Demonicus (Overworld Underground Book 2) (7 page)

"Ten twelve."

"That's a negative."

The other voice spoke again. "Ten twelve."

The officer sighed and turned around. "One of our detectives is on the way and wants to ask a few questions."

My stomach went cold as ice. "A detective?"

He nodded. "Standard procedure for a gunshot report. I'm sure he wants to speak to you now instead of disturbing you again."

Less than five minutes later, the lift dinged and a short thin man with a balding head stepped into the foyer. "I've got this, Rogers."

The police officer nodded. "Want me to continue asking around on the other floors?"

"Yeah, you do that." The man turned to Tyler. "I'm Detective Long." He took out a notepad. "Mind if I have a look around?"

"A look around for what?" Tyler asked.

"For any evidence of a fired weapon."

Tyler's forehead wrinkled. "Do you plan to search every condo in this building?"

"I intend to do what's necessary to make sure nobody was injured by a bullet." The detective tried to enter the door, but Tyler stood in his way. "I'm sorry, but we're just about to sit down for dinner, and I really don't want to deal with this right now. We already gave your officer a statement."

"I'm afraid you'll have to let me in," Long said.

"Oh, you have a warrant?" Tyler took a sip of his drink and grinned at the other man's silence. "No, you don't. Now, if you'll kindly stop harassing us, we're going to eat." He nodded. "Good evening, Detective."

The other man glared at him, but didn't try to force the issue again.

Tyler closed the door in his face and listened until the lift dinged. He blew out a breath. "What in the hell was that about?"

"It was like he knew we were guilty of something," I said. "I mean, technically, we were, but still…"

"Yeah. I hope he's not really an undercover Exorcist."

I touched the amulet hanging over his chest. "My parents said they couldn't track you with this on."

He rubbed it, and tucked it under his shirt. "I just hope they're right."

We went into the den just as George reappeared from the balcony. He put the rug covering the blood into a bag then narrowed his eyes and peered around the room before walking to a small hole in the drywall. He poked a rod into the hole and withdrew a flattened slug.

"What kind of magical device did you use to get that out?" I asked.

He held up the rod. "We call this a magnet, Miss Glass."

I pursed my lips and glared at him. "Very funny."

George switched subjects. "I'll see if I can find a qualified Arcane who knows how to banish demons to the Abyss. Failing that, I believe Daemos can do it as well."

Tyler shook George's hand. "Thanks for helping us with our little emergency."

"Not a problem, Mr. Rock."

"You can call me Tyler."

"Oh no, George likes to keep things formal and professional," I said. "I'm sorry, I meant to say, Agent Walker."

"Your quick wit is always appreciated, Miss Glass." He put a bottle of blue liquid on the counter. "Use this potion to clean the blood from the floors." With that, George picked up the bag with the bloody rug and bade us farewell before getting into his invisible car and flying away.

It was a very strange day indeed when someone flying away in an invisible car was the most normal thing about it.

Tyler dropped into a chair, a melancholy look on his face.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Barboar just reminded me of what I am."

"How in the hell would that creature remind you of anything? You're nothing like him."

Tyler threw up his hands. "I'm a demon, Em. Somewhere deep down inside, I'm every bit as depraved and evil as that son of a bitch."

"No, you're not." I squeezed his hands. "You're special."

"Special?" He blew out a breath. "Sometimes I wonder what I really am. I'm not a Daemos, and I'm not sharing space with a human's soul. I'm in a dead man's body all by myself, pretending to be what I'm not."

"Tyler Rock, you have nothing in common with Barboar." I pressed my hands to his cheeks and made him look at me. "You are a good man, a good demon, and I happen to think you're special. Otherwise, I wouldn't be madly in love with you."

His shoulders straightened, and he gazed into my eyes. "I absolutely adore you, Em. Even if I am evil at heart, I want to be good just for you."

"Then do it." I couldn't bear the insecure look in his eyes, so I embraced him tightly and wished I never had to let go.

Barboar and Tyler's previous demon associates had left deep scars. I would do whatever it took to help him heal.

Chapter 6

I almost hugged Sandra when I saw her at work the next day, despite the arch of her imperious eyebrows. She was just so bloody normal, I wanted to kiss her. As usual, she wore a professional blouse and skirt that made her look more like an executive than a receptionist. I'd opted for jeans, a T-shirt, and flats. I'd done too much running around in high heels for this company already.

"Good morning, Sandra." I smiled and opened the box of doughnuts I'd brought with me.

Her right eyebrow climbed to the same altitude as her left. "I'm on a diet."

I was envious of her hourglass shape. "Oh, one or two won't hurt. Try the cream puffs. They're delightful."

She hesitantly took one and placed it on a napkin. "Thank you, Miss Glass."

"Emily. Remember, we're all on a first-name basis here." That had been one of Tyler's first rules, but Sandra seemed uncomfortable with such familiarity.

I walked into the programming department and left the doughnut box there. A man with a horseshoe pillow around his neck crawled from beneath a desk, nostrils flaring. Stan saw the doughnuts and grabbed two before vanishing beneath his desk again. According to Sandra, Stan's wife had kicked him out of the house so he'd lived here ever since. Unless someone complained, I wasn't going to make him sleep elsewhere.

The lift doors dinged as I walked down the hall back toward the main reception area. Jack Somers and several other programmers entered the glass doors.

"Emily!" Jack gave me a hug and pulled back. "How was vacation?" He smirked. "Or should I call it a sabbatical?"

"It was lovely." Despite the nagging worry that the Exorcists or some other Overworld agency would swoop in and take Tyler from me, the stay had been blissful. A beach, amazing sex, and wonderful food went a long way toward assuaging anxiety.

"Does Isabel know you're back yet?"

"Of course." I'd used a secure phone to stay in touch with her the entire time. "We're planning to have drinks tonight." I smirked. "We might even invite you."

"That would be so sweet."

Isabel and Jack were virtually inseparable. Then again, Tyler and I were much the same.

"The four of us should do something fun soon." I hooked my arm through his and walked with him down the hall toward the programming department. "Being in love is grand, but it certainly makes keeping up with friends difficult."

Jack stopped just outside the door to his department and regarded me seriously. He was slouching, something he rarely did. "Look, I know best friends don't spill secrets, but I really need to talk to you about something."

Worry spiked in my heart. "Are things okay between you two?"

"Things are great, but…she's been acting weird lately." He shrugged. "I dunno, secretive. She used to talk to you on the phone with me around, but while you were away, she'd go into her room." He squeezed my hand. "Emily, please tell me—is there something I should know? Am I doing something to upset Isabel?"

The worry turned to a blanket of leaden guilt. Jack didn't know about my supernatural job, or vampires, or Tyler's true nature, and Isabel was trying to keep him out of the loop. "Absolutely not, Jack. I just have some personal issues I wanted to talk to her about and felt uncomfortable with you knowing."

His slumped shoulders straightened. "Really?"

"Yes, really. She's having the time of her life with you, silly." I patted his arm. "I just can't have you knowing all our secrets. After all, sisters before misters."

He snorted. "Your secrets are safe with me, Em." A long sigh escaped him. "Wow, I feel much better now."

"I'm sure you do." I looked toward the table where I'd put the doughnut box. "Unfortunately, you missed out on the doughnuts."

Jack put the back of his hand to his forehead and pretended to swoon. "Tragic!" He looked back toward the programming department. "Well, I'd better get back there before Hinkle starts complaining about me to everyone."

I left him and met with Kevin Shale, the sales team leader so I could catch up on recent events.

"We've made some great inroads with prospective clients, but finalizing deals has been hard." He showed me a spreadsheet of companies and their software needs. "We actually had the CIO of Purple Giraffe ready to sign, but for some reason, he backed out at the last minute. Now he won't even talk to me on the phone or through email."

"That would've been worth over a hundred thousand dollars this year." I ran a finger down the list. "I don't understand why they're balking."

He blew out a breath. "None of us understand. Tony Costanzo told me his sales team went from first place during the bid process, to persona non grata."

I looked away from the computer screen. "There's too much of a pattern here for this to all be coincidence."

Kevin sat back in his chair. "I agree. Someone out there has it in for us, and they're pulling all the right strings."

I picked up the phone and called Jack's extension. "Could you come to Kevin's office, please?"

"Be right there."

The office door opened a split second later, but instead of Jack, it was Tyler. He stormed into the room, face clouded with anger. "Someone is sabotaging my companies."

Jack walked in. The smile on his face faded when he saw Tyler's mood.

"Close the door, please." I told Jack.

He gulped and shut it behind him. "Uhm, did I screw up?"

Tyler shook his head. "Have any of you noticed anything odd going on with OnTech?"

Kevin told him about the stymied sales.

"How's customer satisfaction?" I asked Jack. "Any complaints from current customers?"

He shook his head. "Nothing out of the ordinary. Janet sends out surveys to current customers, but they've all come back singing our praises."

"So none of our current customers would warn potential clients to stay away." Tyler leaned against the edge of the desk. "The same thing is happening to several other companies in my portfolio."

Cyrus Rock had given his three children several companies to manage so one could prove they deserved to inherit his riches. The original Tyler Hugo Rock—we called him Hugo—hadn't done so well managing his portfolio.

"Are they all software companies?" I asked.

"No. Vermillion Unicorn and OnTech deal with software, but I also own Alpha Construction, Ironclaw Security, Pulsar Communications, and Treat your Meat."

"Treat your Meat?" Kevin and Jack exchanged a puzzled look.

Tyler snorted. "It's a chain of massage parlors."

"They sound like brothels," I said.

"I have more companies, but I don't remember them all." Tyler's thousand-mile stare bored into the wall. "The massage parlors were doing well until a national news article claimed people had caught the Asian bird flu there. Business plummeted, even though the story was false. I'm trying to get a lawsuit off the ground, but that will take time. The other businesses are having similar issues to what Kevin said is happening to OnTech." He pushed off the desk and rounded on us. "The cyanide icing on the cake is brain drain."

"What's that?" I asked.

"Other companies are trying to lure away our top employees." He smacked a fist into his hand. "We're facing a systematic attempt to destroy the corporations I run."

Jack rubbed his neck. "Yeah, um, I was approached with a pretty sweet offer to go work for another firm just last week. I overheard Nick Reeds and Susan Daniels talking about offers they received."

"From whom?" Tyler asked.

Jack shrugged. "Some company called Trax Worldwide. I did some online research but couldn't find a lot about them. According to their website, they have their fingers in a lot of pies."

"I need to know more about them." Tyler went to the computer and gingerly pecked at the keys with two fingers.

I groaned. "You're hopeless with computers, do you know that?" I tugged him out of the chair. "Let me look them up."

Kevin and Jack pressed their lips together as if trying to suppress laughter.

The Trax Worldwide website was a minimalistic masterpiece with lots of white space and black text. They had a long list of clients, including several Fortune 500 companies. I navigated to their services page and found a laundry list of industries. They did everything from software development to construction.

I clicked on the "About" link and read aloud, "Trax was incorporated five years ago."

Jack peered at the screen "I find it very hard to believe they've grown so large in such a short period of time."

"Acquisitions and takeovers," Tyler said. "Someone with real money put together this company."

"Have the offers to employees at other companies come from Trax as well?" Kevin asked.

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out." Tyler leaned a hand against the wall. "Maybe we could get someone on the inside."

"You mean bribe someone at the company to spy on them?" Kevin didn't seem to like the idea.

"Why bribe someone when they want to hire one of my own people?" A wolfish grin spread across Tyler's face.

Jack held up his hands in front of his chest. "Uh, I'd rather not be a double agent if that's okay with you."

Tyler deflated a bit. "Yeah, I suppose it is a little risky. I'll have to figure out some other way to keep this company from bankrupting us."

"Maybe you could talk to some of our potential clients and find out why they backed out on us," Kevin said. "They won't give us time of day, but maybe someone with your clout would have better luck."