“Aw, what a sweet gesture,” Piers murmured. “The perfect gift: a visit from Lucifer. What more could a girl want from her daddy?”
The light twinkled on the black jewel, revealing glints of crimson in the dark depths, and Asmodai had a moment of foreboding. He hoped he was telling the truth and his old mate Lucifer wouldn’t ask for anything he didn’t want to give, because things could get downright nasty.
His new partner was staring at the sigil an expression of horror on his face as though it came from the devil himself—which of course it had.
The meeting was obviously over. He pulled on his shirt and buckled on the holster, while the others wandered from the room leaving him with Ryan. He threw himself down on the black leather sofa and rested his arms along the back. “Actually, now that we’re alone, I have a message for you.”
“You do?” Ryan sounded wary.
“There’s a Detective Faith Connelly in reception.”
“There is? Shit.”
“Well, she was there as I came in, and she didn’t look like she was about to leave without seeing you.”
Ryan ran a hand through his hair, tugging at the ends. Releasing a sigh, he picked up the phone on the desk. “Graham? Is Detective Connelly still there? Let me talk to her.” He tapped his fingers on the desk as he waited. “Faith, how are you?”
He listened while she spoke.
“She’s here with you now? That’s unfortunate because Roz isn’t around. I’m not sure who told you I was working with her, but—”
Obviously, she cut him off. Ryan gave a reluctant smile at whatever she said.
“I’ll see if I can get hold of her, but I’m not promising anything. Give me a few minutes.”
He put the phone down and stood up, paced the room a couple of times. Asmodai waited for him to speak. In the end, he went back and punched a number in the phone. “Graham, can you see if Roz is still in the building?”
He paced some more.
“So who is Faith?” Asmodai said. “Nice name by the way.”
“My ex-partner from the force.”
When no more was forthcoming, Asmodai rose to his feet. “And what does she want? Come on, we’re partners now, tell me what’s going on. Is this woman going to be a problem?” He curled his lips into a smile. “You want me to sort her out?”
Asmodai had no intention of “sorting out” Ryan’s ex-partner. Well, maybe he did—just not as Ryan no doubt imagined. But he was interested in what she meant to Ryan and, from the alarm that flashed across Ryan’s face, he and this Faith must be close.
“No, I don’t want you to sort her out. I don’t want you anywhere near her.”
“So what does she want?”
Ryan sighed. “She’s still working on the murder case—the girl Jack killed.”
Jack had been a renegade vampire in league with Andarta, a mad bitch of a demoness intent on taking over the world. Piers had killed him but not before Jack had left a few dead bodies littered about the place for the human cops to find.
“And…?” he prompted when Ryan remained silent.
“There was a second girl. Roz helped me find her before she was killed. Now she’s asking to talk to the woman who found her. Faith is hoping she might remember something else. Anyway, she’s downstairs in reception with Faith.”
“Why did she bring her here?”
“That’s what I don’t understand. Apparently, someone told her I was now working with Roz, but she wouldn’t tell me any more until we meet.”
The phone rang. He picked it up and listened, before placing it down again. “Roz is still here. She’s meeting us in reception.”
Asmodai shrugged. “So let’s go find out what your ex-partner knows and get rid of her.”
“What do you mean ‘get rid of’?” Ryan asked.
“You have such a suspicious mind, Detective. I mean, tell her something that will satisfy her, and send her on her way.”
“You don’t know Faith,” Ryan muttered. “Only the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, will satisfy her.”
“You sound as though you admire her?”
“She’s a good detective. She’s tenacious, like a dog with a bone—she’ll keep worrying. And for some reason this murder meant something to her.”
“Maybe we should get Christian to deal with her.”
“Deal with her how?” Ryan sounded suspicious again.
“He can see what she knows, then wipe out anything that might be a problem”
“I’m not having Christian do any of that vampire shit on Faith. Besides, there’s something else. The girl—Jessica—Roz saved her life, but more than that, she saved her sanity. And if Jess is hurting now, maybe Roz can help her again.”
Asmodai didn’t think that was the number-one priority here—humans had always been expendable—but didn’t want to disillusion his new partner so soon. “Okay, we do this your way, but if your friend knows too much, we call Christian in. It doesn’t hurt and does no permanent damage.”