[Lucifer] Ch: 36 [Back to the Devil] (Patreon)

AN: Slightly smaller ch.

[A Few Days Later] [LAPD]

For the first time in what felt like weeks, Chloe Decker had experienced several completely ordinary mornings.

Lucifer wasn't waiting in her kitchen in the morning. The expensive Corvette wasn't blocking the precinct driveway, either. She was actually getting a break from the relentless commentary on her wardrobe, her boobs, her dating life, and her "denial" about his supposed identity as the Lord of Hell. For the first time in a while, nobody was tailing her into crime scenes just to insult suspects, flirt with witnesses and cops, and somehow trick people into confessing in five minutes flat.

Lucifer hadn't called or texted her. 

Chloe should've been enjoying the peace.

Instead, she sat behind her desk staring at a report she'd already read twice while tapping one finger against the edge of the keyboard.

Her concentration kept drifting.

She wondered what Lucifer was doing.

That realization irritated her enough that she immediately returned her attention to the report.

'This is good.'

She needed normal.

Lucifer had brought almost nothing except chaos into her life since the moment they'd met. Shootings, strange confessions, impossible feats of strength, super-speed she still couldn't explain, and enough inappropriate comments to keep an HR department employed forever.

A few days of quiet days should've felt like a vacation.

Instead, some annoying part of her kept expecting to hear his British voice behind her.

'Detective.'

Chloe frowned at the computer screen.

"This is ridiculous."

A uniformed officer walking past glanced toward her.

Chloe immediately pretended she'd been talking about the report.

She took a sip of coffee and forced herself to focus. Lucifer had a nightclub to run, thousands of women to flirt with, parties to attend, and whatever other nonsense filled the life of a wealthy lunatic who claimed he'd once ruled Hell.

He didn't need to call her every day.

More importantly, she didn't need him to.

'Ha, I don't care.'

That thought should've settled the issue.

It didn't.

Chloe leaned back and rubbed one hand across her forehead. Maybe she was simply restless because things had been unusually quiet. Lucifer had become associated with cases lately through pure coincidence, so it's not like he's a part of LAPD. Life goes on, and with that, new cases to solve.

That explanation sounded reasonable enough that she decided to accept it.

For roughly thirty seconds.

Then Dan approached her desk holding his phone.

His expression immediately told Chloe he'd found something worth ruining her morning over.

"You busy?"

Chloe looked toward the stack of paperwork beside her. "Depends. Are you about to give me something worse than this?"

Dan pulled out the chair beside her desk and sat down. "Check this out."

He started the video.

A young woman appeared on the screen.

She looked twenty-something, and somewhat tired, sitting inside a moving SUV while sunlight flashed across the window beside her.

“Fourth day on the road,” Lindsay said into the camera with a grim expression. “We've got three meat sticks left, half a bottle of water, and about two hundred seventeen miles before Los Angeles. I'm honestly not sure we're going to survive because my brother drives like a narcoleptic grandmother.”

She turned the camera toward the driver's side while laughing. 

“Say hello, Grandma.”

A hand immediately reached toward the food she was holding.

Lindsay pulled it away and laughed harder.

“Hey, that's practically all we've got left to eat.”

The short recording ended.

Chloe looked at the frozen image on Dan's phone while he brought up another screen containing Lindsay's information.

Dan kept his voice low enough that the conversation stayed between them. “Her name's Lindsay Jolson. She just turned twenty-two. That video was from the trip she took into Los Angeles with her brother. She disappeared later while working a catering job at a Players' Club event.”

Chloe's attention shifted from Lindsay's smiling face toward Dan. “Players' Club?”

Dan's expression made it clear he didn't think highly of the organization. “One of those pickup artist groups. They take socially awkward guys, charge them a fortune, and supposedly teach them how to turn themselves into irresistible sex gods.”

Chloe immediately understood the type of organization he meant. “Got it.”

Dan swiped across the phone until another photograph appeared.

A confident-looking man stared back at them from what appeared to be promotional material.

Dan angled the screen toward Chloe. “Lindsay was last seen talking with this guy. Carver Cruz. He's the founder and the face of the whole operation.”

Chloe studied the photograph for a moment before looking back at Dan. “So somebody questioned him?”

Dan nodded. “Yeah. We brought him in, but his lawyer handled almost the entire interview. Cruz barely said anything useful, and we've got nothing physical tying him to Lindsay's disappearance. Without evidence, we can't hold him."

Chloe leaned back slightly in her chair while her attention returned toward Lindsay's picture.

A twenty-two-year-old woman had gone to work and vanished. And the last person known to have spoken with her had already hidden behind an attorney. That usually meant the investigation would slow down fast unless somebody found another way inside.

Dan clearly had one.

He moved the phone back toward himself. “There's another Players' Club seminar tonight, followed by one of their private parties. You need to go undercover.”

Chloe looked at him as though he'd skipped several important steps. “Why me? I'm homicide.”

Dan had obviously expected the reaction. “Because you're the best way we've got to get inside.”

Chloe's suspicion grew immediately. “I am?”

Dan let out a breath before explaining. “These events are pretty exclusive. I checked the guest list for tonight, and one name jumped out at me. Apparently they invite certain people who make the whole thing look more legitimate, including owners of high-end clubs.”

Chloe stared at him.

She already knew where this was going.

A slow feeling of dread settled in her stomach while Dan's expression became increasingly difficult to read without wanting to throw something at him.

Understanding finally landed.

Chloe leaned back and closed her eyes for a second. “Oh, come on. You're kidding.” 

Dan gave a short, humorless chuckle. “I really wish I was.”

Chloe opened her eyes again. “Lucifer's on the guest list?” 

Dan nodded. "Yeah."

Of course he was.

A private party run by men selling seduction techniques, filled with wealthy guests and probably surrounded by attractive women, was practically designed to attract Lucifer Morningstar.

Chloe released a long sigh while rubbing one hand against her forehead. “Yeah, of course he is.”

The universe apparently had a sense of humor. She'd spent the entire morning wondering why Lucifer hadn't contacted her. Now the LAPD was practically ordering her to call him.

Dan looked uncomfortable with the situation for reasons that went well beyond the case.

He sighed before continuing. “Look, the last thing I want is the guy I found making breakfast for my half-naked wife getting another excuse to spend time with her. Separated or not, I'm not exactly thrilled about this. But...”

Chloe's expression sharpened at the wording, though Dan kept going before the conversation could turn into another argument about what had happened at her house.

His tone shifted away from jealousy and back toward the investigation.

Chloe looked once more at Lindsay's picture.

A young woman smiling during a road trip with her brother. She feels alive and happy and completely unaware that sometime after reaching Los Angeles, she'd disappear while doing something as ordinary as working a catering job.

Chloe understood what Dan was saying before he finished.

“This is still our best option.”

Dan nodded reluctantly. “I wouldn't be asking otherwise. I just keep thinking about it, and every time I look at her, I wonder what we'd be doing right now if that was our daughter.”

That erased the rest of Chloe's hesitation.

Her eyes stayed on Lindsay for another moment.

Trixie was still a child, but one day she wouldn't be. One day she'd be twenty-two, going to parties, taking jobs, meeting people her parents couldn't screen first, and making decisions without Chloe standing nearby to protect her.

If Trixie disappeared and the only lead was a man protected by money and lawyers, Chloe knew exactly how desperate she'd become for someone to find a way inside.

She couldn't ignore that.

Even if the way inside happened to involve Lucifer Morningstar.

Chloe leaned back in her chair and stared at the phone on her desk.

A few minutes earlier, she'd been irritated with herself for wondering where he was.

Now she had an actual reason to find out.

And although Chloe refused to examine the feeling too closely, the restlessness that had followed her all morning suddenly didn't feel quite as strong.

...

[Meanwhile...]

[LUX] [Lucifer's Penthouse]

Lucifer Morningstar had discovered a far more important use for his supernatural patience.

Maze lay facedown across Lucifer's bed without a single piece of clothing on, completely naked and relaxed after the morning she'd already had.

One leg was stretched straight across the sheets while the other bent lazily at the knee. She slowly flipped through the pages of a Playboy magazine with the casual interest of someone who'd spent thousands of years around considerably stranger things.

She and Lucifer had already had sex the previous night, slept for several hours, and then started the morning together before eventually ending up in the shower fifteen minutes earlier.

Maze was satisfied...

...Very satisfied.

Which was probably one of the reasons she was currently allowing Lucifer to use her butt cheeks as a construction platform. The other reason was that she belonged to him, and lately she rather enjoyed what that meant.

Lucifer sat beside her with intense concentration written across his face.

Several dozen dominoes had already been carefully arranged over Maze's butt cheeks, forming a surprisingly elaborate pyramid that rose several levels above her skin. He held another domino between two fingers while studying the structure from different angles.

Maze turned another page of the magazine.

"You've been doing this for twenty minutes."

"Seventeen minutes and forty-three seconds," Lucifer corrected without taking his eyes away from the pyramid. "And greatness can't be rushed, Maze."

She glanced over her shoulder and raised one eyebrow. "You're stacking dominoes on my ass."

Lucifer looked mildly offended. "I'm creating architecture on an exceptionally beautiful foundation. There's a considerable difference."

Maze smiled into the magazine, clearly enjoying every ridiculous second of the attention. Lucifer had been like this more and more lately, always touching her, kissing her, pulling her close, or finding some completely absurd excuse to keep her nearby.

She turned another page and said, "You know, I could get used to this version of you."

Lucifer carefully lifted the final domino between two fingers. "Of course you could. I'm charming, handsome, generous, and currently demonstrating architectural genius upon your perfect butt cheeks."

Maze laughed quietly and kept perfectly still while he lowered the piece toward the top of the pyramid.

His phone suddenly rang.

Lucifer flinched just enough to freeze his hand, though the domino remained between his fingers. He narrowed his eyes, ignored the ringing, and carefully placed the final piece into position.

The pyramid stood perfectly.

Lucifer smiled with satisfaction. "There we are. Absolute perfection."

He leaned toward the bedside table and reached for his phone.

The mattress shifted beneath his weight.

The entire domino pyramid collapsed across Maze's butt and scattered over the sheets.

Lucifer stared at the destruction in disbelief. "Ah, come on. What a disaster."

Maze looked over her shoulder with a smug smile. "Told you to build it on my belly."

Lucifer picked up the phone while giving her butt an appreciative squeeze. "And waste a foundation this perfect? Never."

He checked the caller ID, then answered. 

"Hello, Detective."