Chloe Decker had taken an Uber home after her self-imposed limit of two glasses. Throughout the ride, she had been thinking about Lucifer and his son. She couldn't shake the two out of her thoughts. What Alexander had told her didn't let go, and it gnawed at her brain. She paid the babysitter, went to see if Trixie was sleeping peacefully, and stepped into her living room. In her mind she saw those two green eyes of Alexander and the smile on his lips as he listed his incredible words as if they were established facts. It got on her nerves that her lie radar, which she was otherwise so proud of, was absolutely unresponsive to the obvious nonsense that father and son were spouting. She walked to her kitchen, filled a glass with white wine, grabbed her laptop, and went to work. Soon she caught herself falling into the trap Alexander had told her to avoid.
"Look beyond popular literature and what Hollywood has made of the Devil. Concentrate on ancient theological sources."
Something she then did. It wasn't long before she forced herself to focus on reliable websites with articles and dissertations written by academics. She read piece after piece, article after article. Nowhere did she find a reference to a specific incident where the Devil had allegedly killed or tortured someone. Again and again she found the reference that the name Satan was actually an ancient Hebrew word meaning adversary. The Devil was God's adversary. The question of why he was the adversary or what he opposed to was not so clear to find. There was a whole history with a guy named Job that confused her even more. But even the theologians were at odds with each other as to what the meaning of that history might be. What they agreed on was that it was a kind of psychological warfare between God and the Devil, that Job was between the two fires, with the end result being that the Devil somehow had control over man on Earth. The latter was immediately enough to consign all more modern myths to the dumpster that the Devil would want to conquer the Earth. Why conquer it if he had dominion over it anyway? Something reinforced by the conversations he allegedly had with Jesus. How could the Devil offer all the kingdoms on Earth to Jesus if he did not already possess them or, rather, did not have the dominion and thus the power to give them away? After a few glasses of wine and a few hours of reading, Chloe grabbed her laptop and disappeared toward her bedroom. She wanted to look up one more thing and then go to sleep. She wanted to know what Alexander meant by Luciferian. That which she read suddenly lit a light, and she got a better picture of Lucifer, his perpetual criticizing of God, and his drive for freedom. But also a better understanding of why the eccentric nightclub owner seemed to have a heartfelt dislike for liars and criminals. She was shocked to see that she would barely get two hours of sleep before she had to get out and take care of Trixie to get the girl ready for school. She closed her laptop and flipped off her reading light.
The dreams she had during those two hours were strange. It was as if her brain was trying to give a place to the information she had read. But at no time did she dream of the Devil or the Antichrist as described in popular literature. She dreamed of a charming nightclub owner who seemed to have a special smile just for herself. And she dreamed of a young man with the brightest green eyes she had ever seen walking the surface of Mars with her little girl. The two were happily chatting away while the young men explained things to Trixie.
Then her alarm went off; she was disappointed that the dreams were ending. The images had been so peaceful that she wished she could have wallowed in them for a while longer. She rushed out of bed, took a shower, got dressed, and stormed toward the kitchen to start breakfast, after which she would have to make an effort to get her daughter out of bed and ready for another day at school. Great was her surprise to find said daughter already dressed and sitting on a chair at the kitchen table. A single glance at Trixie's face conveyed the entire story. She quickly looked in the refrigerator, and indeed, a large piece of the chocolate cake she had bought the day before for Trixie's birthday party on Saturday was gone. That was the moment Daniel came in. He was going to take her to school. The man could tell immediately by the facial expression and the remnants of the chocolate cake that graced his daughter's face that Chloe was not in too good a mood. When Chloe asked if she had eaten some of the cake, the girl initially denied it. Only when Dan asked the question again did she admit. Asked why she had done it, Trixie replied:
"Because Lucifer said so. He said, If you want something badly enough, you just have to do it."
Daniel's face immediately turned to thunder, and Chloe, before she realized it or knew why, came to the defense of Lucifer:
"I don't think you understood Lucifer quite right, Monkey. What Lucifer must have meant is that if you like something, you have to do your best to get it, earn it, or achieve it. I'm sure he didn't mean that you have to break the rules to get what you want."
The girl looked at her mother, not really understanding, and Chloe clarified:
"Lucifer doesn't like lies at all, Monkey. He takes pride in never lying and hates it when people lie to him. I know that, and your daddy knows that too. He also doesn't like it at all when someone breaks the law. You have done two things that Lucifer doesn't like and finds very bad himself. You lied to me when you said you didn't take a piece of the cake, and you broke the rules. Do you think Lucifer meant it that way? That he would be okay with you lying or breaking the rules?"
Trixie thought about Chloe's words for a moment and then said:
"No, Mommy, I don't think he meant it that way. I'm sorry; I promise not to do it again."
Chloe nodded and said:
"Remember this lesson, Trixie. It's okay to want things you really desire. But you must work for those things and definitely not lie or break the rules. Now go wash your face so every trace of your crime is gone and get ready so your daddy can take you to school. Hop along..."
When the girl was out of the room, Daniel looked at her piercingly and said:
"I think I owe you an apology, too. Even though I didn't say a word. My first reaction was to blame Lucifer for what Trixie did and then say something stupid to you about Lucifer being around Trixie. But your words reminded me that he indeed thoroughly hates lies and criminals. So, I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions."
"It's okay, Dan, we both know he's an oddball. But if we're honest and even if we don't understand him more than we do, we simply have to admit that his moral compass seems to be chiseled in granite. It's a damn fact that he hates lies, criminals, and uncivilized behavior. And yes, that is very hard to reconcile with his lifestyle. By the way, you would dig into his past and Lux because you don't seem to trust him. Found anything?"
Detective Daniel Espinoza, sighed deeply and said:
"Nothing, nada. He is as clean as possible. More pure, and he could become the new face of Mr. Clean. Strange though, he has only been around for about seven years. Before that, not a trace. A friend of mine I know from my military days was able to tell me that this points to an alias. My first thought, you know how I feel about Lucifer, was WitSec and thus ex-organized crime. My friend took one look at the notes I had collected and said I was thinking completely in the wrong direction. That I would do best to leave this alone so that as a little fish from the LAPD I wouldn't get a visit from some guys in expensive suits. That this alias with the more-than-obvious fake name just reeks of the suits at the CIA and that the guy must have some real power and swagger to demand that name instead of being stuck with John Smith. Lux's books seem perfectly in order. For the last five years, he does not seem to have made a cent profit. Most of the income goes to staff and donations. Believe it or not, but one of the biggest recipients of his donations is the LAPD, our fund for orphans and widows of fallen cops in Calefornia. He seems to simply make up the loss from his private funds. And those are, believe me, substantial. If I had detected a red flag in any of the foregoing, I would have thrown myself into that. That what was decisive for me to follow my friend's advice to forget about this was how he runs Lux. He pays and treats his staff very well. And I heard through a colleague at VICE that there is so much security on his payroll that Lux is probably the safest club in town. Is there dealing in the club? Of course, there is dealing in every club in town. The difference is in the dealers and what they deal. The lower down at the gutter a club is, the grosser the dealers and worse the stuff they deal, with all its consequences. The higher the club is regarded, the more selective they are with the dealers they allow and the higher quality of party drugs they demand from those dealers. And there are maybe a handful of clubs approaching Lux's standard in the city. The reason VICE leaves him alone about that is that scum working for a cartel or dudes beholden to organized crime avoid lux like the plague. Somehow our underworld is scared of Lucifer and keeps their goons as far from the club as possible. Vice has better things to do than go after small dealers selling very high-quality stuff. As far as we know, Lux has never experienced an OD, and its bartenders and security personnel have received special training to prevent individuals from throwing anything into women's glasses. Well, you know why... Lux may be a party paradise where you can indulge, but that kind of behavior is absolutely not tolerated by Lucifer and his staff. Like you said, he is an oddball, and we don't get him; he gets on my nerves more than I can say, but his moral code is strict. If there was anything else that could point to shady behavior, I would have been all over him and demanded that he stay away from Trixie. It seems that the only thing we have to worry about with him and Trixie is that he is going to spoil her rotten, like with that 200-dollar doll, just because she used her puppy dog eyes on him. Whoever the hell he really is and how much power he may be able to throw around, that kid of ours has his number, and the dude is way out of his depth with her."
Chloe had to laugh at that last statement, and at the same time, she agreed fully. The big charming I can get everything I want and can do everything I want; pretend devil was running around on a leash held by an 8-year-old.
It was early morning, and Lux was closing the doors so the cleaning crew could get to work. Lucifer was sitting behind the piano playing a little when Mazikeen appeared with a young lady on each arm:
"Lucifer, I thought I'd get the after-after party going. These are Britany and Britany."
"Hmmm, sounds very enticing, but unfortunately I have to get to work. The detective just called; there's been a murder."
He looked piercingly at the two young women and said with his devilish smile:
"Why don't you two make my friend here feel a lot better?"
With that, he stood up, grabbed the jacket of his suit, and disappeared from Lux. His trusty Corvette took him to the dock area and certainly not on the right side of the speed limit. He parked his car in front of a large, neutral-looking warehouse, like there were thirteen in a dozen, and stepped inside while quickly applying his cufflinks. Detective Chloe Decker was standing talking to a lab assistant; they were waiting for the new CSI to start today but was a little on the late side. This would be her first day, and everything still had to be more or less put in order. You couldn't just grab some equipment from the lab and a car from the parking lot and start your job. There was paperwork for everything, something the Devil seemed to glowingly dislike as Chloe had to find out the hard way. Lucifer took one look at the corpse and asked:
"What unpleasantness did this heap of unrealized ambition have to endure?"
Chloe, even though her working relationship with the Devil was so short, should have known better. As she began listing what she knew and didn't know about the case, Lucifer began amusing himself with items he found in the lab assistant's bag. Chloe said:
"We will unfortunately have to follow all leads until we know what happened to our victim."
The Devil surprised her by saying:
"But I already know what killed this man."
She looked at him wide-eyed and asked:
"You know ... Okay then, whatever. What happened?"
"Boredom detective! Getting murdered has to be the most exciting thing that ever happened in this man's life. Sorry, but I'll pass. Call me when you have something interesting. If we can break down some doors. Oh, even better if we can shoot someone..."
With these words, Lucifer turned and strode toward the exit. Chloe stopped him after a few paces and asked incredulously:
"After all the effort you put into being able to work with me, you're just going to leave me hanging because you think this is too boring for you?"
He looked at her seriously for a moment as if it were the most normal thing in the world and said:
"Absolutely ... The Devil does not do boredom. And speaking of boredom, there is a good chance this sap is right now listening to Uriel's welcome speech. Ugh, speaking of boredom, it's like dying a second time."
With those words, Lucifer disappeared from the warehouse, leaving behind a confused and puzzled Chloe Decker.
Just shy of an hour later, after she had just finished taking initial statements from some of the warehouse employees, a small Latina with two bags that seemed far too big for her appeared next to the corpse. Chloe stepped up to the woman and introduced herself:
"I'm Chloe Decker; this case has been assigned to me."
The little Latina's face lit up, and a wide smile appeared around her mouth. She grabbed Chloe in a hug and said:
"Oh hi, I'm Ella Lopez. I'm your new CSI starting today. Sorry for the delay, but the paper mill here seems to be an even bigger disaster than the one where I came from, Detroit. I am relieved that it is not a dumpster or an industrial meat grinder for my first day and first case in Los Angeles.
Chloe looked at her with a smile and big eyes, thinking this probably had to be one of the most bubbly people she had ever met. The detective pointed to the corpse and said:
"The assistant has already told me something, but I'd love to hear it from the mouth of a certified CSI."
Ella nodded so energetically that her ponytail began to dance up and down. She dropped to her knees beside the corpse and began her initial examination. After a few minutes, she looked at the detective and said:
"For a murder, this is pretty straightforward."
Alexander slowly woke up. He felt great. He had always found Lucifer's beach house, which he had now temporarily seized, a pleasant place. He had stayed here often enough that it was some kind of a second home. The modern house was right on the beach and had a multitude of glass. Which translated into a multitude of sunlight streaming into the house. Of course it was equipped with every convenience and luxury; what else could one expect from the Devil? The cute blonde, Scarlett, whom he had met in Lux the night before, was still in a deep sleep as he gently embraced her, and they lay spooned in the middle of the large bed. After saying goodbye to Chloe and walking onto the dance floor, he had had fun with her on that dance floor for an hour or two. After his father gave one of his famous sets, he had disappeared from the club with her toward the beach house. The night had been pleasant, to say the least. Alex, who always woke up early, felt the first warm rays of the sun penetrating through the thin white curtains. He was the son of the Lightbringer and enjoyed the first rays of the most important star his father had created for humanity. He growled softly for a moment because he did not want to let go of Scarlet's pleasantly warm body just yet. Nevertheless, he stood up silently. Since the young woman was still asleep, he didn't bother and used his Celestial powers to lower the blinds so the beautiful blonde could continue sleeping peacefully. He put on sweatpants and didn't bother any further. In some areas he was as big a snob as his father, so it was inconceivable that he would use his powers to make his usual coffee. A unique blend of a few different types of coffee beans, like Blue Mountain. It had taken him a while to find the blend that was ideal for him, but he had been faithful to it ever since. To be perfect to his taste, it had to be made the old-fashioned way with a glass cafetière, sometimes better known as a French press. With a mug of his favorite coffee, he sat down in the garden in the antique rattan garden set. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the soft, warm rays on his face and bare chest. A few minutes later, Celine walked into the garden and took a seat next to Alexander. He did not open his eyes but instinctively felt that she had a mischievous smile on her face. He sighed deeply and asked:
"What's wrong, Mom? Why do I just feel you are going to kill my good mood?"
"Oh, not so much, Alex. How long did you think this little vacation you had planned was going to last?"
The Antichrist groaned and asked irritably:
"What has that idiot done now that I can't enjoy even a single day of a well-deserved vacation, however short that might have been?"
"Who knows what he's been up to, and I'm sure you don't want to know that at all. You have always been a bit squeamish about his exploits. What I do know is that one thing happened that will give you a headache, my boy."
His eyes flew open, and he looked directly into Celine's blue ones with those bright green eyes of his. He just about growled:
"Tell!"
"I just got a call from Maze. It seems that that warehouse where he houses some things that can't really tolerate sunlight has been broken into. A certain container is missing!"
The look in the Antichrist's eyes turned icy, and he said:
"And that container happens to be THEcontainer with his collection of antique Russian Matryoshka dolls..."
The Demon merely nodded. Alexander cursed under his breath. She couldn't really understand the words, but they were clearly not pet names for his father.
"I'll go over there and see what the damage is and how the hell we can fix this! I swear sooner or later I'll strangle that idiot..."
He edged out of the yard, and just under fifteen minutes later, Celine heard the monstrous growl of Alexander's favorite car as he pressed the gas pedal and made his way to contain the damage.
He parked his Aston Martin in just the same spot where Lucifer's corvette had previously stood. He showed his FBI badge to the officers standing at the barrier and was let through. He saw Chloe Decker standing next to a corpse and someone on her knees next to that corpse. He just barely heard the last sentence:
"For a murder, this is pretty straightforward."
Only when he spoke did the two women see him. His face was not exactly friendly, but the warmth in his incredibly green eyes and the eternal little smile he had around his mouth were unmistakable.
"Then tell us what is so straightforward about the murder because there is nothing straightforward about the place where it happened."
Ella looked at him and was instantly struck by his eyes. But not just his eyes, as she would later admit to herself once she could think clearly again. The young man she saw stood easily six feet tall, had curly blond hair that went down to his shoulders, very athletically built, and was dressed in a light gray tailored suit that looked particularly expensive. The first thing that shot through her mind was "Greek God." Chloe, who already knew him, was surprised for an entirely different reason. Alexander was the very last person she had expected on this crime scene. So she asked a little suspiciously:
"What are you doing here?"
He again pulled out his FBI credentials and handed them to the detective so she could examine them closely. He said:
"No, they are not fake, Detective Decker, and if you call DC headquarters, they will confirm that I am indeed an FBI agent. Now yes, agent. I'm more what they call a roving inspector and don't just take orders from anyone or cases. Only those that interest me or come from very high up the chain."
"And this case interests you?"
He nodded and replied:
"Yep, on a personal level. If that was not the case, I would have gotten a call sooner or later about it. This whole warehouse has been on the radar of the FBI, CIA, DHS, IRS, and I don't know who else. Everyone quietly follows its comings and goings because that is more profitable than conducting a raid. Do a raid, then this tent closes, everything is silently moved in the dead of night, and all three letter agencies can start searching again from scratch. Something they will also be able to do now after this murder and bringing down the circus. But that's not my problem. Not interested and not my kind of case."
The detective squeezed her eyes to slits and asked softly:
"Do I want to know what your interests are and what cases you take on?"
He got a very mischievous smile around his mouth and said evasively:
"Probably not. Let's just say that I find cases in which very bad people play a certain role very exciting. I'll provide a solution that everyone can be comfortable with."
He held out a hand to Ella and introduced himself:
"I'm Alexander Morningstar, and you were just about to tell us how this poor chap met his end."
Ella took his hand and shook it, after which she said:
"I'm Ella Lopez. Morningstar? Like..."
He pointed to the small crucifix she wore around her neck and said:
"Exactly as in that Morningstar that your little club seems to be so afraid of. To be honest, I've always wondered why you guys are so afraid of Lucifer. It's not exactly that he has ambitions to become the next pope. Celibacy and Lucifer do not seem to go togheter."
Instead of reacting shocked to his words, the little Latina laughed and said:
"Oh man, that would be a joke, Lucifer in the Vatican. I'm not afraid of the Devil. I've always found that Lucifer had a bad rap. Okay, he runs Hell and all that, but stil..."
Alexander theatrically put his hand on his heart, smiled broadly, and said poetically:
"O be still my beating heart."
He winked at her and said:
"Then it's really urgent that you meet Detective Decker's partner, who happens to be my father. Charming fellow but a somewhat strange man by the name of Lucifer Morningstar."
Now her eyes went wide, and she repeated:
"Lucifer Morningstar?"
He nodded:
"Indeed, the one and only, and quit the character as you will come to find out... Now, dear Miss Lopez, what can you tell us about this poor sod?"
She took a second or two to recover from what Alex had so boldly told her and then said:
"Right, yes, as said, this is straightforward. The guard must have surprised someone breaking into the place; there was a scuffle because our vic has some defensive wounds, and then this poor one was strangled. That's it basically. I'm sure the ME's report will be a lot longer and detailed but from my end, hat's it."
Alexander rubbed through his curls for a moment and said to the ladies:
"This has to be one of the most amateurish and absolutely dumbest crimes I've ever heard of."
Ella, who had stood up and was now standing next to Chloe, asked what the detective thought:
"Why amateurish and stupid?"
Alexander pointed to the rest of the immaculate warehouse with his hands:
"Take a look around. See how spotless it is in here?"
The two ladies did as he said and indeed noticed that this place, even though it was a warehouse, was extremely neatly maintained. At least on the inside. The outside looked like so many buildings in the port area. Alex said:
"Anyone who has any standing in the underworld knows that this place has the same status as Switzerland: neutral and completely untouchable. They exist; to find them, well, they make for headaches without end. Agents looking for these kinds of places keep businesses like Pfizer afloat thanks to the amount of Advil they buy in bulk. The organization responsible for running these places spares no time, effort, energy, or money to find the perfect spots. There are places like these scattered all over the world. Every major city with a major port that means something in the financial world, like LA, New York, Rotterdam, Nice, Hamburg, and Cape Town, has one of these. Those are the major hubs; then there are the smaller, more local spots, and those can be just about everywhere. Here in LA, this is the only place where the Colombian cartels, the Mexicans, the Mafia, the Yakuza, the Bratva, and God only knows who else, play nicely by the rules. And the group running these places does not discriminate or tailor exclusively to the underworld. Enough billionaires have art and other stuff hidden here as well as nest eggs they do not want trophy wife number 3 knows a thing about. The stuff in here and the people who are in here are absolutely off-limits. Breaking this rule is equivalent to committing suicide. Believe it does not matter who you are. Al Capone or Mother Teresa, break the rules and you disappear. And yet someone breaks in here without having done their homework. He gets caught by a guard."
He pointed to the dead body:
"No disrespect meant to our dearly departed, but he does not seem to be in great shape and so not much of a threat to a pro; ergo, our guy himself is no a pro at high-level heists; he has a scuffle with that guard, but doesn't even have a knife or a gun with him to either threaten or make short work of that guard. Yep, absolutely amateur hour if you ask me. Or an action prompted by absolute necessity under time constraints, which would make the whole thing even more stupid."
That was the moment Lucifer stepped back into the warehouse with large strides. All that came out of his mouth was:
"Detective..."
But at that moment he saw Alexander standing there, and his tone and demeanor suddenly became completely different. He had already seen the Aston Martin, but it was the look in Alexander's eyes that made his mood change, really fast. The Antichrist stood between Ella and Chloe, and all three looked at the Devil. The detective slightly annoyed because he had reappeared from nowhere. Ella studied the attractive man who called himself Lucifer Morningstar. But worse was the icy look in his son's eyes; Alex simply said:
"You had something to say to the detective, Mr Morningstar. Don't let me interrupt you, especially because, believe me, I have a feeling that I'm going to enjoy this exchange."
Chloe crossed her arms and said in a cutting tone:
"I thought this case was too boring for you, Lucifer?"
"Well, that was before I knew this was more interesting than I initially thought detective."
"Oh, and how would that be?"
"Well, it turns out that this case is related to a theft."
"Hmmm, what kind of theft, specifically?"
"A container detective."
"And what's so interesting about that container that you suddenly find this whole case not being boring?"
"Well, that container turns out to be mine."
"And you didn't think that was important to tell me before?"
"I didn't know it at the time. Maze does this sort of thing for me, and I've only now been informed."
Under his breath he said silently:
"And I seem not to be the only one informed..."
Chloe was still half-glowing about the way Lucifer let her hang, so she said gruffly:
"Well, thanks for the information Mr. Morningstar I will let you know if we find your container and after we take it apart. FBI agent Morningstar just told me the most interesting thing. This warehouse is apparently known for illicit affairs and products. We will need to be sure that your container is not...hmmm...contaminated!"
"We need to find that container right now, detective; we are partners after all, and I can assure you nothing illegal is stored in my container..."
"Then I think you desperately need a refresher course, Lucifer. Partners don't leave each other behind, they don't abandon each other, and they don't turn their backs when there is something they find boring!"
Alexander felt that this was getting a little out of hand; he needed to lighten the mood somewhat and said:
"I don't like it when Mommy and Daddy fight..."
The Devil and the detective looked at him wide-eyed, and the smirk on his face, not to mention the mischievous look in his eyes, told them that this was exactly his goal. He said with a little pout as if he were a toddler:
"Daddy, Mommy is right; if you want to be partners, you will never, ever leave your partner hanging under any circumstances. No reason justifies such a thing, even if God Almighty would command it!"
He turned to Chloe with the same pout on his face:
"Mommy, I don't think you know Daddy very well, yet... Please forgive him, but he is an idiot. Even God in his all-powerfulness didn't get him better than this and eventually just gave up."
Lucifer looked at his son bewildered; Chloe had to make the greatest effort to keep a smile off her face, and Ella was simply enjoying Alexander's little show and was giggling. Alex came to the conclusion that he liked the sound of that giggle very, very much. He suddenly became serious again and spoke:
"I suggest you guys go after that container. I'm sure Dad is going to have some idea where you can start the search for that blasted thing. Unfortunately, I have a meeting in...hmmm the South. This afternoon, lunch at the beach house; be there! Both of you!"
He looked at his father, and the look in his eyes betrayed that he was anything but stoked about this whole situation. He pointed a finger at the Devil and said:
"If you would have thought for one moment that this would go without consequences, Mister Morningstar, you're damn well wrong. I warned you at the time, but no, as usual, you didn't listen. You thought you had invented the wheel. Now you will just have to feel the consequences! I want to talk to you both at lunch; do not be late! Understood!"
Alexander stepped away, but he was less than five feet away when Ella said something that made Lucifer's mouth fall wide open and the Antichrist stand stock-still. All the little Latina said with a wide smile was:
"Smell you later..."
With a jerk, Alex turned around, took two big steps back, and stood right in front of her. He still had the same sneaky smile, and his eyes were still shining, but there was intrigue in them. He said:
"What did you just say, dear Ella?"
She looked at him not understanding and muttered:
"Just something I often say, something I picked up from an old friend. Smell you later. Something like see you later, gator or so..."
Lucifer was too surprised to get a word out, and Alexander burst into a deep, hearty laugh. A sound that Ella, in turn, noted she loved hearing. It was as if the laughter came from the depths of his being and betrayed how much he loved to have fun. He said:
"Oh, you're full of surprises, girl. I like that. Make sure you join Lucifer and Chloe for lunch. I promise you it will be very, very interesting..."
Without saying anything further, Alexander disappeared from the warehouse, and all of a sudden became aware that the Latina's hair smelled like fresh green apples, a scent he had always been particularly fond of.
Alexander drove into Lux's underground parking garage, where he was met by Fred, the head of security. The man was standing next to what was clearly a car but that was covered by a cloth. The Antichrist immediately got a very wide smile on his face. He practically jumped out of the Aston, looked at Fred expectantly as if he were a child on Christmas Day morning, and asked:
"Is she finally here?"
The man got a little smile of his own and nodded. Alex grabbed the canvas, like a kid tearing the wrapping paper off a gift, and pulled it off the car hidden from view. For a brief moment, the sight seized his breath. There she stood in all her glory. The car that even the Antichrist had had to make a big effort to get his hands on one. But even when he finally managed to snag one by doing an Arab prince a favor, he had not been able to fully enjoy it immediately. Apparently, the prince had a fondness for orange, and that color on the hypercar he so desired almost made Alex puke. No expense spared, the car was packed into a container, put on a cargo plane, flown back to the McLaren stable, a group of very specialized mechanics want to work with very specific instructions. Now he stood looking at the finished product, and this one was truly unique in the world. No second one existed, and the extra number Alex had put down on the check made sure no second one would ever exist. From that moment on, a strong veto was in place to prevent the creation of a second one similar to this one. A McLaren Senna GTR black on black, a hypercar of which there were only 75 true built with a price tag that went way over the million mark when they were first sold. If you were unbelievably lucky to get one secondhand, then it would set you back closer to the two million mark or even higher depending on the pedigree of the car you had found. Originally the beast came with just over 800 HP, but this one had just over 900 HP hidden under the pitch-black exterior thanks to extra work. Alex gently stroked the roof of the car and almost drooled. For a moment, he found himself tempted to forget about his meeting in Hell and start making the lives of a few cops in LA miserable. He recovered with a sigh and said softly:
"Later gorgeous, I promise I'll show you your new home..."
He thanked Fred again for always taking good care of his little collection that took up about half of Lux's underground parking lot. Fred and the others who looked after the car collection of Lucifer and Alex could look forward to a little extra in the already royal Christmas bonus they normally got. He couldn't imagine a safer place for his beloved cars and motorcycles. No one was crazy enough to even think of trying to steal anything here. He looked around and saw that the collection actually seemed to be neatly divided into two types. His father's cars are all classics in optimal condition. Not really his taste, but he had to admit that one by one they were beautiful, unique specimens. He was especially a fan of the Aston Martin BD5, an exact copy of James Bond's famous car minus the gadgets, of course. He still remembered the night of his high school's closing prom when his dad had given him the keys and said, "Have fun." The splash he made when he showed up at the party with that car was something that had made the rounds in the school for a long time to come. That he had behaved like the perfect gentleman with his date and delivered her back home without falling victim to the more carnal thoughts that seemed to go through the minds of a lot of the others that night. That was a story that might have impressed the young ladies in the school even more than the car impressed the boys. His part of the garage consisted of a collection of motorcycles and cars that were quite modern. The only thing they had in common was that they fell into the group of supercars, superbikes, and hypercars. Among them were a couple of Ducatis, a more or less hand-made ARCH motorcycle from Keanu Reeves' company, a Porsche 911 GTR4, a Ferrari Enzo, a Bugatti Veyron, the Pagani Zonda, and the car he almost always used when he was in LA, the Aston Martin ONE SEVEN SEVEN, and now this Senna. Plus a few more normal, if those could be called normal, cars for when there were more than two passengers, such as a Mercedes 600 taken in hand by AMG that was a cross between classic and modern and a limited edition Maserati Ghibli. All in all, the garage was starting to fill up nicely. The Antichrist sighed deeply once more, snapped his fingers, and disappeared into Hell.
Chloe, still not in too good a mood, followed Lucifer's directions. Great was her surprise when the latter simply joined the line of people who were queuing at an ice cream cart.
"I thought we were following a lead and not looking for ice cream,"
She said.
"Detective, I assure you these are no ordinary ice creams."
Replied Lucifer with a mysterious smile. When it was their turn, the Devil surprised everyone around. He simply grabbed the man standing in the cart by the throat, seemed to be able to pull him out of the cart as if the man weighed about as much as a feather, slammed him against the ground, and snapped at him:
"Okay, where's my container!"
Chloe didn't know what was happening and tried to intervene:
"Lucifer, let go of that man. You can't just grab someone and accuse them."
Without letting go of the man, he looked at her with that smile he seemed to keep especially for her and said:
"Detective, this is not just any ice cream vendor. Let me introduce you to Frankie Costa. The ice cream truck is a cover for this lowlife. Frankie here is in charge of transporting illegal goods. Maze had my container taken to that warehouse by means of this scum."
He looked at the man again and repeated his question:
"Frankie boy, you would do well to answer my question and tell me where my container is."
The man tried to break free from the iron grip Lucifer had around his throat but was absolutely unsuccessful. He said with some difficulty:
"I have no idea. I swear I don't know what happened to your container. That warehouse is off-limits. Nothing like that should ever be allowed to happen. Please let go of me."
He looked at Cloe and asked:
"Who are you anyway?"
Chloe showed her badge and said:
"I'm someone who wears one of these. He, however, that's another story. He doesn't have one of those. And he seemed to be worked up over his missing container. So if I were to walk away now and leave you alone with him..."
The man tried to swallow at this undisguised threat of being left alone with Lucifer, but it didn't work very well with the Devil's hand around his throat. The Devil pulled him straight and not too gently slammed him against the side of the ice cream cart and said:
"Talk!"
"I really don't know anything, I swear. This kind of thing is bad for business. This is going to cause trouble in the coming days, and whoever did it won't be able to enjoy it for long."
Lucifer growled:
"If you do not seem to know a thing, then I'm sure you can tell us who might know! Otherwise I could always give you as a gift to Maze for being utterly useless for anything else."
The man nodded vigorously; he knew all too well that it was definitely not healthy to be in the black book of the eccentric nightclub owner, and you certainly didn't want a visit from his bodyguard, Maze.
"Los Diablo's, they run the docks. They are also hired to guard the outside of the warehouse and to change the minds of anyone who might have a wrong thought. If anyone knows what happened there last night, it has to be Los Diablo's because it happened on their turf under their watch!"
For Lucifer, this was the end of the matter. He let go of the man, leaned into the cart, and began rummaging through the refrigerators accessible to him until he found what was to his taste.
"Detective, want a strawberry sorbet, to go with that?"
She rolled her eyes and said:
"No Lucifer, no ice cream for me."
"You really need to learn to live a little, detective. One of man's best inventions, if I do say so myself. Did you know that ice cream has been around for over 2,500 years? A clever fellow in Persia figured out that you could infuse ice water with the juice of fruit, and you could get a treat that those mucousy kids love so much. It is said to have been Dolly Madison who had strawberry-flavored ice cream served at her husband's second inaugural banquet. To this day, a favorite of many."
As they walked away from the cart, Chloe asked:
"Lucifer, you always speak so derogatorily about children; they are slimy, a terrible taxing burden, and what the heck else do I know how you refer to Trixie and others? You call her urchin for peets sake. And yet you have a son of your own. Surely he must have been a baby too. How do you explain this contradiction?"
"Alexander is...different. For one thing, he never gets sick, so no slime and virus-filled mucus, and he was raised by Celine. I was not around much... Not that I did have much choice in that matter. That being said, that little bugger has helped many a suit to its demise and seemingly took a hellish pleasure in doing so..."
She looked him sternly in the eyes and said:
"One more thing about kids, Lucifer! If you ever again dare to tell Trixie that if she wants something badly, she should just take it, you're going to have a big problem with me! I had to defend you to Dan by saying that Trixie probably misunderstood you. I'm not going to do that a second time. I have nothing against Trixie setting her sights on something and wanting it, but then I expect her to do her best to earn it and not just grab it and flout all the rules! And knowing you and your totally absent-seeming respect for rules and laws, that is exactly what you meant by what she should do. Such a thing might be possible in your little world where the mountains of money you seem to have make rules disappear like snow in the sun. Where you can just by yourself out of any consequences with your charm and checkbook. In the world of ordinary people like me and Trixie, it doesn't work that way. Such behavior usually leads ordinary people into serious trouble sooner or later. Or perhaps you don't care at all that Trixie would get into serious trouble in her life because you told her it was okay to juest take stuff she badly wants? Technicly that is stealing Lucifer, a crime and could end you in jail. Is that what you want for Trixie?"
The Devil looked at her in bewilderment and said:
"Absolutely not, detective! I want the Urchin to go through life as carefree as possible. It's you and Dan that make her go to kidsjail everyday. I would never ever want to see her end up in a real one. I would bloody by the place, or Father be damned, the whole country to spring her free!"
Chloe had to smile at those words, knowing deep down that he probebly would get it done too when he set his sights on it to help Trixie. She said more gently:
"Children need to know that there are rules and that they can't just get everything they want or, worse, just take it, and they need to learn that if they break the rules, there are consequences. That ensures that they can grow up to be good people with balanced lives."
Again, Lucifer thought for a moment and then said:
"My apologies, detective. I will do better in the future. I just wanted Beatrice to have everything her little heart desired. The Urchin is quite special, and I find it odd that it seems so incredibly difficult to say no to her when she looks at me with those big eyes. In a strange way she reminds me of Alexander when he was younger. That little bugger got me to do things I still do not understand how he did it and when I ask he asks as if he is as innocint as his uncle J."
Chloe deliberately looked the other way for a moment so as not to show her smile to him. A snippet of what Lucifer had said buried itself deep in her mind and would come back to her later. She didn't know it yet, but after sharing that little piece of information with Ella, it would give her a show that would make her grab a big bucket of popcorn and some beer and enjoy it. A little innocent bit of revenge for the moments when he drove her crazy with his thoughtless behavior.
"That's fine, Lucifer, but let's agree in the future if she comes to you with a wish that you discuss it with me first. I don't feel like getting up one morning and seeing a pony standing in the garden because that seems to be her latest fixation."
This last sentence caused the Devil to choke on his ice cream and look up suddenly startled. Chloe closed her eyes and wondered if she would get away with shooting him in broad daylight, surrounded by witnesses. She suppressed her more violent solution to the problem, stood her ground, crossed her arms, looked him sternly in the eye, and said:
"SPILL IT! NOW!"
The devil saw no way out of this problem and sadly decided to confess:
"Well, Saturday is her birthday, and she asked me what I bought her. I didn't have a present yet, and I was a little distracted by Lux's accounting. I honestely almost forgot. It may be that I had said she could make a wish if she would leave me alone so I could get some work done."
Chloe rolled her eyes and felt a huge headache coming on.
"Please tell me she wished for a another doll or a Barbie pony?"
The look in the devil's eyes began to grow more nervous as he approached the point of confessing to what he had managed to arrange for Trixie. He said:
"Well... I could say that, but you know I never lie, detective, so..."
"What wish did she have, and what did you promise her?"
"A...ugh...pony..."
"LUCIFER! May God help me not to shoot you now..."
"I think my Father would find that an incredibly funny, but since I know I am vulnerable around you, I would rather not test that."
She just about growled as she asked:
"Where did you get that pony, and where do you plan to house it because I'm sure you've seen our little garden? You can't put a live pony in there, you idiot!"
The Devil's eyes opened wide. To the second part, the where to house it, had he not thought for a second about that. He said softly, preparing for the worst:
"Well, do you remember Prince Bandar, whom you met in Lux a few weeks ago?"
Chloe's headache was getting worse by the second remembering the excentric prins, and she only nodded. Lucifer continued:
"Well, the prince owed me a favor, so could I choose a foal from his stables..."
"What kind of foal, Lucifer?"
"An Arabian, of course."
Chloe just about exploded when she said:
"You obviously don't mean Arabian as in where the foal would come from, but knowing that prins you more specifically mean that it is a foal of an Arabian thoroughbred!"
The Devil nodded, ill at ease.
"And you think an Arabian thoroughbred, a hyper-nervous horse, bred for only one thing, pure speed, is the ideal gift for an eight-year-old girl who has never seen a real horse up close? The only time she ever got close to a horse was at a carnival, and we're talking about those little ponies that are tremendously calm and mellow! Call your prince and tell him this was all a terrible misunderstanding and get a stuffed pony or that damn Barbie pony! And you better do it today or I'm going to hurt you really, really bad!"
With those ominous words, Chloe walked to her police cruiser and got in, followed by Lucifer, who looked like a toddler who had just been thoroughly schooled.