The Demon Hunter

17: "Come in, you big grunt!"

It's a trap! The voice in David's head even sounded like Admiral Ackbar from "Star Wars".

Was this a revenge plan Lauren had come up with? Had she put the prison personnel up to this? Getting him in a closed and locked room with a convicted murderer, without any means to defend himself, while that criminal wasn't even chained up? Or was this Simon's doing, manipulating the guards with whom he seemed to be on very friendly terms? And if they went so far as to leave him unchained in here, maybe they had also given him some sort of weapon. David squinched his eyes, looked at Simon, his body language, to see what kind of threat he was posing to him.

And of course Simon could see the surprise on David's face that quickly turned into alertness, the tension of his body, his readyness to fight for his life... The prisoner raised both his hands to show that he was no threat. "Don't worry, Seargeant! I'm not going to do anything."

David wasn't fully convinced. But he calmed down a bit. "You asked for me to come here."

"And I am very glad that you did." With one hand Simon pointed at the chair at the other end of the table, the one facing him. David followed the invitation and sat down - after he checked the chair for any hidden traps. An amused smile flashed in Simon's face, but he didn't say anything about it.

"You know, I should call the guards right now so that they can tie you down," David stated grimly.

Simon didn't seem the least bit phased by this. "Nobody's keeping you from it, Seargeant Miller. But I must say: If your wife trusted me enough to talk to me like this, maybe you will find it in you to trust me, too."

"My wife believes in the good in people she deals with," David gave back, his eyes fixating the prisoner. "I don't."

A gaze that was returned by Simon without him even blinking. "And yet you are here."

He had a point there. But David was just too proud to admit it in this situation. He kept staring at Simon, daring him to turn his eyes away first, and noticed that Simon was doing the same. They kept staring each other down, waiting for the other one to blink or turn away. David wouldn't do it. He wouldn't show any weakness to this man. After all, he was the cop, and Simon was a criminal. This was how it had to be happening. But he also felt, when he stared into Simon's eyes, that the other one didn't go for power... just that he indulged him in this childish play, being very well aware of how childish it was.

And Simon finally gave in. With another smile. "As I said, I am glad that you are. Here!" He pushed over the photos that David had given him earlier. They slid over the blank table, and David caught them with a flat hand before they could fall down. David looked down. The photos were the same as when he had left them. All while Simon kept talking, and David hadn't even listened.

"What has she told you so far?" Simon asked all of a sudden. "I mean, she said that she told you nothing, and that you puzzled this together yourself. Quite impressive! But I need to know whether you heard the rest of the story, or whether I have to tell this all over again."

"I guess you have to do that," David mumbled. "She didn't tell me anything, that's right. Although, she showed some strange interest in demons lately." He suddenly remembered that he was still carrying this book around, so he put it on the table and slid it over to Simon the same way that Simon had given the photos back. "Enough for me to get this."

Simon caught the book, looked down on it. A brief moment of silence as he studied the title, then a tiny acknowledging nod came from him. "This will do then," he said, more to himself. Then he turned his attention towards David. "At least you seem to be open enough for all of this. We shouldn't waste any more time then. Those murders you are investigating... have something to do with demons."