had decided to return to Linda's office and do a little more poking around. "I have news on your case!" she crowed.
"Chloe's case" Dan corrected absently, still mulling the conversation he and Amenadiel had over coffee. "I'm trying to find a missing person who may or may not have anything to do with this murder case. She and Lucifer have the main event – trying to figure out why some bland accountant would get whacked outside a hotel notorious for being cursed."
"Yeah but I talked to someone who totally connected the two" Ella said hurriedly. She filled Espinoza in on what Dr. Harris had told her about the podcast and about Annalise's co-host. "Maybe your missing girl and the murder victim found out something about the hotel no one was supposed to know and it got both of them killed!"
"We only know McIntyre's dead" Dan corrected absently. "Annalise is just missing. And even if they did find out something about the Cecil – what could possibly be worse than what is already out there about it? People already think it's a gateway to Hell, that it's cursed or haunted or whatever. And it's on the edge of Skid Row, with homeless drug addicts and people with mental problems wandering around just outside the door. All of that's out in the public eye and yet someone still wants to buy the relic. What worse thing could these two have found?"
"Okay – so maybe Annalise is hiding out because she knows why her co-host was killed!" Ella insisted. "Maybe that's why no one – not even her former gang-banger father – has seen her since the night she left work. I mean, come on Dan, if someone that connected to the street can't find her then something big must have happened."
"Possible" Dan admitted cautiously. "Where's Chloe? I'd like to run this and my talk with Mad Dog Gibson past her."
"I haven't heard from her since she and Lucifer went back to the Cecil to talk to the staff." The young forensic tech eyed her friend speculativly. "So – what was Gibson like? Does he live up to his bad-ass reputation?"
Dan shrugged uncomfortably. "Maybe. Certainly a scary looking dude. And he does hire ex-cons for the diner so he's not totally away from the life. But is he as bad as he was in the day – not sure."
Ella glanced over at the elevator for a moment with worried eyes. "You don't suppose something has happened to Chloe and Lucifer in that hotel, do you?"
Dan shrugged, fishing his phone out of his pocket. "If that place is a literal doorway to Hell then Lucifer should feel right at home."
At the estate of Don Bradley
Chloe sighed, looking up at the McMansion their subject called home. "I really hate interrogating the rich and famous. They always try to hide things or lie then look down their noses at you because you're not one of them – one of the elite. That type always things everyone, including cops, are beneath them."
Lucifer glanced over at her with a thin smile. "But I'm not police, am I? Perhaps it would be better if you let me talk to Mr. Bradley. His reaction to me might be most enlightening."
Chloe shook her head vehemently. "Not happening. Last thing I need is his wife or his lawyers calling the Chief of Police in a panic because of something you say or do. You can be pretty scary if you want to be."
"Scary? Moi? Only those who do badly should be scared of me, detective. Or more appropriately the cage I have waiting for them once their short spin of the wheel is done."
Chloe slammed on the brakes. "Look, all we have is a possible connection through Bradley's nephew to our murder victim and a possible missing person case. Bradley may know nothing about any of this and making him an enemy right off the bat isn't going to get us any closer to finding his nephew Gabe then we are now. So we go in, make polite conversation and see what he knows about what might have happened that night in the diner."
Lucifer stared off into space for a moment, ignoring Chloe's words. "Gabe? I wonder if he was named Gabriel. My brother would HATE having his name shortened like that. Despite what he tells people he was not the calm, reasonable one of the bunch. Just ask Michael – those two have been at each other's throats now for ages."
Chloe sighed. "We not here to talk about your relatives. We're here to dig for information about a murder. For ONCE – just follow my lead."
"I always do, detective. I always do."
A curtain fluttered on the second floor of the massive home and a slight figure backed away slowly. "So – the Devil and his pet have come to have a conversation with the family. Good – let them talk to Don and his harridan of a wife. Let them be turned this way and that as they hear the stories these sinners have to tell. Then they will see the evil that has been released into the world thanks to the Devil's presence in it." He smiled coldly as he gathered up the photos spread on the desk – photos of Don Bradley and a pretty dark-skinned girl half his age caught in a moment of passion and photos of Bradley's wife – the elegant Bertha Bradley – in the embrace of Bradley's employee James Milton. "The trap is nearly sprung. A sinner set as bait to catch the greatest sinner of them all. Father Kinley would have been so pleased."
