Sex & Mayhem 02 The Devil's Ride (25 page)

Rick smiled. “Could we arrange that you message me
every three days or so? I would feel much better.”

“
Yeah, sure.” Luci held back the urge to hug him.
Rick had never been very touchy feely. “That’s me.” He stopped by
the club door and pointed
at the ‘Coffin Nails’ sign.

Rick raised his hand and walked back toward the
salon where he must have left his car. Luci smiled and watched him
for a moment before walking into the club. He never thought he’d
have so many people caring about him.

He locked the door and walked deeper into the
compound, straight into the lounge, which was oddly quiet for this
time of day. In fact, there was no one there. No one drinking beer,
no one watching TV. It was as if everyone hid in the bomb shelter
or something.

At first, Luci wanted to shout a ‘hello’, but then
a different kind of instinct kicked in,
and he made his steps slower as he moved through
the corridors. He slid his hand into his bag and pulled out the gun
Bell had given him last week. Bell had told him that while Luci
wasn’t any good with it yet, if bad came to worse, it’d be better
for him to have one. What was happening? Did someone take over the
compound? He knew everyone would tell him to leave and hide, but he
couldn’t do that.

A high-pitched, terrifying howl resonated throughout
the building, and Luci almost dropped the gun to the floor,
pressing against the wall. He broke out in sweat, but moved along
the corridor. Step after forced step.

The door to the basement was partially open, and his
blood froze when he heard the sound of footsteps coming up the
stairs with the soundtrack of voices. Lucifer’s stomach clenched in
terror at another scream from downstairs, but he stood his ground,
squeezing the gun in his hand.

The door flung open and banged on the wall,
leaving Luci face to face with
Bell, who eyed the gun like it were a cobra ready to bite
him. ”What the actual fuck?”

“
I
… It’s
so empty, and the screams…” Luci exhaled and put the safety on the
gun.

Bell closed the door with a frown. “Obviously it’s
empty. Tooth Fairy’s doing his magic downstairs. The guys wanted to
watch.”

Luci put the gun back in his bag. He knew these
things needed to be done, but he definitely didn’t want to watch.
“Oh… Is this about Suzy? Is there a lead?”

Bell groaned and walked over to the bar in the
lounge. “She remembered there was a guy stalking her in the bar,
kept buying her used stockings and underwear. He actually said he
wanted a part of her,” he said with a slight shudder.

Luci shivered at the mere thought of it. “Jesus
Christ. What a freak. You think he went for the kidney because he
could have that, and she’d still be alive?”

Bell opened a beer he took from the fridge and
tossed one to Luci. “Maybe he wanted to eat it or something. From
what she said, he really was a creep.”

Lucifer plopped down in an armchair and opened his
beer. “With kidney beans?” he laughed nervously, hoping the joke
would show
he was okay
about all this.

“
No idea, I hate offal,” growled Bell, who
lay down on the sofa and looked
at the ceiling.

“How is she doing anyway? I heard you let her stay
at your place for a while. She’s recovering?” Luci cocked his head
to the side. He needed to distract himself from what was happening
underground.

“Yeah, she’s doing fine. She even baked a rhubarb
pie over the weekend. It was quite a killer, if you ask me,” said
Bell, patting himself on the stomach.

“But you guys got the drugs back, so the club is
good with her, right?”

“Yeah, it’s fine. The fucker obviously had no idea
she had any. We already got someone else to deal with her
stash.”

“Take care of her. Let me know if you need any
help.” Luci took a big swig of the beer and got up. “I’ll be in my
room.”

“
You got it,” said Bell without getting up. If Suzy
kept baking pies for him, he would never get
a chiseled physique, but he didn’t seem
all that bothered.

Luci drank on his way and slowed down when he
passed the door to the ‘dentist’s office’.
It must be soundproof, because there were
no more sounds coming now that it was locked. How long could it
take? Would they find out who brutalized Suzy this way? After all,
she said there were at least four different men handling her. The
kidnappers, a surgeon… Whoever was down there in Tooth’s basement
deserved what was coming his way.

Luci forced his feet to move all the way to the
room he shared with Tooth. Tooth
had even bought him one of those foldable
wardrobes made of metal shelves and fabric. There was more clutter
than before Luci moved in here, but Tooth was very accommodating as
long as Luci kept his stuff from gravitating all over the place.
Luci got to set up a hair styling station on the table and even got
to pick his new towels and bedding. Luci was making sure that even
with the space being a bit tight, everything was
orderly.

He put his bag on the desk and sat down on Tooth’s
bed. All he could do was wait, so he would be here whenever Tooth
needed him. The clock hands seemed to move impossibly slow,
especially after the first half an hour, and his nerves were
starting to get the better of him. Would Tooth knock out all of the
guy’s teeth? Or maybe there were more prisoners to question, and
that was why it was taking so long?

The door opened all of a sudden, startling Luci
enough to flinch. Tooth looked like a madman who
’d just crawled out of the institution
he’d been locked in for years. His hair was a mess, he was
shirtless, and there were stains of red all over his torso, and
even some on his face.

Luci swallowed, scrambling back into place. As soon
as the smell of blood hit him, bile rose in his throat. He couldn’t
show Tooth his discomfort, it would be the last thing Tooth needed
now. “I heard what happened.” It came out shaky, so he tried again.
“What did you find out?”

Tooth’s green eyes focused on him for a brief moment
before settling on the floor. His naked chest was heaving with each
breath he was taking. “Not a fucking thing. He’s just a pervert,”
growled Tooth, squeezing his hands into fists.

Luci’s heart plummeted. “So it was a false lead?”
He got up, unsure how to approach Tooth. Being dizzy didn’t
help.
Tooth’s hair was a
bush of wavy strands and the dark spots on his beard made Luci itch
to wash them off. He was sure his body’s reactions would lessen
when they were out of sight. For now, he had to fight his nausea.
Tooth was more important.

“Fucking waste of time,” growled Tooth, kicking his
other boots across the room, all tense. “It’s all in vain.”

Lucifer hated to see him hurt like this because he
knew it wasn’t just anger. Tooth was hoping for a lead that could
eventually get him some closure. And now that trail was dead. Suzy
was only a part of the bigger picture Tooth was seeking to uncover.
“I’m sorry.” He ran his fingers along Tooth’s arm, hoping the anger
wouldn’t end up spilled out on him. At least Tooth’s forearms and
hands were clean. He must have worn gloves.

Tooth bit his lip and looked at him, breathing hard.
Luci could feel the furious pulsing beneath his touch. “It’s not
your fault. Twelve years, and still nothing,” muttered Tooth.

“Something will come up,” said Luci without much
conviction, but he needed to say something. Do something. He gently
pulled Tooth along to the bathroom.

Tooth sighed and started rubbing one of the spots on
his chest. “Did I scare you?”

“No… I mean… I’m scared that you’re upset.” Luci
turned on the water in the bathtub and put a towel under the
faucet. If he could only ignore the nauseating stench of blood, he
could pretend it was paint on Tooth’s skin.

Tooth swallowed hard, resting against the wall. “You
don’t have to. I’ve failed to find those bastards for the last
twelve years. Maybe I wasn’t vigilant enough.”

“
I’m sure you did everything you could.” Luci
soaked the towel in warm water and squeezed out
the excess liquid before putting it
against Tooth’s skin. Maybe it wasn’t needed, but the inability to
help made the necessity of acting all the more
desperate.

Tooth averted his eyes, but let Luci gently wash off
the blood “I don’t know,” he whispered.

“So the man from today, he really knew nothing?”
Luci reached up to Tooth’s beard with the warm towel and gently
patted it. He wished the towels were darker, so he wouldn’t see the
red stains all over them. His breath quickened in panic, despite
the logical side of his brain knowing that his fear of blood was
irrational.

Tooth shrugged. “He started telling us what we
wanted to hear, just because he wanted me to stop. He’s a
despicable human being, but not an organ snatcher,” he growled,
slowly sitting down on the closed toilet lid.

Luci ran the towel down Tooth’s arms to make sure
they were clean. “Maybe we could ask Suzy to write down everything
she remembers. To take her time with it. Turn to the side,” he
ordered,
so he’d be able
to wet Tooth’s hair in the sink. It always made Luci feel good to
be taken care of at the hairdresser’s, so he hoped it would work
the same way for Tooth.

Tooth stared at him for a moment, but eventually did
as he was told. “She already told us everything she knew. I don’t
know. It feels like the information I need is sliding out of my
grasp.”

All Luci could help with was to make Tooth not look
like a mess, but would that actually help his mind? He ran warm
water over Tooth’s hair and began working in his minty shampoo. It
should soothe Tooth’s nerves slightly. Luci made a point of making
this a slow massage as well as a wash. “If people like Suzy are
their target, and this shit doesn’t hit the newspapers, maybe we
could ask her to put out the word?”

Tooth closed his eyes, letting Lucifer do what he
wanted. “That could be a good idea. Do you think she’d do
that?”

“
I think she would with the right encouragement.”
Luci looked down
at that
face becoming less tense, and a part of him hoped it was his
achievement. That there was something he could give Tooth, a little
bit of relaxation he could help him with.

Tooth hummed, his shoulders gradually relaxing.
“That’s kinda nice,” he whispered.

Luci’s heart
leaped at the compliment, and he made sure he massaged the
sides and back of the head as well as the top. “I bought a special
hair mask for you as well. Just never got to use it. I want you to
feel good.” All of a sudden, the atmosphere thickened with more
than the minty scent.

Tooth’s eyes opened, and his green irises gazed into
Luci’s face from beneath the long eyelashes. “You’re... such a
sweetheart,” he muttered, playing with his fingers.

A smile instantly bloomed on Luci’s lips. He would
have loved to just lean down and kiss Tooth. “Let’s just hope my
future boyfriend thinks so as well. But you’d help me out if he
smacked me around, right?” He reached to the bathtub for the
detachable showerhead and began
rinsing Tooth’s hair.

A dark glow resurfaced in Tooth’s eyes. “Why would
anyone do that?”

Luci shrugged. “Guys can be shitty when something
doesn’t go their way.” He squirted the conditioning mask into his
palm and rubbed it into Tooth’s hair, enjoying touching the long
strands.

There was a warm touch at his side, and he froze,
looking at Tooth, who stared at him with a frown. “You need to find
the right guy then.”

“I don’t know before I try. What’s the name of that
Nail nomad you said was gay? Maybe I could try after all?” Lucifer
twirled Tooth’s hair into a bun and held onto it. The minerals in
the mask needed a few minutes to soak in.

Tooth snorted. “God, no. He’s not a good guy.”

“Well, it’s not like a good guy is gonna be
interested in me.” Luci leaned into the touch of Tooth’s arm. “No
doctor or lawyer is gonna date me.”

“Oh, shut up,” chuckled Tooth. “Who wouldn’t want to
date you?”

“Come on, Tooth.” Luci laughed to hide his
embarrassment. “I’m… dirty.”

“No, you’re not.” Tooth knocked on Luci’s side.
“You’re so clean you’d squeak if I touched you right.”

Luci gasped and slapped Tooth’s arm with his clean
hand. “Oh, my God! You did not just say that!”

Tooth sniggered, now completely relaxed. His body
was beginning to rest, and with the harmless banter, it seemed so
was his mind. “Aren’t you the clean house master?”

“
But any normal guy would freak out about my past,
and I don’t wanna lie. If I was just going clubbing and sleeping
around most guys wouldn’t even blink, but because of hooking,
they’d think I’m like… used up. You know what I mean?” He looked
away
under the pretense
of getting the shower head again.

“That wouldn’t be fair. Everyone has something
they’d like to forget about. A skeleton in the closet.”

Luci put on a brave face and smiled. “On the other
hand, I give amazing head, so my guy shouldn’t be complaining
really.” He rinsed the conditioning mask out of Tooth’s hair. It
felt so nice, and untangled easily now the hair was more
nourished.

Tooth groaned. “Too much information.”

Lucifer swallowed. “Sorry. I’ll keep it clean for
the sanctity of your delicate ears.” He pinched one of Tooth’s ears
and got a brush to take care of Tooth’s hair while it was still
wet.

Tooth grinned at him. “I admit, this feels nicer
than I thought. What else are you gonna do?”