by Rose Pressey
“You have some nerve questioning my concern for my friend?”
Cole shrugged, but didn’t respond. Instead, he asked, “Do you have any more information about Mr. Allen?”
“I have some information. Why do you ask?”
He cleared his throat and glanced from Jack to me. “I need to speak with him as well. Do you have his address?”
“What?” I scrunched my brow in confusion.
Jack stood up, but I put my arm in front of him to stop him from kicking the guy out. As crazy as he seemed, I needed to hear what he had to say about Jennifer. “Why do you not know where he lives if you work with him, and furthermore, why should I give this to you? It’s confidential information and I can’t let you see that.”
“Do you want to find your friend or not? I guess I can forget about this and let you figure it out on your own.” He relaxed his posture and leaned back in the chair.
“Of course I want to find her, but I can’t let you see that information.” Irritation spiked along my nerves.
He let out a deep breath and ran his hand through his hair. “Then you have to help me find her some other way because I have to find her.”
I’d call his bluff. I studied him, then said, “I don’t know if this will help you, but he said he lived close by.”
“If you really want to find your friend, then look up his address,” he said in a stern voice.
“You have to tell me why you need the address and why you have to find her?” I crossed my arms in front of my chest.
“Rylie, I don’t think we need to talk with Mr. Palmer any longer.” Jack stood.
I didn’t answer Jack, but continued staring at Cole, waiting for his answer.
Finally, Cole said, “She’s with a demon and she now has many people who want to hunt and kill her.”
My heart jerked in a crazy rhythm. Exactly what I didn’t want to hear. My worst fear for her had been confirmed. “What? That’s crazy.”
Jack was still listening to our conversation, shaking his head. I was sure he was wondering how things had gotten weirder than they already were. But somehow things had gotten much stranger and now I didn’t know what to do.
“So you say Jennifer was acting strange before this date?”
I nodded.
“Hmm. That is odd. Nevertheless, I have to know why and how this fight happened when she was with Neil.”
“How do I know you are who you say you are?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.
“I have a driver’s license and a business card. You can look up any information you want about me.” He pulled his wallet from his back pocket.
Before we finished the conversation about Neil and Jennifer, Quinton appeared in the doorway. He was the vampire I had met just weeks ago and he was helping Jack become accustomed to the vampire lifestyle. He wore ripped jeans and a white shirt with the sleeves rolled halfway up his forearms. With green eyes and a strong jaw, he was good-looking. Well, if you liked the cocky vampire type.
Quinton had that usual smirk on his face, the same sly smile I’d seen many times, as if he’d interrupted the three of us having sex or something.
“What’s going in here?” he asked as he leaned against the door frame, folding his arms in front of his chest.
He must have noticed the tension in the air.
“Hi, Quinton.” I threw my hand up in a half-hearted wave.
“Are you ready?” He looked at Jack.
Jack nodded. Quinton’s somewhat pleasant tone with Jack was surprising. Since when did they become good friends? It wasn’t long ago they couldn’t stand each other.
“Rylie, can I talk to you for a moment?” Jack gestured with his head toward his office.
I looked at Cole, and then at Quinton. “If you’ll excuse me for just a moment, please.”
“No problem. Go ahead.” A smile played at Quinton’s lips.
Cole nodded.
When we reached the door to Jack’s office, he whispered, “I don’t trust a guy who just flashes some fake business card and claims to be looking for your friend who is in serious danger. Where did he come from?”
“I don’t know. He just showed up looking for Jennifer.”
This was getting so strange. I kept saying the same thing. These men had just shown up out of the blue? No way.
“I don’t want to leave you alone with him now.” Emotion showed in his electric blue eyes.
“I’ll be fine.” I took his hand in mine.
“Do you want me to get rid of him?” He wrapped both his hands around mine.
“That won’t be necessary. I can handle it.” I paused, searching his eyes. “Where are you going with Quinton?”
He shrugged. “It’s some vampire meeting. I don’t want to go.”
“I know you don’t, but it's best if you do. It's part of your life now and I think you should try to make the most of it.”
“I know you’re right. I’ll go, but I still don't feel comfortable leaving you alone. There’s no telling what kind of lunatic this guy is.”
Well, he had a point. I did tend to attract the lunatics. Had Lily placed a sign out front advertising an insane asylum? “You go and do what you have to do. I’ll be fine.”
“I’ll go if you promise to get rid of that guy, Cole, or whatever his name is.” He gestured toward my office with a tilt of his head.
“Okay, I’ll get rid of him. If I find Jennifer, everything will be fine.”
“I can stay here if you need me to help find her.” He took my face in his hands.
“She’ll show up in a couple hours and everything will be fine.” I met his gaze.
He grinned and touched my chin with his finger. “Okay, if you’re sure.”
I nodded. “I’m positive. Now don’t let Quinton do anything too crazy. He tends to find trouble.” I was one to talk.
“Yeah, that’s what I’m afraid of.” He rolled his eyes.
Jack pressed his body against mine as he gave me a kiss goodbye. I didn’t want to see him go, but I know he had to do this. When I stepped back to my office, Quinton was standing in the foyer with a sly smile on his face. What had he done to Cole Palmer? I watched Quinton and Jack as they moved out the door. When the door closed, I stepped back in my office and looked at my guest. He was still sitting in the chair in my office. At least Quinton hadn’t killed him. What did this guy really want?
“Where are your bodyguards?” he asked.
I narrowed my gaze. “I don’t need bodyguards.”
He gave a condescending smile.
I moved back to my desk. “I’m not sure where we go from here. You can’t tell me who this so-called demon is or anything about him? Why don’t you know these things if you are a demon hunter?”
“I hunt them. If I knew everything about them, it would make my job pretty darn easy and let me tell you, it isn’t easy,” he said in an even tone.
“So what can I do?” My stomach churned.
“You know where Neil lives, so take me to him.” He looked me up and down.
I couldn’t actually give him the address, but I had the address, and I could go there. If Cole happened to follow me, well, it wouldn’t be my fault. After all, I was looking for Jennifer and I needed to find her. I had to find her. I had to go with this guy even though I didn't know him. I knew Jack wouldn’t want me to, and I’d told him I’d get rid of him, but I could hold my own. I was a werewolf, for heaven’s sake. I could take care of myself.
“Okay, I’ll take you to find Neil, but on the way, you’ll tell me all about this demonic possession kind of stuff and exactly why you have to find Jennifer. I have to know what you think is wrong with her. Who is this demon she’s with?”
He nodded with a smile. “It’s a deal.”
Why did I feel as if he had his fingers crossed behind his back?
I grabbed the file and looked at the address while I knew Cole was watching me. His smell still lingered in the air and smelled so good. I turned to him. “Okay, I�
��m ready. Let’s go.” I grabbed my purse. “We can walk,” I said.
What if Neil had given me the wrong address? All I’d done was confirm that it was a real address, not that he actually lived there. Maybe I wasn’t so good at my job after all. I’d set my Jennifer up with a freak. What a thoughtful friend I was.
We made our way out the door and onto the sidewalk. The smell of café au lait wafted out from a café and tickled my nostrils as we hurried past. A river of changing faces passed us, but none of them were Jennifer.
Luckily, Neil’s address was only a couple blocks down the street. As we rushed by the old buildings and tourists, I didn’t know what to say to Cole. The silence was awkward, hanging in the air like a low dark cloud.
Chapter Ten
How to Date a Demon, Rule #10
The devil really is in the details.
As we hurried down the sidewalk toward the address, I couldn’t help but think about a million different things. Where was Jennifer and was she okay? Who was this guy that I was taking to the address of a client?
If he worked with Neil and had been following him, then why didn’t he know where Neil lived already? That was completely weird. Beyond all those questions, where was Jack going with Quinton? I knew he’d said there was a vampire meeting, but could I really trust Quinton? They didn’t even know each other all that well. And they’d shown more than a little contempt for each other.
And another question, what would Neil do when we showed up at his door? Lastly, why was Lily following not so subtly a mere hundred feet behind us? I chose to ignore her as usual.
“While we walk, why don’t you share with me how you know about what happened to Jennifer last night?” It was more of a demand than a question.
“Like I said, this was Neil’s case, but as you can see, he doesn’t know what he’s doing. He was required to file an incident report,” Cole said matter-of-factly.
“Okay, then how did Neil know this demon attacked Jennifer?”
“It was pretty obvious to a demon hunter. Even if that demon hunter sucks at his job.”
“But that still doesn’t tell me how you know Jennifer was attacked. Did some magical misty soul slip into her body? How does this process work?”
“It’s too complicated to go into right now. But there was a sighting of her today with the demon.”
“You what? When did this happen? Why are you just now telling me?” I demanded.
“It didn’t seem relevant to the conversation. Look, we knew your friend isn’t a demon, so don’t think we are trying to hunt her.”
“Well, I hadn’t thought of that, but thank you for putting another fear into my already overcrowded head. You don’t know what the demon wants with her?”
“That’s what we want to find out. It’s part of our job as the demon-hunting task force.”
“Well, your task force isn’t very good at their job. Maybe you all should consider a career change.”
We reached the address that Neil had listed. I made a mental note to confirm that clients provided their correct addresses in the future. How did I even know he was who he said he was? He could have lived in some dungeon for all I knew. Although that was why I never allowed my clients to meet anyone unless it was in a very public place.
His home looked nice enough though. It was red brick and looked to have been built in the 1700s. Yellow chrysanthemums were nestled in containers sitting close by the front door. There must have been a female around somewhere. The steps were clean and tidy too, as if the dirt had been freshly swept away. Maybe he had a mother or sister who came around often.
Cole pounded on the door.
“Is it really necessary to use that much force?” I asked.
Cole looked me up and down, but didn’t answer. I shifted my feet and pulled my attention back to the front door.
Neil finally answered and, quite frankly, looked a little stunned to see me standing there and even more stunned to see Cole with me. So they did know each other. Dark circles ringed his eyes and he wore a wrinkled T-shirt and jeans. It looked as if he’d had a tough night.
“Neil, I hope you don’t mind that I just dropped by. I brought a friend.” I gestured with a tilt of my head toward Cole. “I think you know each other.”
Cole and Neil glared at each other.
“Anyway, I just need to ask a few questions, if you don’t mind.” I gave him a look that said I didn’t care if he did mind. I was in no mood to play around.
Neil shifted his gaze from Cole to me.
“What’s the matter, cat got your tongue?” Cole stepped forward, placing his foot in the threshold.
If he didn’t say something soon, this werewolf would have his tongue. I was losing my patience with both of them.
“Aren’t you going to invite us in?” Cole asked with a little too much glee.
Neil stared right over me and met Cole’s gaze again. Their eyes were locked on each other. Talk about bad blood. What was going on with them? Would they fight right there? I hated to waste my time breaking up a fight between the two nutcases. And I probably wouldn’t waste my time with them either. I’d just let them kill each other. Although I guessed Cole could be my key to finding Jennifer. I supposed I’d have to save his ass. Neil stepped to the side and allowed us to enter.
“If you two could quit glaring at each other, then we can get this show on the road. I don’t have all day to stand here while you all play this macho game.”
We stepped inside his apartment. The walls were white, void of color, but the windows let in plenty of light. A blue sofa sat against the far wall with a matching chair beside it. A gigantic television took up the wall directly across from the sofa. Everything appeared clean except for the stacks of files on the floor by the window. More files covered the dining room table. Apparently organization wasn’t one of his strong traits.
“You want to tell me what went on last night?” Cole asked.
Neil ran his hand through his dark hair. “I guess it got a little out of hand, man, I mean, I know I didn’t do my job. But I was overwhelmed. There was two of them and one of me.”
“You’ve been trained for that. Look, it’s not my place to talk about disciplinary action. I’m just here to find the girl.”
What a couple of bumbling fools. Neither one of them knew what the hell they were doing.
“Do you know the demons?” Cole asked.
Neil looked at me bleakly. “They hang out with the one of the worst groups, the Lideats.”
Cole nodded, and his expression turned even grimmer.
“What does that mean for Jennifer?” I asked.
Neil looked out the window. I wasn’t about to let him get away with not answering. I had a right to know.
“Well, if you won’t answer that, then at least you can tell me if you know where to find the demons that you were fighting.” I fought back angry tears.
That was kind of an important question. If he could tell us that, then we could go to Jennifer. I watched him expectantly, waiting for his answer.
“Yeah, no, I can’t tell you.” He shifted in his seat and focused his attention to the window again.
I frowned. This guy hadn’t seemed so stupid when he’d come in looking for a date, why was he acting like a moron now?
“You don’t know where the demons are?” I asked again.
He didn’t speak for a moment, then he said, “I don’t know their current location, what can I say?”
“You can say you know where they are, that’s what you can say,” I said through gritted teeth.
“Did the agency send you to find them?” Cole asked.
“No, the demons found me apparently,” Neil said.
“Why didn’t you tell me who you were before I fixed you up with my friend?” I nervously tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.
He shook his head. “You didn’t ask.”
“That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have told me. It’s kind of an important detail to leave out,
don’t you think? You knew that you’d be putting her life in danger.” I swallowed the lump of sadness in my throat.
“She was already in danger,” Neil said.
Cole and I exchanged a glance.
“What do you mean?” Cole asked.
“I knew by the way she was acting that one had already gotten to her. I needed you to fix me up with your possessed friend. You made it easier than I thought it would be. I thought I might have to go on several dates with other women before I got to her.” He leaned back in his chair.
“Yeah, you know what?” I asked sarcastically.
“What?” he responded inquisitively.
“I should kick your butt right now, that’s what. You obviously tricked me. You could have told me before the date.”
“I didn’t know how you’d react to my demon hunting and what I had to say about her. Damn.” He ran his hand through his hair. “I didn’t know until I saw her. Plus, having a date seemed like the better thing to do.” He smiled as if proud of his stupid comment.
I wanted to strangle him right there. “Clearly, you were wrong about that. I’ll see to it that you lose your job.” I leaned forward and glared at him.
“I’m going to need your files on this case,” Cole said.
Neil looked down. “Yeah, I can’t find my files. I misplaced them.”
“So you have no information to give me?” Venom laced his words.
He shook his head. “No, I don’t.”
Cole eye’s narrowed and his jaw tightened.
I threw my hands up in disgust. “Well, this is a big waste of time. Is this how you conduct all your business transactions?”
Cole flared his nostrils. Was he mad at Neil for messing up or mad at me for calling them out on their ineptness? Or both?
Movement caught my attention and I looked toward the window. I spotted Jennifer walk past. “What the hell? She just went by the window,” I yelled as I jumped up from my seat.
Neil and Cole jumped up and rushed after me, but I was already outside on the sidewalk, dashing to my right and looking for Jennifer. I knew I’d seen her, but what was she doing? Had she been looking for me? Maybe she’d come to her senses. A girl could dream, right? Maybe she had been looking for Neil? But why? Although she had wanted him to join her in the bedroom last night. Ugh. What a mess.
