To refresh your mind: In this AU Delilah was never murdered. Chloe and Lucifer first met at the Gillian Taylor case.
In chapter five of this story a criminal shot Chloe, Lucifer protected her with his wings: that is how Chloe, Ella and Trixie found out Lucifer really is the devil. All three ladies took that reveal well.
Lucifer realized Chloe is something special: immune to his powers and his dad listened to her prayer. Chloe prefers to think that last fact was just coincidence.
Dan found out in chapter nine and Chloe asked Lucifer how he could ignore his dad's orders if he didn't have free will.
They are dating, first date was a visit toNorway to see the northern lights. They do sleep together.They realized God listened to more prayers of Chloe. Lucifer wanted to know why dad listens to her… so dad showed up and explained. At the time of the Big Bang he gave the cosmological constant a wrong value, he needs help to warn himself and change that value. He tells them Chloe and Lucifer together will give that help without realizing.
Running case: A lawyer is murdered. Raziel and some more sisters came to Earth to help but first to see Chloe. During the case they meet Adrianna Nassar.
Chapter fourteen:Chloe is drinking
"You're sure?" Chloe asked Raziel as soon as they were sitting in her car again.
"Absolutely," the angel answered. "Adriana will not tell anyone. Not about our visit, not about me."
"And she didn't ask my name," Lucifer added.
"She didn't even realized you are my brother," Raziel said from the back seat. "You called me sister, but she was too much shocked, she didn't really notice."
Lucifer grinned and turned to Chloe. "We are going to confront mr Steiner?"
Chloe shook her head. "Andy Bovel must have his calculations on paper or in a computer file. I first want to have those. Ella didn't look for something like that, but I will ask her first thing tomorrow morning. For now I call it a day. We head to the Lux to see your sisters."
In the Lux they were told Maze and all the other women had went up to the penthouse, so they expected to see five women when the elevator door opened. They did see eight.
Linda was on the couch with Zuriel and Anael, Maze at the bar with Saraquel and Jehudiel, and Ella speaking with a woman in one of the chairs, close together. Chloe had never seen the woman: heavy pair of glasses, dark hair in a bob cut, slightly Asian looking face.
A fair number of empty glasses was standing already around and Maze was mixing cocktails while talking with the two angels. All but Ella and the unknown woman turned their face to the elevator when Chloe and her companions stepped out.
"We have to hurry, detective," Lucifer said looking at the drinks. "They are a few round ahead of us already. And how come miss Lopez and the doctor are here? And Azrael?"
Azrael sounded as the name of an angel, so the woman sitting with Ella was also one of Lucifer's sisters, Chloe concluded.
"Maze called me for support," Linda explained. "And I called Ella for more support, so we were with three when you sisters came in."
"Came in… Here in the penthouse?" Lucifer asked.
"No. We started in the Lux," Linda said. "And Maze was a bit nervous."
"I was not a bit nervous," Maze reacted. "I was…" She stopped talking when Saraquel hugged her.
"You were very nervous, Maze," the angel said. "And you had a knife ready in the hand you kept hidden under the bar."
"Ok," Maze grumbled and shrugged. "But she…" Maze pointed at Anael on the couch. "… came in arms spread and shouting she would finally kiss a demon."
"That did it two ways," Linda said. "It calmed down Maze, but it also draw the attention of some patrons, so we decided to move to here, the penthouse."
"I see," Lucifer said.
"But Azrael," Raziel said. "Hi, sister. Why did you come?"
"When Maze introduced us, I recognized Ella's name," Jehudiel explained. "Azrael had told me about the human girl she befriended."
"Befriended?" both Chloe and Lucifer echoed.
They got a drink from Maze and the story from Ella and Azrael how Ella was once involved in a car accident and how Azrael came close, too close, to the almost dying young girl. "… but I didn't dare to tell Ella I was the angel of Death, I thought it would frighten her."
"But she explained and I understand," Ella said, kissing Azrael's cheek.
Some hours later Maze was teaching Raziel to mix cocktails and the others had to drink the results of that teaching, both Maze' originals and Raziel's attempts.
Chloe emptied Raziel's Mojito and thought the angel was doing well, well enough for a human's taste. She watched Maze putting two bottle's on the bar. "Next," Maze said to Raziel. "Tequila, a Mexican beverage. Margarita and Tequila Sunrise are the most common cocktails based on Tequila, so we start with those."
Chloe frowned. Since she and Lucifer arrived in the penthouse, she had had one cocktail before Maze started to instruct Raziel and then three rounds during the training, one based on vodka, one on whiskey and one on cognac. And each round had been two drink, first from Maze, then the same from Raziel. Seven drinks in a few hours. She should be drunk, at least almost drunk. At least tipsy.
Ella was hanging onto Azrael, giggling and with eyes that didn't focus on anything. Linda had closed her eyes and seemed to doze off. Lucifer, Maze and the five angels showed no signs of the effect of the alcohol, as expected given their celestial metabolism.
But she herself… she should feel that much alcohol, being a bit dizzy. She shook her head. No, she should have been that dizzy four cocktails ago. She accepted a Tequila Sunrise from Maze and downed it in one huge gulp. She carefully payed attention, keeping an eye on her watch. Within a minute she felt someone weakening in her knees, some lightness in her head. But both feelings faded, within less than three minutes all was gone. She accepted the Sunrise made by Raziel and repeated the experiment. Same results.
"What is it?" Lucifer asked. "Do you need to be home at a certain time?"
"No. No. Trix is with Dan. It is just… You can't get drunk?"
"Almost impossible," Lucifer answered. Raziel and Maze both looked at them.
"How does that work? You feel a bit effect of the drink for a few minutes?"
He shook his head. "Not at all. Celestial metabolism clears the alcohol almost immediately. Only a few seconds after it enters my blood, it's all gone."
"Not minutes?"
Lucifer frowned. "No. Why do you ask?"
She raised the empty glass. "My ninth cocktail in two hours and I haven't eaten."
He looked at her. His eyes went to Ella, to Linda and back to her. "How…"
"I don't know."
"Another one of your strange powers?" Raziel mused.
"No, it had never been," Chloe objected. "Two months ago I had to attend one of those horrible parties my mother gives. I took maybe three or four wine to manage the stress and I felt already drowsy. In the past the few times I took as much as tonight, I passed out."
"You and Lucifer slept together," Raziel said. "Maybe that influenced something?"
"He and Linda also slept together," Maze objected. "A year ago for a few weeks, but look." She nodded at Linda who was hanging in a chair with her eyes almost closed.
Frowning Lucifer scratched his cheek. "My dad kissed and hugged you, can that have an effect?"
"He did the same with Ella," Chloe said while looking at her colleague who was giggling and trying to raise from the sofa, but each time fall back.
Chloe tried one more shot, straight tequila, with the identical results as the earlier cocktails. "I don't take any alcohol anymore," she decided.
"Why not?" Lucifer asked with a grin. "Seems you can drink as much as I."
She shook her head. "Not until I understand what's happening."
Next morning Ella arrived late in the precinct. She came to Chloe's desk with a aching look and an energy drink in her hand.
"You do drink that?" Lucifer asked.
"I have to survive, buddy," she managed to say. "You don't do hangovers, but I do." Ella looked at Chloe. "Where is you're hangover?"
"I don't know." Chloe was not certain whether she wanted to explain to Ella, but the girl already switched subject. "Ray-Ray flew me home… She told me, for I don't remember anything of it. It's not fair. She has been drinking more than me and just as the two of you, she has not the slightest headache. How did Linda go home?"
"She slept in a guest room and went home this morning with an uber, looking as bad as you."
"Glad," Ella murmured. "And the angels?"
"At three Maze and Raziel went down to the Lux to do more cocktail mixing, Azrael took you home and the other three went back to Silver City," Lucifer answered.
Ella sighed. "I would to go back to bed."
"Oh, no," Chloe said with a grin. "I need your help on the case. Have you already looked in Andy Bovel's phone and laptop?"
"Both are too much damaged by the explosion," Ella said. "But I found two external SSD drives in his apartment and it looks like he made daily backups."
"I'm looking for a recent spreadsheet." Chloe started to explain what kind of spreadsheet and within a minute Ella raised her hand.
"Seen something like that. Didn't realize it was related to the murder. Hang on." Ella went to the lab and returned with her laptop and a drive hanging on to it with a usb cable. She opened some folders and then a document. "This?"
It showed columns, most of them with numbers, first names were above five of the columns: Troy, Donald, Vernon, Nancy and Andy. "The partners," Chloe said. The next row showed numbers below these names: one time 4.500.000 and four times 1.500.000. She pointed at the numbers. "The seed money brought in by each of them."
Ella scrolled down the list, codes, dates, numbers. The last line had the most recent date and showed five different numbers. "They add up to almost 43 million," Ella said.
"The final number in the Troy column is 5 million and almost 17 million for Andy himself," Chloe said. "What is all that between the last and the first row?"
"I think cases this LA's Five firm handled," Lucifer said. He pointed at one. "That code indicates the case, when, Nancy and Vernon dealt with it. Nancy added that much value to the firm with this one, Vernon much less."
Chloe nodded. "If Andy was going to show this to the partners, Steiner would get much less than the 14 million he hopes to get. And according to Adriana, Andy already informed Steiner."
"Just a moment," Ella said. "The backup Andy made includes his mail. I looked for angry mails of customers, found nothing. Let me check Steiner." Chloe and Lucifer watched while Ella searched. "Andy did send this file to Steiner sixteen days ago, saying he would explain verbally." Ella turned her laptop to Chloe, so she could read the mail herself.
Chloe arranged a search warrant before visiting Steiner. Lucifer's mojo made him spill a confession and in his phone they found the communication with the hitman he hired; a client he represented once in murder case.
At five Dan came to her desk. "You have Trixie."
"I know Dan. Julia has picked her up and I app-ed already with both Trix and Julia. Just finishing this one form and I'm off."
He looked around. "Where is Lucifer?"
"Making a trip to hell."
"What?"
"He is the devil, Dan, doing his job. He did go down, will stay a few days to discuss issues with demons. Four days in hell is only ten minutes here on Earth, so I expect him back any moment."
Dan shivered. "How can you say that as if it is just normal?"
Chloe grinned. "It is. It's my boyfriend's second job… or first job. There he is." She noticed Lucifer leaving the elevator and coming to them.
"Hi, Daniel. Hello, detective. Are we ready to face the urchin?"
"Almost, Lucifer. Any problems?"
"Just Gaudium and Rymane angry, claiming the other one made a mess of organizing the newest hive."
"Hive?" Dan asked. "You have bees in hell?"
Lucifer grinned. "No, Daniel. A hive we call a group of a few million cells around some central facilities. Cells with souls in them. With a hundred thousand new souls coming in each day we need new hives regularly." He looked at Chloe again. "And without Maze with me, I had to deal with it myself. But all done, detective."
"No Maze? She did't go with you?"
Lucifer rolled his eyes. "She said she had no time. She preferred to go shopping with Raziel this afternoon above torturing some souls."
"Really? Raziel didn't go back to Silver City?"
"No." Lucifer shook his head. "Apparently she and Maze spent the day together."
Next morning Chloe called Ben Bovel, or Lyles, to ask if she could come over to brief him on his father's murder.
"You don't mind if I invite Adriana?" Ben asked on the phone. "Yesterday evening she was upset also."
"No problem," Chloe told him. "Around ten?"
"That's fine, detective Decker."
At ten o'clock Lucifer parked the Corvette in front of Ben's apartment. At the same time another car parked in the spot next to them and Chloe recognized Adriana stepping out.
"Hi, detective Decker," she said. Her eyes flashed left and right. "Without Raziel?" Adriana gave a shy smile. "Apologies. I'm honored I could meet an angel once. I… Well, her brother is your boyfriend, so you will see angels more often. Sorry, I'm blabbering. I'm just still confused angels really exist, but of course it's not likely I will meet one again." Adriana took a deep breath. "Sorry, again." She looked at Lucifer. "I don't remember your partner's name, sorry."
Lucifer made a small bow, stretched out his hand and while holding Adriana's hand, he said: "No need to say sorry that often, Adriana. The detective didn't introduce me yesterday. My name is Lucifer Morningstar, but say Lucifer. And I'm not only the detective's partner with the LAPD, but also her boyfriend."
Adriana turned pale and started shaking. "Lucifer? You are…"
"The devil. That's me. And if it helps, I'm not after your soul, neither after Myrthe's soul or Ben's."
"Lucifer," Chloe said, taking Adriana's hand out of his hand. "Just step back for a second and keep quiet, please." She embraced Adriana.
"He is the devil," the woman whispered.
"He was yesterday also and Raziel told you no one was going to harm you. She told you to trust me."
Adriana slowly nodded. "She said. She is an angel. I thought her brother…"
"Is biologically an angel
"You're safe. Nothing bad is going to happen," Chloe whispered in Adriana's ear.
It took minutes before she felt the woman relaxing. "Really. But I never expected… Good. Why…"
"Why we are here? To tell Ben about his father's murder."
"You found the murderer?" Adriana asked. She avoided looking at Lucifer "Was it one of the other lawyers?"
"Yes. We go inside and tell Ben," Chloe said.
Myrthe opened the door and let them in. In the living room Ben was on the phone. "… but there are camera's on all windows and doors…. Does anyone know whether that window was open… I can't remember anyone…" Apparently he was interrupted by the person on the other side of the call. Ben was shaking is head and waving his free hand while listening. "Sorry, I have visitors. I call you back."
"Excuse me," Ben said. "There is a problem in the Temple, but you come for my father. Did you find his murderer already?"
"Yes," Chloe answered. "One of the partners of your father's firm, Troy Steiner."
"The one that wanted to withdraw from LA's Five?" Ben asked.
Chloe nodded and explained about the calculation Andy Bovel had made and how that was lowering Steiner's claim with almost ten million.
"So it was all about money," Ben concluded. He shook his head, staring at the floor in front of him. "Another example of how wealth is never enough and people do everything to get more. O, dad. Why did you always want more?"
"Well," Lucifer said. "It is was Steiner who killed someone for money, not your father."
"That is true." Ben sighed and frowned. "Another man that worship money. I hope to never get any."
All the time Adriana had just listened and still seemed to nervous, especially now Lucifer was talking.
"How many children does your father have?" Lucifer asked.
"What? Just me. Why?"
"You're his heir. All his millions are yours."
Ben opened his eyes wide. "I will refuse the inheritance."
"Wouldn't it be better to accept it and choose some charities you want to support?"
"We can use some for the statute," Myrthe interrupted them.
"Yes." Ben turned her. "Yes. Of course."
"What statute?" Chloe asked.
"The statute of the archangel Raziel," Ben explained. "That was why I was on the phone just a moment ago. The devil has destroyed it."
Lucifer blinked his eyes. "Why would…"
Chloe grabbed his arm and interrupted: "What exactly happened?"
"It fall to pieces. A few brothers and sisters were in the hall, but no one can tell me what happened. The wings just dropped off, the head burst into dust. If you forgive us," Ben said. "We need to go to see what exactly happened."
"They could use some of the money to buy a new car also," Lucifer said when Chloe, he and Adriana were outside again and had watch Ben and Myrthe driving off to their temple in a car that might or might not fall apart during the ride.
Finally Adriana looked at Lucifer. "Did you destroy the statute?"
"Adriana, why would I? I haven't give that statute a single thought today."
"I think someone else did it," Chloe said with a big smile.
"Raziel?" Adriana whispered.