Kneel

Case 18

  "Imp, I have a bone to pick with you."

  "Can it wait until after my coffee? It's still early."

  "It cannot."

  "Ugh."

  "Dr. Linda canceled my session. She won't take my calls." Lucifer put his hands into his pockets while standing in front of my desk. "I think I truly scared her off."

  "Something happened with your shrink?" Chloe spoke up from her desk while opening a file.

  "Yes. And it's all the Imp's fault."

  "Wait, what?" I furrowed my brows.

  "I mean, you're the one who suggested I open up to her. Smashing advice."

  "I doubt that would scare her. Maybe she's taking time to process, figure out the best course of action." I lifted my mug to take a drink.

  "Well, do we have a case?"

  "No, but do you wanna help do paperwork?"

  "Misha, don't even suggest it. You really think he'd-"

  "He left." Chloe looked up from her desk to see Lucifer was already gone. "Mention the boring work, and he skedaddles off."

~

  "You followed him?"

  "Yeah, I know this looks bad." Chloe nodded as she sat on the other side of the interrogation table.

  "You stalked your father's murderer right before he was killed?"

  "That was a terrible move, Detective." Lucifer shook his head. "It was, right?" He turned to look at Dan.

  "What were you planning to do, Chloe? Crash the christening?"

  "I don't know, Dan. I was angry. The guy killed my father. He had the nerve to smile at me. Do you have any idea what that feels like?"

  "No. No, I don't. But you still shouldn't have followed him."

  "You also shouldn't have gone alone in your personal car." I leaned on the table while looking at the blonde. "You've got no one to corroborate what you were doing, and no dash cam to prove you just found the scene."

  "You don't think I did this, do you?"

  "No, but others will. The man killed your father, and you admit to following him, now he's dead. Doesn't look good." I shook my head.

  "....That's why I'm gonna step away from the case. It's a massive conflict of interest."

  "Don't worry, Chloe. I'm gonna stay on this." Dan said.

  "Yes, Detective Dan and I won't rest until we catch the killer."

  "I don't think that it's a good idea for Lucifer to be part of this case. Or Misha." Dan glanced from Lucifer to me.

  "I agree. I mean, the last thing this case needs is a loose cannon. She needs someone like you, a reliable, helpful, boring detective. Now, the good news is that's me as well now. So, the Dans are on the case."

  "Can't you take anything seriously, man?"

  "I assure you, I'm taking this very seriously." Lucifer stood to face Dan while copying his posture as he looked down at him.

  "Oh, really? You're doing a great job of showing it."

  "Guys. It would mean a lot to me if you worked together on this." Chloe stated.