Demon's Doorway (4 page)

The demon realm started to fade. Alex heard their disappointed wails. Once again Alex was squatting next to Don, his car only a few feet away. The moon was out, bathing the deserted road in light. The scent of nature was like a home-baked pie on the windowsill.

"Alex?" Laura shouted. She ran up to them. "What happened? You both disappeared. Where did you…yuck."

She looked down at Don, covered in juices from three of his orifices. She took delight in the sight, smiling and shaking her head.

"Somehow fitting."

Don pulled from Alex's grip and lunged for the car. Grabbing his cell phone, his hands shook as he dialed 9-1-1 and confessed his crime. Tears ran down his face.

"What did you do to him?" Laura asked. "I've been haunting him for weeks. I've never seen him this afraid."

Alex simply winked.

*****

Alex and Laura stood in the street outside Don's home, watching from the safety of the spirit realm. The scene was a mess. Six police cars were parked at different angles, along with an ambulance. Policemen moved about, in and out of the house. Bystanders stood on their front porches and lawns, and as close to the house as officers would allow. Several police passed through Alex and Laura as they stood motionless.

Sara and a Chinese food delivery man sat on the front porch. She called the police after she was alone, starting the entire chain of events. Alex could only imagine the look on the delivery man's face when he knocked on the door, and police showed up. Sara had a faraway look in her eyes, her cheeks tender and red. The delivery man was animated in trying to get a cop's attention, to move on with his night.

Laura gestured to Sara. "I hate her guts, but, she didn't murder me. And she even called the police."

"Yeah. She knows she made a mistake. You don't even have to punish her. She's gonna be punishing herself the rest of her life."

"I wasn't gonna punish her."

Another cop walked through them.

"Okay, so," Laura said. "How do you want to do this? The safe's on the second floor, the key in the basement."

Alex waved around him. "You don't see the cops everywhere?"

"You can be invisible, just like me. They can't see us
right now
. Are you saying you don't want to do this?"

He was quiet.

"It's what we agreed on, the only way I can pay you. I lead you to the key, and you open the safe. I know you've got that conscience, so you don't have to take all the money. Just take whatever you think you should for the past three weeks. Trust me, Don keeps plenty in there."

He looked at the crowd around him. Two more squad cars pulled up. He could sneak with the best of them. He had the best of both worlds. Vanishing, reappearing, moving through anything. But there were
so
many cops. He'd have to have a lot of luck to do what Laura suggested. Also, the window of time was short. He had no doubt by the end of the night the safe would be open and its contents cataloged in a police database.

"No. It's okay."

Laura threw her hands up and turned away, disgusted. "Alex, come on. You're gonna make me feel guilty here. You were…a miracle for me. Don is in a jail cell now. I can't just watch you walk away, nothing in your pockets."

He smiled. "Sure you can."

She surprised him with a quick hug. He returned it, feeling awkward at the thought of two ghosts hugging in the middle of the street.

"I'll make this up to you," she said. "I can get you more side-jobs."

He wasn't sure if he was interested, but wouldn't tell her that. "Thanks, Laura."

"No, thank
you
. I'm gonna go watch Don squirm for a bit. I can't wait until he gets to the part about the guy with the wings beating the snot out of him."

"You take care of yourself."

"You, too. Thank you so much."

Laura faded away, the smile still on her face.

Alex walked through the door into his truck. He lay flat across the seats, and reappeared into the living realm. He started the engine, no one around him the wiser, and looked at the scene one last time.

"Case closed."

CHAPTER 2

Alex sat in the truck outside his home for several minutes, alone with his thoughts. He liked Laura, but was glad her case was finally over. Ghosts, demons, murderers, the stench of death and decay, spying through a man's house unseen. He was strangely okay with it all. But he was looking forward to once again going straight home after a day at the warehouse.

A small smile crossed his face as he looked at his house. After some renovations, Alex and Cindy had moved into her grandmother's rancher after she'd passed away. The main reason he coped with everything so well was just inside.

Cindy Marshall sat at the dining room table. She still had on the clothes she wore to the accounting office, a gray skirt and white blouse. A laptop was in front of her, an iPad to her left, and an Android phone to her right. Papers and folders were scattered everywhere.

"You know, we might be able to get one more gadget on the table."

She looked up and flashed that smile of hers, not hearing him come in. "Maybe a TV? So I can watch the game?" He leaned down for a kiss, and she grabbed his shirt to pull him closer. She gestured to the stove. "I made some mac and cheese."

"Awesome. I'm gonna take a shower first."

"Ooh. Can I watch?"

"If you're good."

"I'm always good," she said, before her lip curled mischievously. "Well, maybe not always. And you know that's my favorite shirt."

Alex and Cindy were living proof of the concept of
opposites attract
. She was human, Alex wasn't completely. She was amazingly book smart, a college graduate. He could barely comprehend what was going on at the warehouse, at times. She came from a big family. He only had his twenty-year-old sister, Alicia, and his mother, and he seldom saw his mother. Even their skin color was different. Alex was white, Cindy black. It shouldn't have been an issue, but they had to deal with their share of whispers and second looks over the years.

He wondered how those same people would feel if they knew Cindy was engaged to a half-demon, even if he was white.

"How did everything go?" she asked.

"All done. Laura's ex-husband is in jail."

They had no secrets. They knew everything about each other.

"That's good. She seemed like a nice woman. I feel terrible for her."

"There is one problem. I didn't make any money from this one."

Cindy dismissed the
problem
with a wave of her hand. She didn't care about money. She once gave away nearly twenty thousand dollars, a gift from a ghost, to charity.

She nearly looked back down to her work before she froze. She chewed on a pen, watching Alex carefully with those beautiful brown eyes. He could feel her dissecting him as he shifted his gaze aimlessly around the dining room, drinking a glass of water. They simply knew each other too well. Every habit, every nuance.

"What's wrong? And don't say
nothing
, or I'll come over there and whip your ass."

"You could try, but you'd lose."

"I'd break you in half."

"I might like that."

Cindy laughed, and rose from the table. Their relationship was full of fun, humor, jokes, along with their love and intense attraction. But they knew when to get serious.

Alex playfully held up his fists, but Cindy merely took one hand in hers and put the other on his chest.

"What's wrong, baby?" she said lovingly.

He relented, like he always did. "I'm upset about the money."

"Why? You know I don't care about the money. And I know you don't, either. Not really. You like helping people, dead or alive."

"I know, but…I have to make money sometime. Not this up and down stuff I've been doing. I don't want to be at the warehouse forever."

"You won't be. This is all part of it, getting on your feet. If you're really serious about this, about helping ghosts and people for a living, it can happen. With Victoria's connections alone…no problem. And I can be your accountant. Your sexy, personal accountant. I could sneak into your office, and do things like this."

She pressed against him and lightly trailed her lips over his neck. Alex closed his eyes and ran his hands down her sides, letting them rest on her hips. He didn't bother fighting the goosebumps.

"You're hired," he said.

She laughed, and kissed him deeply. They wrapped their arms around each other, and were seconds away from moving past kissing when the phone rang.

Cindy let out a half amused, half frustrated groan and buried her head in Alex's chest. The phone had been ringing more often as the wedding drew near. She went back to her work while he reached for the phone. The familiar cell phone number of Alicia displayed on the caller ID.

"What do you want?"

"Hey. That's not how you answer the phone when your sister calls."

"Okay. What
the hell
do you want?"

"Are you going to that wedding coming up?"

"Uh, yeah. I kind of have to. I'm the groom."

"Unless Cindy wises up and flushes you."

"Cindy is the smartest person I know." She blew him a kiss. "And she's marrying me. What does that tell you?"

"That I should board up my apartment. The world's coming to an end."

"Ouch. My heart. That hurt."

"It was supposed to. Put Cindy on."

"No."

"Put her on, punk."

Alex handed over the phone. Cindy was quiet a moment, holding the receiver to her ear, and then laughed. No doubt at some joke Alicia made about him.

"Girl talk," Cindy said, and left the dining room.

He rolled his eyes, more than happy to stay put. The three of them were inseparable growing up, and Alex had been exposed to enough girl talk to last a lifetime.

After finishing off a plate of mac and cheese he took a shower. It felt nice to wash off the day at the warehouse, and after. Cindy and Alicia were still talking when he went to the bedroom. He could still hear Cindy's excited voice in the living room. It brought a smile to his face as he slipped on a pair of shorts and his tank-top.

"Hey, baby," Cindy called. "Victoria's on the phone."

He joined Cindy in the living room and took the phone from her. Cindy disappeared out of sight down the hall, toward the bedroom.

Victoria was one of Alex's closest friends. She was intelligent, supportive, almost a mentor to him. She was a lovely woman, beautiful, with fiery red hair and piercing green eyes.

She also happened to be a vampire.

"Alex," she said. "How is everything?" Victoria always had a slight accent that he couldn't trace. It made sense, given how old and well-traveled she was.

"We're good. Everything's cool. We just got done with dinner, Cindy is pounding out work, as always. What's going on with you?"

"I'm on the road, just doing an errand."

Alex listened, and sure enough, could hear the wind blowing in the background. Victoria was calling from that Porsche of hers.

He clenched his eyes shut, fighting the tightness in his chest. He knew quite well how some of Victoria's
errands
turned out.

"Victoria, our wedding is in two days. We're having the reception at your house.
Please
, tell me you'll be there."

"Of course, I promise. Look, I'm not gonna miss your wedding, and the house is all ready to go. Actually, that's why I'm calling. I need to ask a huge favor."

"What's that?"

"I've got some business things happening, and I need to bring two people."

"To the wedding?"

"Yes."

"Are we talking vampires or something?"

"Don't be silly. You know I'm the only one the sun likes."

"They'll behave, right?"

Victoria was quiet, and Alex's eyes went wide at the silence.

"Victoria?"

"Yeah. Yes, they'll behave. At least one of them will. I'll keep the other away from everyone."

He didn't get the chance to press further when he heard Cindy.

"Alex."

From the living room he could see clear down the hall to their bedroom. His arm fell uselessly to his side, barely holding the phone.

"Good God."

Cindy stood in the doorway, her back to him. She wore nothing but a pair of heels and a black thong. Her straight, dark hair hung a bit past her shoulders. Her hip was cocked to one side, her arms stretched suggestively as she held the door frame. She began to sway back and forth slowly, her tone body moving in a hypnotic rhythm.