Back at Lux
"You want me to find this Bradley character?" Maze asked, frowning at her former master. "Why? What do you want him for? And where, exactly, am I supposed to start looking for him? You haven't exactly given me much to go on."
"Start with his company offices. I'm betting while he might not want his wifey to know where he's disappeared to he won't want to be too far from company business. As to what you do with him, well that's really up to you." Lucifer leaned back, making himself comfortable in a booth at his for now empty club. The night crowd would start trickling in soon, making any conversation with his former senior torturer difficult if not impossible. But for now, the only people in the club were the regular staff who knew better than to listen in to their employer's conversations. "Nothing terribly physical or at least nothing that can't be repaired. Unless of course he objects. Then I wouldn't be against you doing what was needed to settle him down." He grinned up at the demon, his eyes lit with flames at memories of some of Maze's former activities.
Maze looked changed from annoyed to quizzical. "Does Chloe know your planning something? Or are you two on the outs again?"
Lucifer waved a hand languidly in the direction of the door. "What the Detective doesn't know won't hurt either of us. Besides – it's not like I'm asking you to kill the sod. Just find him and put him on ice for a while."
"And while I'm hiding this fool somewhere he can't get out of and report me to the police, what will you be doing?"
Lucifer smiled his coldest, most brittle smile. "I'll be calling an Intercession between all interested parties. One of the gentlemen at the precinct was kind enough to find the phone numbers for Mrs. Bradley, Mrs. McIntyre and Ms. Simonton so contacting them for this little meet and greet shouldn't be much of a problem. The ladies, I'm sure, will be quite interested to hear what I have to say. There is little miss Annalise's father Mad Dog Gibson who will be more that glad to find out just how much like him is little princess really is. Amenadiel should be able to find him. And I'm sure Father Kinsley's little former student Gabriel will be willing to show up – if only to see whether his poking the dragon resulted in what he thought would happen – and to see if mommy dearest really did sleep with the Devil."
"In other words – you're just going to stir the shit until something pops up. Just remember, you can be hurt by these talking monkeys. It's not like we're home where you rule and they drool."
Lucifer chuckled. "So long as the Detective stays away from the club during our parley nothing those useless twats can do will be more than annoying. And as to that – when you've caught up with Mr. Bradley do call the precinct and tell them you have a lead on his whereabouts. Don't tell them much – just enough that they will go looking. Make it an anonymous tip. Put some fire into it so that they are inclined to believe your story and follow it."
"And stay out of your hair for a while" Maze finished, shaking her head. "You don't really think that will work, do you?"
"We will see, won't we?"
At Dr. Linda's home.
Linda grabbed the phone on the second ring, hoping the sound didn't wake the baby. "Hello?"
"Doctor how lovely to hear from you" Lucifer's chipper voice floated through the cellphone. "Is my erstwhile brother Amenadiel there?"
"He's out right now but he mentioned he would drop by soon. Is there something you need?"
Lucifer's voice never lost its happy tone. "Yes – would you tell him to pass a message on to a certain Mr. Gibson? He'll know who I'm speaking of. Tell him to have the gentleman in question come to the Cecil hotel tonight at midnight if he wants to know what his little girl has been up to. I'm sure he'll be very pleased with what he'll hear." A click and then silence.
Linda stared down at the phone for a moment, then swiped open her contacts list. "Looks like it's a good thing I bought Amenadiel a cellphone" she muttered as she quickly clicked on the number. "Amenadiel? It's Linda. I just had a call from Lucifer. This doesn't sound good."
At the Cecil, the front desk phone rang for a few moments before being picked up by a new clerk. "Stay on Main hotel, how can I help you?"
"You can start by calling the facility by its proper name – the Cecil" a velvety voice with a British accent replied. "And I'd like to reserve a room for tonight at midnight. A specific room on the fifth floor if you please, and no trying to talk me out of it."
The clerk sighed. "Let me guess – the room that Elisa Lam was in before she died?"
"Fifth floor – and no arguments. I need only for one night and will make it very worth your while."
The clerk looked pensively down at the phone then shrugged. "Okay – whose name will be under? And do you want to pay now or later?"
"The name is Lucifer Morningstar – and I'll pay when I pick up the room key. Which should be in an hour or so. Do make sure it's ready – or you will find that things in the Cecil can be far worse for you than any story you've been told."
The clerk looked down at the now silent phone and speculated on whether he was being punked then thought better of it. "What's it going to hurt?" he mused. "Not like that room gets a lot of use now and if it is just a gag no one will be the wiser but me." He entered the reservation into the system and put the key in the slot, ready in case someone actually did come to retrieve it.
All across town the "ladies" Lucifer had told Maze of were receiving text messages on their phone from an unknown number, inviting them to a meeting at the Cecil to "discuss" their actions concerning the death of Mr. McIntyre, Mr. Milton and whatever their plans were for Mr. Bradley and his foolish lover Annalise. Each message was slightly different, making mention of things about the event that had transpired there aimed at the individual receiving the message. Each women responded by deleting the message to them – then making their way into town towards the Cecil.
Pablo Vergara slumped down in his cab as it whisked him back toward LAX. A hotel room near the airport was expensive but after his last experiences in L.A. he found he preferred to be near access to a quick escape – and nowhere near Skid Row. His cellphone vibrated noisily in his pocket as he watched the world go by.
"Pablo?" a familiar voice whispered from the phone. "Why are you here?"
"Gabriel?" Vergara responded, sitting up sharply. "Where are you, mi amigo?"
"At Ground Zero for all these recent events" the young man's voice explained patiently. "Just waiting to see what will happen next."
"The police will be looking for you" Vergara warned. "They think you may be involved in all this blood."
"Like the web sleuths thought you were involved in the death of that tourist from Canada?" Gabriel replied with a snort. "If they do then they aren't as bright as I thought they were. Maybe the Devil will bring it all together and punish those who have done wrong. Maybe he won't – but it will be entertaining to watch either way." Silence filled the small space as the phone went dead.
Vergara looked at his cell for a moment, calculating what he would do now. He could call the police and talk to the detectives who had interrogated him – but then they would go after Gabriel. And he suspected that despite all his mysterious tones the boy wasn't as deeply involved in the deaths as he was trying to make out that he was. "Maybe the Devil?" Vergara mused. "Who is he talking about?" He tucked the phone back in his pocket and settle back in his seat, hoping silence for once was the best choice of actions.
