Across from Mad Dog Gibson's diner

Amenadiel dropped silently into the shadowy parking area beside Gibson's diner, happy that he had not been able to catch Maze to invite her to come with him. "Not sure what possessed me to think about asking her" he mused. Gibson's past deeds still clung to the older man like a second skin, something the demon torturer from Hell would have recognized instantly. "She and Gibson would either have been way too chummy or a fiery oil and water mix – depending on who was in the better mood." He peered intently into the building, looking for the tall, bearded form of the diner's owner or one of his ex-con employees. He frowned at the sight of a younger man, barely out of his teens, working behind the counter. With a sense of trepidation he moved forward, opening the diner door quietly as he slipped through and settled on a stool in front of the counter.

"Can I help you with something?" the young man, who wore a name tag identifying him as Barry, asked, quietly, his eyes roaming from his new customer to the various others settled into their seats round the structure.

"Looking for Micah Gibson" the angel replied calmly. "Need to talk to him about his daughter."

"Barry" blinked for a moment then sighed. "Got to admit, dude, you didn't look like a cop when you came in. Close-up though I can see it. Sorry – Mr. Gibson isn't here right now."

Amenadiel frowned. "What makes you think I'm a cop?" he asked, annoyed.

"You're clothes" the man replied with a shrug. "Trying to look all tough but everything is fresh and clean – so maybe you're new to the gang unit. But you mentioned the boss's daughter so I'm betting you're a detective from Missing Persons out slumming it to keep the old man from making trouble about his missing kid."

"Or maybe I'm just someone out looking for his daughter, someone hoping to find her before Micah does something he can't take back or she…"

"Or she?" Barry said, leaning across the counter. "Think that kid's getting herself into something she can't get herself out of?"

"I think she might already be deep in a hole she can't climb out of without help. But her father's type of help is something she's not going to be able to use." He hopped up swiftly and grabbed the man by his lapels. "If you know where Mad Dog is it would be to his benefit and yours to tell me – before things get more out of hand then they already are."

Barry smiled coldly. "Maybe you should have said that to him a few hours ago – before that crazy bitch came in here ranting about how his "baby girl" had been screwing her man."

"Younger or older?" Amenadiel asked, eyes narrowing. "The woman who came in here – was she younger or older?"

"All of them look old to me" Barry replied with a laugh.

Amenadiel flexed his arm and stepped back, dragging the man across the counter with a quick tug. "I don't have time for your nonsense" he snarled, slamming his opponent into the seat the angel had just left. "Was she older or younger? Did she mention her name? You will tell me what I need to know or you will find out just how "not a cop" I am."

Barry squirmed, trying to break free. "Look – I didn't recognize her. She had never been here during the night shift before. But the boss might have had history with her. He called her Candice, asked her why she was here then slapped her when she said his kid had been with her husband. They both left about two hours ago – heard him on the phone as he was going out the door to a couple of his compadres from back in the day. Said something about them going with him to Napa. That's all I know man, now let me down!"

Amenadiel took a deep breath, looking around at the customers who were silently watching the little tableau he had just created. The expensive suits were gone, replaced by leather jackets, denim and hard eyes watching his every move. The diner, it seemed, had a different cliental at night – one that might be inclined to create a problem if he continued this conversation. He dropped the younger man on the floor and wiped his hand on his pants. "If Mad Dog calls, tell him Amenadiel was looking for him. I was here with Det. Espinoza – he'll remember us." The angel fished a card from his pocket and tossed it to the man on the floor. "Give him that number. Tell him it's important he contact me. It could be life or death for both he and his daughter." He turned on his heel and strode out of the diner, flexing his wings and soaring off as soon as he reached the shadows.

Inside Barry eyed the card with a frown. "Yeah – like Mad Dog needs anything from some wannabe cop." He rose and tossed the card on the counter, and started cleaning up a nearby table. The diner's customers looked back at their meals with a shrug, losing interest in the events.

On the road to NAPA

Lucifer insisted on driving to the airport, pointing out that Chloe would need to be on her cellphone getting updates from Dan on the other possible suspects and wouldn't be able to concentrate on the road. Chloe suspected it was more because he wanted to use his car and not hers. "Look, its 400+ miles from L.A. to Napa. Bradley could still be in transit. I'll have a BOLO put out on him and with any luck some CHPS officer will pull him over before he gets out of town."

"It's equally possible he and Annalise are already at his little love shack and her gang-banger father is closing in on them as we speak." Lucifer purred happily, taking a turn too sharply for his partner's taste.

"Which is why I'm having the local authorities notified" Chloe replied testily. "They can make the run to the cabin a LOT faster than we can and with any luck keep everyone away from everyone else until we can talk to them."

Lucifer hit the brakes suddenly, stopping his vehicle in the middle of the street. "What if no one is home?" he asked reasonably, ignoring the angry shouts of drivers behind him.

"Lucifer, pull over. There's a parking area to our left. We can have this conversation without using your car to play ping-pong in the middle of an L.A. street."

The Devil shrugged, unconcerned. "If you insist." He stepped on the gas and shot into the parking lot, waving cheerily at a middle aged couple he just managed NOT to run down.

Chloe closed her eyes and took a deep breath before hitting speed dial. "Dan? Any news on our other suspects?"

Dan's voice floating out of the cellphone. "The only one of the three that uniform officers have sight of is Regina Simonton. She's in a hotel bar, having some sort of meeting with possible new owners for the hotel. Candice McIntyre managed to lose the officers watching her and as for Bradley's wife…"

"I'm betting she's at some high priced, very public event setting up an alibi for herself for when her husband and Annalise are found."

Chloe sighed in frustration. "Lucifer and I found Gabe – he hinted that Annalise's father may have known what she was up to with Bradley. If he's right – Bradley might be our killer's next target."

"You know" Lucifer mused, "you still don't know why McIntyre or Milton."

"Yeah – about Milton" Dan called out. "Found something on the deep dive we did on Milton's background check. According someone in the Bunco squad the Milton family has a long history as con artists. Father, mother, grandparents, and cousins – all booked some time or other for major cons. His mother had a long history as a bunco artist. She would pose as a gypsy, make all these terrifying predictions about a person's future and then convince them if they just would burn all that cursed money bad things wouldn't happen to them."

"So how did Milton and his sister end up working for a corporation fat cat like Bradley?" Chloe asked.

"Seems Mom's last con job was literally her last. Her victim had a friend with connections to a major street gang. The gang didn't take kindly to one of their own being played to they made a point of getting the money back. Mom didn't survive the encounter. Milton and his sister were early teens at the time and were put into the foster care system. Seems he had a head for figures and she was artistic. Their foster parents managed to keep them out of the family business long enough to get them into college."

"Well – at least Candice went to college. I suspect she only was there long enough to catch the eye of someone from a good family with money – like our first victim. And her brother, who we know never graduated, used what little he picked up during his brush with college to set up the phony resume he gave his brother-in-law to float past his boss."

"And, of course Candice met Bertha – who would eventually become Mrs. Bradley – which made passing her brother off as some whiz kid easier." Dan's voice was hoarse after all the conversations he had been part of trying to get this interesting, yet utterly useless, information on their possible suspects. "All very nice – if we were investigating a bunko scheme. But none of this explains the murders."

"Detective – that video of McIntyre, Annalise and Gabe in her father's establishment, did you ever find out who shot it?" Lucifer frowned for a moment trying to keep all the players in this little drama straight in his head.

"No" Dan called out. "Mad Dog Gibson didn't seem to understand who or why it had been shot either." A buzzing sound interrupted the conversation. "Hang tight – I've got a call coming in from the locals in NAPA." Silence filed the car as Dan switched to the other line.

"I wonder" Lucifer commented, watching the shadowy figures walk by, strolling from one building to another.

"Wonder what?" Chloe asked.

"If we're making this all too complicated." He turned in his seat for a moment to stare at him. "You're assuming the same person killed both men – but what if Milton killed McIntyre and someone else killed Milton?"

"Why would Milton kill his brother-in-law?

"Because McIntyre found out what Bradley was doing with Annalise and neither Milton nor his wife could convince him to keep his mouth shut. McIntyre appears to have some link to Annalise and if he were to find out his older, more lecherous employer was having a romp with his young, supposedly innocent friend…"

"Maybe McIntyre threatened to ….what? Go to Bradley's wife? Go to Annalise's father?" Chloe stared down at the phone in her hand, her brow wrinkled with thought. "Which ever it was – Milton couldn't let that happen. For whatever reason he was invested in keeping Bradley's secret."

"Perhaps he was working what they call the "long con" on his employer and was afraid his sister's husband would ruin it?"

"That might fit – but then who killed Milton? Gabe? Candice?"

"Or maybe Regina Simonton – who had her own secrets to keep. Secrets that Milton possibly knew and was willing to hold over her head?"

"Talk about making this more complicated" Chloe groused. "All very interesting stories – but without proof that's all they are. And there is still Mad Dog Gibson in play – he might just fit the bill for the killer as any of the others."

Chloe's cell buzzed urgently. "Chloe" Dan called out. "Just got off the phone with Napa police. They found Annalise – alive and well. And they say she's got a story to tell we need to hear."