Demigod Down (25 page)

I’m not getting a margarita here, I thought.
“Whisky on the rocks,” I ordered to his cool, disbelieving gaze. He
filled my order, placing the glass on a napkin on front of me,
watching me closely. Without breaking his gaze, I picked up the
short glass taking a sip.

He smiled when the amber liquid went down
without causing me to cough or turn red. Bracing his hands on
either side of bar, he asked, “You looking for trouble?”

I smiled slowly, before leaning forward
slightly, “What makes you think I am looking?” I murmured.

He leaned forward and I inhaled the scent of
pine needles and alcohol, shifter. “I am aware of who you are,” he
whispered right back and I couldn’t help the widespread grin on my
face.

“So are you pro succubus or against?” I
asked, watching him closely.

His cool demeanor broke and he returned my
smile. “Sweetheart, with what you have been pulling lately, I am
pro all the way.” He turned serious again, “Although given why you
were in our fair state of Oklahoma last, it does also worry
me.”

I nodded understanding. “I don’t think what I
finished here is done with and I think that man down on the end has
a name I need.”

“Travis?” He asked softly, not needing to
take a look down.

“Yes, someone made sure the detectives and
officers at the precinct were fired up when Logan, Darren, and I
arrived. Not to mention that the missing person’s database is
lacking those who were taken by the ring.”

He raised an eyebrow. “You think it was a
cop?”

I shrugged, taking another sip of whisky
enjoying the taste, “It’s the obvious assumption. Someone riled
them up and someone made sure those reports disappeared.”

The barkeep nodded looking down when Travis
yelled for another drink, smashing his empty glass against the bar.
I watched his eyes flicker in annoyance as his beast made its
displeasure known before he moved down to refill his glass.

I had planned on seducing the information
from Travis, but beating him was starting to sound like a fantastic
idea. I would have to wait for him to leave though and I wasn’t in
a particularly patient mood.

The barkeep made it back down to me, “What’s
your name anyways?” I asked, curious since I couldn’t keep calling
him barkeep in my head forever.

He smiled, “Anson and I think the man you are
looking for is down with Travis right now.”

It took all my considerable willpower not to
march down there and haul his pathetic ass outside for a one on
one. Anson raised an eyebrow at me as my hand tightened around the
glass, “Patience is not one of my virtues,” I admitted.

He looked down the bar as Travis and his
companion grew louder, “From the sounds of it, they’ll be here most
of the night.”

I groaned.

Thankfully Anson’s prediction wasn’t accurate
as they left for a strip club a few hours later. Quickly, I paid
for my drink and ran to Jerry who was waiting outside, sliding into
the passenger seat.

“About damn time,” he muttered.

“Follow that cab. The man we want is in there
with Travis,” I told him excitedly.

“You smell like whisky,” he muttered.

“I should, I did have a drink,” I answered,
not bothered by my alcohol consumption.

“I’m jealous,” Jerry said and sighed.

“I’ll ask for a to-go cup next time,” I told
him laughing.

“For you, they would probably accommodate,”
he informed me, carefully following the cabby in front of us that
was making a quick right turn.

Jerry did an excellent job following the cab
driver. We pulled up down the street of a neon lit strip club as
Travis and his friend stumbled out.

I turned to Jerry uncertain of how to frame
my request. “So, I bet they have whisky inside,” I tried with a
fake smile.

He turned to me, his dark eyes regarding me
disbelieving. “You want me, a gay man to go into a strip club?”

“It will be too noticeable if I go in,” I
tried, explaining without whining.

Jerry heaved a sigh, watching the entrance
again before turning to me, “You are lucky that strippers love me,”
he said grinning.

I shoved him good-naturedly towards the door.
“Now, give me your money,” he said, raising his eyebrows.

I obliged him, handing over my cash
reserves.

Have we discussed that I am not a patient
person? Because waiting in the SUV for hours, was fucking painful.
Luckily across the street was a twenty-four hour minimart where I
stocked up on sour gummy worms, crackers, and soda.

I ate everything within less than two hours
and the only thing it gave me was a stomachache and a sugar
high.

Around two a.m., Jerry finally exited the
establishment, drunkenly staggering to the passenger door. I
watched him the from the driver’s side, silently laughing as he
pulled himself up before roughly closing the door.

“I got what you need, just take me to the
hotel,” he pleaded, curling up into a ball.

“You need to throw up, you better give me
warning,” I informed him as he waved me off.

“Where is the hotel anyways?” I muttered,
pulling out my phone to call Darren. He didn’t answer so I tried
Logan instead.

“Hello?” he grunted.

“Where are you staying at?” I asked him.

“What could you possibly want?” Logan grunted
at me.

“The address of your hotel,” I told him,
again irritated I had to repeat myself.

He grunted and I could hear the sheets
pulling over his body as he moved clicking on a light, “What the
hell are you doing anyways?”

“Trying to get a drunk Jerry back to the
hotel,” I told him again tensely.

“Why is Jerry drunk?” he muttered rummaging
through papers.

“Cause ‘trippers love me!” Jerry bellowed
rolling the widow down.

“Forget I asked,” Logan said, reading off the
address. “Do you need your own room?” Logan asked.

“Yeah, I’ll get one when I get there.” I
answered, yawning.

“Don’t bother,” Logan said, rolling again, “I
have an extra room next to mine.”

“Why?” I asked, my eyes narrowing as I made
my way to the hotel.

“I assumed you would need one,” Logan stated,
“And it’s far easier to pay for your lodging directly than being
billed triple the cost later.”

I laughed. “Babysitting services are not
cheap,” I informed him.

“Don’t wake me when you get here,” he
muttered before ending the call.

As in Miami, this hotel was by far nicer than
anything I typically booked myself into. While I normally would
have heeded Logan’s advice about not waking him, oh yeah let’s be
honest, I enjoyed pounding on his door after I put Jerry to
bed.

“What?” he growled.

“I need the key for the room!” I yelled back
far louder than necessary.

Grumbling met my demands as I tried not to
laugh. A door opened behind me and I turned to see Darren.

“Olivia, you sure know how to make an
entrance,” he told me, leaning against the door frame.

“Hey Darren,” I greeted him, smiling
widely.

“You get any leads?” Darren asked sleepily,
as something thumped loudly in Logan’s room.

I nodded as Logan’s cursing echoed out into
the hallway, covering my mouth as I suppressed a laugh.

The door I was leaning against was thrown
open as Logan stood there stark naked. I could not resist, letting
my eyes rove over his body as I took the key card he was handing
out.

“Thanks, stud,” I teased, picking up my bag
and heading to the room next to his.

He grunted a response before looking at
Darren, grunting something unintelligible before he slammed the
door.

Jerry’s voice boomed out from the other side
of Logan’s room, “Don’t slam that shit, you overgrown kitten!”

I couldn’t hold back the wave of laughter as
I quickly closed the door to my opulent room.

…

I was up too early based on the green glow
from the nightstand clock. My body wasn’t tired and my mind was
curious as to what Jerry had discovered, but I wasn’t cruel enough
to wake him up, yet.

I pulled my laptop out dialing Tommy’s user
name or at least I think that’s how it worked.

His empty room filled the screen before he
ran in brushing his teeth and holding up a finger. I heard the
water before he came back.

“Hi, Olie,” Tommy greeted me.

“Hey, Tommy, how are you doing?” I asked,
needing a connection to home and needing to know something I did
was worth it, even if I did promise to stay away.

He shrugged, searching my face, “I miss
you.”

I smiled, “I miss you too.”

“How long are you staying away?” he asked me
and I could see the guilt in his face.

“I don’t know, but none of this in your
fault.” I told him, hoping he believed me.

He shrugged and I saw the shutdown happening.
“I was calling to see if you could help me,” I lied.

He perked back up and asked, “With your
case?”

“Yeah, can you hack into the local police
station here?” I asked him, certain the answer was no.

He looked around the room before leaning
forward, “Who told you that?” he asked seriously, a depth of
intelligence shining in his eyes, far beyond the video game
extraordinaire I was used to.

“I need help and I don’t have anyone else
that I trust,” I answered honestly, leaning forward.

His fingers tapped the laptop as he was
thinking.

“Besides you can’t hide anything from me, by
now you should know that,” I informed him, playing the
all-knowing.

He smiled, his good humor returning, “Yeah I
can do that.”

I smiled wider at him. “I hope you know, you
are officially being put to work now,” I informed him.

“What’s my pay?” He asked, crossing his arms
raising an eyebrow at me.

I laughed, “I’ll get you out of jail if you
get caught,” I informed him.

He cracked his knuckles, confidence radiating
off him. He had just turned thirteen and he already had better tech
skills than me. “I do not get caught,” he informed me smiling.

“What are you looking for?” he asked, moving
to his desktop computer.

I gave him the run down and asked him to also
look into Miami’s lack of a missing persons file.

A voice called out in the background and
Tommy ignored it, “Is that the last car to school?” I asked him
seriously.

“Yeah,” he answered “But I can…” he stopped,
turning to look at me.

“Please get on that car, I don’t not have
time to save you and solve this murder and you know damn well which
I will pick,” I warned him.

He nodded swallowing. “It can wait, go,” I
told him sternly.

“Bye Olie,” he said, rushing out the
door.

“Later Tommy,” I said to the empty room,
closing the lid to my laptop.

I heard pounding on my door that quickly
snapped me out of my thoughts. I padded to the closed door dressed
only in my sports bra and shorts.

Logan and Darren stood there both dressed in
equally relaxed clothing.

Logan raised his brows, “You’re awake?”

I rolled my eyes.

Darren smiled, “Free breakfast?”

“Yes,” I agreed, grabbing my room key before
following them out.

“Do you even sleep?” Logan asked me as my
room door closed.

I shrugged and said, “Occasionally but there
is too much on my mind lately. I am curious as to what Jerry found
out.”

“How long are we letting him sleep?” Logan
asked as we walked to the elevator.

“At least noon. He really hit the alcohol
hard with the strippers,” I answered, leaning against the elevator
wall.

“Strippers?” Logan and Darren asked in
unison.

“Yeah and Darren you are not allowed to go in
there or near,” I warned him.

Darren flashed a winning smile. “What, Logan
is allowed to?” he teased.

“If it helps ending his terrible relationship
with Lorraine, than I will personally drive him to every strip club
I can find,” I informed him.

Logan’s mouth curled up a small smile as we
entered the dining room receiving equal stares of interest and
caution. I was aware of one man’s gaze following me, forgetting the
newspaper spread over his table, as I stacked a plate high with
bagels, fruit, and donuts.

Logan turned to glare at him until he
blustered under the fierce gaze.

“Babysitting?” I teased, smearing cream
cheese on my bagel as we sat down.

“He was staring,” he answered, huffing down
in his seat.

“So are all the women at you,” I teased him
as he looked around, taking in their glances.

“Huh,” was Logan’s only comment as he busied
himself with his food.

After devouring a smattering of breakfast
foods, I snagged a few bagels for Jerry as we headed back to the
rooms. Checking my watch, I realized that he still had time to
sleep. I sighed, wondering what I was going to do with myself
now.

I wasn’t going to find out as Jerry was
waiting for us outside of Logan’s door holding a paper cup of
coffee, his head leaned back as he snored.

Logan cleared his throat, startling Jerry as
he spilled his coffee all down the front of his wrinkled suit.

“Motherfucker,” he gritted out at Logan
scowling at him with blood shot eyes.

Logan moved around Jerry opening the door and
we all followed in. Logan and Darren sat on the end of the bed
while Jerry and I took the chairs around the small circular
table.

Jerry looked down at his disheveled
appearance, swaying slightly in his chair.

“Are you still drunk?” I asked with a raised
eyebrow.

“Probably,” he slurred point at me, “But you
need to hear what I found out last night.”

“All ears,” Logan muttered, clearly
unimpressed.

Jerry turned his red eye glare to Logan, his
head lolling on his shoulders. He began, “The strip club is
funneling humans, shifters, and vampires into whatever fucked up,
brutal situations that you have been hunting down.”