He hadn’t. That was because he didn’t have one. Still, she’d asked enough to work that one out already. Troy probably seemed like it wasn’t important to him. Which it wasn’t, not for now. He was the vampire though, so the human was his property. It was a thing that registered as totally real to his mind.
“We’re in the territory of a greater demon. They attract weird things to them. Not just shifters and vamps. I mean… Really, anything odd you can imagine. If there’s a swinger’s club in the area…” He stopped, then smiled. “Well, there are probably six, given that. This area is run by The Technician.”
“What?” The word, a single syllable, was half yelped. “Demons now? Like that thing from years ago, in the dry cleaners?”
Without having to even think hard, it was clear what she meant.
He shook his head, watching the road.
“Not at all. That was a Lesser Demon. Basically, it was a thought form. Like an energy being made up of what people hope and fear? A greater demon is a solid, flesh and blood, thing. Incredibly intelligent, almost impossible to kill, with pretty much every power they decide to have. The Technician is the one that specializes in technological stuff. She’s good, too. I mean, it isn’t just computers and all that. Anything, from any technology, as far as I know. Magical ones too. On the nice side, she isn’t a total pain to deal with. Nice, really, for one of her people.”
There was a sour look, as if she were about to doubt him on the topic. As if he might be paying her back for some of the teasing from earlier. That wasn’t a thing he’d do in that way, but the woman couldn’t know that about him yet.
Rather than act like a pill on the topic, she took a deep, slow breath.
“What’s the bad side then?”
“Straight to the point. Good. The bad side is that she’s still a greater demon. One of the sane ones. Don’t even imagine that you understand what that means to them. I’m not totally certain they always get it, to be honest. You and I are both completely bugnuts to their way of thinking. Even given that supposed sanity, she’d kill either of us if it suited her needs at the moment. If she could, she’d probably take us as her personal slaves, too. Just for the ease of things. The only way out of that, if it happens, is death. At least that you could afford to pay for. It’s either you or the demon, normally with them making sure you aren’t allowed to kill yourself, first thing. The worst that way is the Mistress of Souls. Keeley Thomson. She can just take people at will, wherever they are. Even other greater demons fear her. She used to live in Lincoln here, but moved on to Sparks. Where the Coalition of Nations is? That one isn’t a mistake, since she runs that town now. Also, she’s one of the sane ones. That doesn’t mean she won’t take you without asking, if it suits her at the moment.”
“Damn. This is real?” It was clear that the woman was fighting to understand.
To keep things in her head that wanted to escape. It was a problem for a lot of humans. Even after nearly seven years of Vamps being out to the public, about half of them really didn't think it was real. It wasn’t their fault either. Being smart didn’t fix it either. They had to fight to hold that kind of thing and would scream in fright when you popped your fangs, even after warning them first. Even people that had seen the trick before would do that, sometimes.
“As real as a heart attack and a thousand times deadlier.” That felt a bit mean, but he didn’t take it back. Instead he doubled down on it. “So, if we know what to look for, we’ll probably find a lot of that supernatural kind of thing around here. Plus, Darla is supposed to feed us information, if it comes up. That might or might not happen.”
There was a pause, then a nod.
“Darla? An informant?”
In a way that was true, but there was no need to hide things really.
“Darla Gibson. Before you get confused, she’s also Darlene Gibson, the head of Cortechs. I know that’s big in town here. The main employer and all that. She’s The Technician. She changes shape. All the cool kids can do that though. I need to get back into it, myself. Useful, you know? Anyway, I have a bargain of sorts in place with her. If she comes across anything that we need to know, for supernatural related things that she doesn’t want to take care of, the little stuff that’s beneath her, but annoying, she can call us up on it. If we catch on to something too big for us little fish, she’ll back us up. Maybe. That one is hard to know, to be honest.”
The trick with her kind was that they generally held to their bargains. If you could back up your part of the deal. There was no way for him to know if The Technician would find it more beneficial to go along with him than to take two minutes to destroy him in a fight. Except that he kind of had that answer, inside his head.
A bit of knowledge that simply made sense to him.
As long as she got more out of things than he did, she was probably going to be happy enough with the whole thing. The second that it cost her more than that, she was going to be a problem. The trick then would be in making sure that she never had to do anything that wasn’t going to help her in some way.
There was no swerving to the side of the road, though they were getting close to the first place they needed to stop at. The area was residential and like most of Arizona, at least the bits he’d seen, it was kind of stark to look at. There were some shrubs in places, but not a lot of trees. Not until you got out to the groves. That part was kind of interesting, since it had taken a lot of work for someone to have planted their own forest like that. The ground in the area had hard pan about four feet down. Below that was more or less soil, but you had to drill down first, so that the trees could set their roots in.
Tran smirked. It wasn’t a totally friendly thing to see.
“So, our entire economy rests on the back of a demon? Darlene Gibson has her hands in everything here. I mean that. Hell, I wouldn’t have been able to become a cop if she hadn’t paid for my two-year degree thirty years ago. Min works at Cortechs, for Christ’s sake. Everything links back to her…”
“That’s probably right. At least in this area. On the good side, we can use that. A little. If we’re careful and don’t mess up too much. That’s all of life though. We can’t stop living, or doing our jobs, just because it might be a little dangerous.” He pretended to smile then, as the woman finally did pull over. They settled along the curb, very near the place where they were headed to find the first of the ruffie club.
Not that this was the ring leader or anything.
His last name was Albright, so Mrs. Johansen had given it to them first.
Blowing out air, almost as if doing a steam kettle impersonation, Tran narrowed her eyes. It was fierce and freakishly adorable at the same time. If Troy had still been in possession of a sex drive, he would have considered nailing her. Not that he still couldn’t get the job done. He just didn’t care about it at the moment.
“Fuckity-fuck. This better not get me killed before I retire.”
“I agree. I hate being killed. It always messes me up for… At least several months. Well, let’s get up to the house and see if Albert Albright is home? That… Who would name their kid that? It seems like they’re setting him up for the fail. Is it a thing in the area? I mean, Morgan isn’t a great name, but it’s just a name. Clem though? Albert?” He pretended to be considering it, instead of distracting the human woman.
She probably didn’t buy it but went along with him anyway, as they got out.
“It’s Cortechs being here. We have a lot of nerds in the area, per capita. I bet we meet up with at least one Han Solo in the next six months.”
The house they moved toward was a light tan color. There were rocks in the front yard and not a single weed. It was both stark and tidy at the same time. Whoever lived there wasn’t poor, though it was just a house. The well cared for kind that showed they wanted to impress the neighbors, at least with the fact that they weren’t white trash.
Inside there was only one person at present. Their heart was strong, but calm. Not an athle
te, being a bit too fast for that. From the scent, it was a male. One who was eating something that involved spicy cheese. There was singing, which carried out to him. It was a nice clear tenor. A bit high, but actually decent sounding.
“I think he’s in. That or his brother. Only one person is in the house.” Shrugging, he moved toward the place. The person inside wasn’t planning to attack them or anything. It was clear that he didn't know anyone was there yet.
So, they knocked, Tran doing that part for them.
It took a bit for the brown door to open up, and when it did, the kid that was standing there looked fine. Average enough, really. Skinny, with slightly goofy ears, but nothing so bad that he’d need to drug a girl to get her into bed. In his hands, he had a small plate with corn chips and nacho cheese sauce on it. Enough hot peppers that Troy’s eyes wanted to water at the idea. They didn’t, since he wasn’t capable of that any more. The feeling was there anyway. Left over from when he was alive.
Speaking quickly, he tried to seem professional, without being a jerk about it.
“Albert Albright?”
The kid looked at them. A man in a nice suit. A small woman in slacks and a jacket. What he put together didn’t seem that clear, but it certainly wasn’t that the police had come. Probably a talent agent, wanting to make him a star.
“Yes? What can I help you with today?”
“I’m Officer Lopez, this is Detective Tran. We… Well, not to beat around the bush, but you bought some ruffies from Clem Foley. That kind of indicates that you intend to use them. The standard idea there is knocking a girl out for rape, so… We’re here to stop you.”
It wasn’t the most professional thing in the world to say.
Then, instead of running, or starting to throw down with them, the skinny kid tilted his head.
“Clem Foley said that? Nice of him. It isn’t true or anything, but I suppose you don’t care about things like that? The guy kind of hates me, so it makes sense for him to set me up. I didn’t do that. I don’t have anything like that and never did.” He looked at his plate of chips and sighed. “So, what am I supposed to do about this?”
Troy focused, hard. Using compulsion. The kid locked eyes with him, then held very, very still.
“Just tell the truth.”
There was a dazed quality to the whole thing then, but also a sense of agreement.
“That is the truth. I don’t have them. Desperate as I am, I wouldn’t do that.”
Troy nodded then, and realized that he couldn’t think of much else to ask. Though there were always the generic things. After all, if the kid had to tell the truth, then asking about it wasn’t going to hurt anything.
“Okay. I believe you. Do you have anything else that we might need to know?”
There was another head tilt, then a little head shake.
“No… Or… Well, the art teacher has been sleeping with some of the boys. Only the good-looking ones, which is annoying. Miss Greg is hot. She should be spreading the love around, not just playing favorites. A student teacher, not some old woman. That may not be true though. A lot of guys will say things to make themselves look good.”
“Thanks. We’ll look into it, if it comes up. Thanks for your time. If you could not talk about this at school? We still have other people to look into and want to sneak up on them, if they’re guilty.”
He dropped the compulsion then, which got the kid to start a little. Actually, jumping in place.
“Um… Sure. If Foley wasn’t just lying about everything he told you. The jerk is… well, a jerk. You get the idea.”
The concept of people like that had come up before, to be truthful.
“Thanks for your help, Mr. Albright. Have a good rest of your day.”
They walked off, Tran looking at him funny when they got back in the silver-gray car. The boxy things had really comfortable seats, compared to the squad vehicles.
“You did that mind trick thing again? How could Clem lie to us earlier, didn’t you use that on him then?”
“Sure. I just forgot to remind him to only tell the truth. Just having powers doesn’t mean you always use them right. For one thing, we got the list of names first. I should have compelled him before that. Only, that might not be admissible in court. If you can’t beat a confession out of a person then you probably can’t use mental powers on them to do the same basic thing.”
Instead of being pissed that they had to check a list with possible fake names on it, she winked at him. It showed off the wrinkles at the edge of her right eye.
“Good to know you aren’t perfect, rookie. So, we hit the next one?”
That took about an hour and turned up an actual set of pills. Real ruffies that fat little Kevin had gotten. On the good side, he handed them right over and promised not to do that kind of thing ever again. He really didn’t want to go to prison, as it turned out. There was enough begging and crying that even Tran was convinced on that score.
Troy compelled him toward better behavior and eating habits as well as a new love of exercise. After all, the boy was, like all young men, filled to the brim with hormones telling him that he needed to get laid. Right then. Or else.
Being even a little heavy meant that no girls were willing to give him even the time of day. Sometimes in a literal fashion. Helping him out there would, at least possibly, prevent him from becoming a giant creep in order to get at the sex he wouldn’t be getting otherwise.
On the last of the ruffie boys, they found the real problem.
This kid was different than the others. Scott Morse was large, but it was all muscle. He was lean and hard looking, but also held an arrogance that the other kids really hadn’t when faced with the police.
“So? People say a lot of shit. Do I look like I need to knock women out to get with them?” He was a bit smug, and the words were essentially correct. He didn’t look like that at all.
He was also, clearly, a psychopath. Thankfully that didn’t prevent him from being compelled or anything. At least Troy could do that kind of thing. Some mental disorders would allow people to lie to you, if they were delusional enough. A person with a very strong mind, a monk for instance, or person skilled in meditation, they might resist you, if you were weak.
Psychopaths were actually easy that way. They were aggressive, but didn’t think that anyone else would be powerful enough to stop or control them. It wasn’t the case, thankfully.
Catching his eye, Troy focused. Hard enough that Tran stared at him, instead of the captured teen boy in front of them. He was in jeans and a tight shirt that strained over his chest.
“Did you buy those ruffies, Kevin?” He managed to sound old and wise, as if the whole idea didn't concern him at all.
“Yeah. I used them, too. They worked like a fucking charm. I put one in her coffee. Just one, right in last period. Then I followed her home. She nearly didn’t make it. But she did. Then I… Well, I have video.”
“Oh? We’d love to see it, if you don’t mind?”
It was pretty tame, other than the fact that the blonde in the picture was unconscious. Older than Troy would have guessed, but only a bit.
Tran got the obvious first, tapping at the computer screen of Scott’s computer. It was the one in the living room, but his parents didn’t seem to mind them using it too much. Probably because they were in shock over what the kid was doing.
Denise looked mildly disapproving.
“Miss Greg?”
The boy nodded, still compelled to tell them the truth.
“Yeah. The bitch had it coming.”
Why that was, Troy didn’t know, but the words sounded sincere, for some reason.
Chapter four
It was interesting, since finding rape victims and collecting data for the crime wasn’t in their wheelhouse either. Not unless it had to do with something supernatural. The Chief seemed tense when he mentioned that part, even though he was clearly pleased that they’d already managed to get inside with the CoN. The Coaliti
on of Nations was the center of supernatural unity, after all. What there was of it.
“That was faster than I figured you’d be by a good bit. We need to pass the case off now to our victim’s unit. Unless there was something more to this one?” He knew about Morgan, so Troy got that the man wasn’t trying to suggest they use that part to keep the case.
Tran shook her head.
“Not so far. It seems pretty straight forward. Psycho boy bought some pills and gave them to hot teacher, then raped her seven ways to heaven. We got video, so it’s pretty solid. A confession too, unless he recanted?” She was asking the man across the desk, who shook his head.
“Not that I’ve heard so far. Then, he did lawyer up almost instantly. You used compulsion on him, so that might affect the case. Not much, I bet. Our people are pretty solid that the video will hold up. The compulsion might, too. It’s legal, just not a thing that anyone has ever considered before. Not coming from law enforcement. Now, you two are… Officially off shift. See you in the morning? Go and do something fun or whatever floats your boat.” There was a wave toward the door, but the man wasn’t climbing up to get himself out of the office, Troy noticed.
It wasn’t his business. Then, he was kind of used to putting in longer hours than they were that day. The truth was that they didn’t need to as far as the current case went. He just didn't have anything to do that night. There was some fresh cows blood in the fridge in his tiny apartment. That and a game console, so he could keep himself busy enough.
It wasn’t exactly a thrilling evening though, as far as plans went. They had a club in town, but going to something like that was asking for a mistake to be made. He didn’t want to get his jollies with any women, or men, so the only thing that left was either getting into a fight or drinking someone’s blood. That last one was actually illegal. Not by human law, but by the vampires’ rules.
Breaking it, or at least doing too much of it, could have dire consequences. Normally it led to death, or at least a heavy fine. So, the prudent young vamp didn’t put temptation into his own path. That meant a boring night alone.
Troy Ounce (Lopez Time Book 1) Page 5
