Lucifer Damned (Morningstar Book 3), Percival Constantine [electric book reader .txt] 📗

The car swerved and Lucifer fought with her for control, finally wresting the wheel back and skidding to a stop right in front of the Chicago Yacht Club. The squad car screeched to a stop beside them and just as the officer was climbing out of the car, Isabel had already hopped out of the Miata and ran to throw her arms over him. The cop was stunned but obviously not protesting an attractive young woman thanking him while pressing her body up against him.

When Lucifer got out of the driver’s seat, the cop instantly went back to business. He drew his gun on Lucifer and aimed it at him. “Down on the ground!”

Lucifer offered a meek smile as he raised his arms over his head. “Aren’t you overreacting just a bit, Officer?“

“I said get your ass on the ground and I meant right fucking now!”

Lucifer looked down at the white suit he wore, then back at the cop. “Do I really have to? To be perfectly honest, this suit might be worth more than the car itself.”

“Oh, please tell me you’re refusing to cooperate…”

Lucifer sighed and knelt down on the asphalt, then laid on his stomach. “As you wish. But I’ll need your badge number so I know where to send the dry-cleaning bill once we’re finished here.”

The cop came closer, his gun still pointed at Lucifer. He took one hand off the weapon and reached for the handcuffs on his belt, then put his knee on Lucifer’s back and pulled his arms down to restrain them. The cop slapped both cuffs on, and then pulled Lucifer up by the collar of his jacket.

“Is this really necessary?” asked Lucifer. “I promised Isabel we’d go back to my place for a nightcap.”

“Not after that little driving stunt, you psycho!” screamed Isabel.

“You said you wanted to see what the car could do,” said Lucifer, then glanced over his shoulder at the cop. “Honestly, what would you do if you were in my situation?”

“I didn’t mean race a damn cop!” Isabel protested.

“Miss, this’ll probably go a lot smoother if you head on home,” said the cop. “You got a phone? Someone you can call to pick you up?”

Isabel scoffed. “Fine, whatever. I’ll be changing my number first thing tomorrow, too, Luke, so don’t bother calling!”

Lucifer kept his eyes on Isabel as she walked down Monroe and back towards the city lights. He gave another glance over his shoulder at the cop. “There goes my plan for the night. You do realize I was hoping to have sex with her tonight, don’t you? Now who am I supposed to sleep with? You?”

“You’re not going anywhere.”

“I mean, no offense, it’s not that I’m not tempted. You’re certainly a handsome enough guy,” said Lucifer. “But I have this thing about authority figures.”

“Shut up, you’re under arrest,” said the cop.

“Am I?” asked Lucifer. “And you’re sure this isn’t some sort of sex thing?”

The cop tightened the cuffs and Lucifer felt the metal press into his wrists.

“Yeah, I’m sure,” he said.

Lucifer was taken into custody after that incident for reckless driving and driving without a license. The car was impounded and his belongings were confiscated. At the station, they put him in lock-up for the night.

While most would be devastated by the turn of events or questioning the choices they’d made, Lucifer was oddly satisfied with the way things had transpired. He laid down across one of the benches in the large holding cell and rested his head on his hands, elbows out to the sides.

He was alone in the cell, but not for long. Within an hour or so, another detainee was brought in. The boy couldn’t have been more than seventeen or so, and as soon as he sat on the bench, his bent legs started shaking, knees moving up and down repeatedly.

“Maybe lay off the coffee, kid,” said Lucifer.

The kid looked at the man in the white suit, surprised to see someone dressed like that in a place like this. “Yeah, and why’d they arrest you? Catch you picking up a prostitute?”

“I was racing a Miata down LSD. When a cop tried to pull me over, I gave him a chase,” said Lucifer. “I was caught and turns out you need a license to drive in Chicago. Who knew?”

The kid stared in disbelief for a few moments and then burst out into a chuckle. “If you didn’t have a license, why didn’t you drive slower?”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Lucifer sat up on the bench and faced the kid. “What’s your name?”

“Jimmy,” he said. “How ’bout you?”

Lucifer smirked. “Just call me Luke.” He took a breath, the satisfaction on his face obvious.

“What’re you so happy about?” asked Jimmy. “In case you didn’t notice, we’re in prison.”

“No, we’re in jail, there’s a difference,” said Lucifer. “Besides, this is just temporary.”

“Temporary or not, I’m gonna catch hell for this…”

Lucifer’s laughter caught Jimmy by surprise. He gave the odd man a stare that held a mixture of curiosity and contempt. “What’s so funny?”

“The idea that this is anything close to Hell.” Lucifer’s laughter faded and he waved a dismissive hand. “It’s nothing. Just kind of an inside joke, I don’t think you’d understand.”

“Not so funny for me. My dad’s gonna beat the shit outta me when he picks me up.”

“And what is it you were doing?” asked Lucifer.

“Me an’ some buddies went to this overpass and were tagging it. Nobody goes there, so we thought it’d be no problem. Then this cop shows up and grabs me.”

“And your friends?”

“They bolted.”

“First sign of trouble and they run,” said Lucifer. “I had some experience with that. A very long time ago.”

“Yeah? What happened?”

Lucifer took a breath and leaned forward, resting his arms on his thighs and steepling his fingers together.

“It’s ancient history now, but there was a time, long ago, when I had learned an uncomfortable truth about my…family, I guess you could say.”

“What do you mean by