As always Mad parked his car a little away from his actual destination. He was on his way to Peter as he had called him about 30 minutes ago. And parking his taxi right in front of his house would just raise too many questions. So he parked his car a little further away, stepped out and walked the rest. He knew the way by now. He had not spent that much time in his apartment but those times he did had a lasting memory. He walked down the pavement around one corner, down another street and around another corner. This was not the best neighborhood but also not the worst. Mad did not have to worry about his car being gone when he would return later. He walked down the street and already saw the door he was aiming for.
It was quiet as it was still in the middle of the night. Only from the distance he could quietly hear cars and street noises. The neighborhood was calm now even though the sky already had a lighter blue touch to it. The sun was coming up already and the next day was about to start. One last glance at the sky before Mad turned to face the door. He did not need to ring a door bell he could just open the door. One advantage when the lock was broken. He got into the apartment building and walked up to the third floor. When the apartment door came into sight he froze for a second. He had been wondering about his story and what would be the important thing that Peter wanted to talk about now, at this time of the day. He could not hide a little happy flicker in his stomach when he called and asked him to come by. But never the less he was also quite nervous.
He stepped in front of the door, raised the hand to knock, waited a second, took a deep breath and then knocked. "It's open!" Came a voice from the inside. Mad shrugged and opened the door to step inside. He got in, closed the door behind him and also clicked the lock in place. He did not want to get disturbed no matter what Peter was up to. When he turned his eyes had to adjust to the darkness in the apartment. There was only a small light in the living room right next to the armchair he had also been sitting in when Alex had come to this place. His eyes automatically went to the light and then to the armchair where Peter was sitting and starring at him. A quite scary appearance he thought before making another step into the apartment and closer to Peter.
"Hi." Mad said and tried a small smile. He had not seen Peter since he had left him at the crime scene at the warehouse sight with he did not know how many corpses. He was a little anxious about what would be coming next and if Peter he been happy with his explanation of the private investigator from Chicago or not. When Peter did not reply anything Mad made another step into the apartment. It was quite hard to see his face properly or his features. He could not determine what kind of mood Peter was in just now.
"Take a seat!" Peter said after what felt like an eternity and he gestured to the couch. Mad nodded and walked around the couch to take the seat that he was shown. Only now he could see the face of the young officer properly and he knew right away he was in trouble. Everything seemed to clench in his body when he positioned himself on the couch. It seemed he got a little sick just from looking into the face of the man in front of him. Silence fell between them as officer Peter Martens seemed to be pondering his next steps. After another eternity he said:
"You know what my father used to say…?" He looked Mad straight into the eyes and seemed to be waiting for a response but Mad was clever enough not to answer.
"He always said: Never trust someone who lied to you as they will lie again." Peter watched the reaction in Mad's face very carefully not wanting to miss the tiniest reaction to his words. Mad sighed and slightly shook his head but still did not say anything. So Peter continued.
"When I we were finished with those 6 corpses we found at that crime scene and the whole evidence. By the way I have never seen such a clean crime scene before, no prints, no blood, no nothing… good job! But anyways when we were done I went back to the precinct but something was bothering me. I should have written my report but instead I started searching for that private investigator Mad from Chicago." Peter paused again and kept watching Mad. Mad's face had turned cold and stony he would not give him the pleasure of showing emotions even though these were running high in him just now.
"You know what is a good thing? Private investigators need to have a registration. So I checked the registration for a guy named Mad. And you remember the first time we slept with each other where I asked you about your name and you had been very specific that your name was not a short form of something and was written with a 'd'. So I checked Illinois registrations and could not find a Mad. I expanded my search to the whole of the US and still could not find a guy named Mad. You know I thought well maybe there was a mistake with the name so I started searching for the cases and yes, the sinnerman has been active in Chicago but I could not find a case where a guy claims to be wrongfully in prison due to the sinnerman." Another pause and the words sank in further. Mad's mind was spinning. He was searching for a way out, another lie or argument, some kind of proof he could produce.
Mad was annoyed by himself. Why had he come here right after the call, unprepared? He should have known that, he should have known that Peter was not stupid enough to believe his words without checking. But still one call from that guy and he came running. That had never happened to him before and how could he have been so sloppy in his preparation; All that was going on in his mind while from the outside he tried to stay calm and cool not showing the turmoil from within. Peter was still watching him when he continued.
"So I found no registration under your name and no matching case. My last hope was calling a friend from Chicago police. It was already quite late but I called anyways but you may be surprised now… to be honest at that stage I was not so surprised anymore... the guy had never met you and had never heard of case you described. So for the remaining evening and most of the night I had been pondering: Was my father right and had the man who had lied to me before lied to me again? Or what was going on here? Had this guy simply used me to get his hands on insights and evidence from the police and shall I be calling the cops now to arrest him?" For a split second the gaze from Peter moved to the small table next to him. Mad's eyes followed his and he saw a weapon and a phone lying next tom him.
Mad swallowed while his mind was looking for a way out. But no matter what direction he turned to he could not see a way or a story that would provide him with all the explanations. He could argue that he was not registered or that the family of that guy in Chicago was keeping the story quiet. But still he would need a name of a guy in Chicago prison now to substantiate his story and he had no name. He could guess one and hope that would buy him some time to come up with another story but what for? No matter what he was doing now he had lost the trust of Peter. He could see that in his eyes, he could see that in his whole demeanor. So why lie he could be trying the truth instead.
"So what shall it be? Do you want me to call the cops now?" Peter asked again after Mad had not yet replied to his initial question. It took him another moment to answer and when he did he was surprised how calm his own voice sounded to him.
"You can call the cops now but no one will be arrested today." Mad tried to calm his inner voices and the turmoil. He tried to clear his head and think straight. He needed to concentrate now.
"Are you threatening me?"Peter asked him and anger was clearly audible in his voice.
"I am not threatening you, Peter. I am just saying that the cops will not arrest me as I will not be sitting here waiting for them to come around. I have never in my whole life on earth waited one second for a cop to come to me." Mad tried to play the situation calm and folded his arms in his lap. He could see Peter thinking about what he had just said. This little frown on his forehead told him that he could not quite make sense from his words.
"What are you referring to?" He asked and it bugged him that it seemed the positions in this scenario were turned now. The power started to shift in the direction of Mad again something Peter wanted to prevent. And something he had tried to work on so hard just now. He wanted to be the one holding the strings in his hand but now it seems he was losing them.
"You want the truth... I am not a private investigator and I am also not working on a case from Chicago. I lied to you because I needed you to trust me because I needed inside information from the LA police department and you were the weakest and therefore easiest point of entry; the one that would guarantee exactly what I needed." Saying these words and showing pure and absolute calm on the outside hurt so much. Each and every word hurt like a knife which was thrust into his body and turned around. Mad watched the face of Peter and all his darkest fears got verified just now. His face went from anger to pain and with every word his face got more painful and his eyes got watery. He could not hold the gaze of Mad anymore and looked down. His hands were grabbing the armrest of the chair and he could not believe his own stupidity.
"Why?" He managed to say after a while. Peter could not believe that he was crying now. He felt so stupid. Stupid that he started to feel something for a guy he hardly knew and that had used him. He felt stupid that he was crying as he had lost something that he never had. And most of all that he could not control himself in front of him. He wiped his face and looked up. He wanted to see and he wanted to know why.
Mad took another moment and waited for Peter to look at him again before he continued. In the meantime he felt more pain than he had ever felt in his whole life. Never had anything pained him so much. This guy no matter how short that time was he had spent with him yet had somehow managed his way inside, had somehow managed to make him feel for him; something that had never happened before.
"Something is going on in the LA PD just now and that something is threatening the lives of some friends of mine. In the beginning I thought that you were just my way in but you are smart. You know what I am referring to, you noticed it as well." It took Mad everything he had to control his voice, his movements, his whole body. He was fighting against the wish to just hold Peter now and apologize for everything that he had done and hoping that would make everything better.
Peter was processing the information. That was an unexpected turn of events. Yes, he had noticed something was off. Since the death of Lieutenant Pierce something had been completely off. Not just the way detective Espinoza was reacting and treating everyone in the precinct but also the way people were talking behind closed doors, were hushing on the floors when people were walking by or the way the internal colleagues had cleared the office of Lieutenant Pierce. Something just did not feel right at the moment and he was sure he had not mentioned that to Mad before. Peter was confused and the confusion threatened to take over his emotions and push aside the anger he had felt before and his conviction that he would put Mad behind bars today.
"Why did you then kill all these men in the warehouse?" Peter asked trying to hold onto his anger and the pain and his conviction. He would not let Mad lure him into believing him again or somehow feeling sentimental for him.
"I did not kill these men!" Mad simply stated, still calm. He could see the change in Peter. "I just knew the crime scene was there and that the sinnerman had his hide out there. All these men you found were working for the sinnerman." Mad added.
"This is crazy! Why should I even believe you? You have been lying to me the whole time. You have been using me the whole time, why should I believe you now? Why should I believe a single word you are saying? You have no proof for anything you are saying. Who are these friends you are trying to protect? And why do they need you? Why do they not just go to the police and talk to them? With everything you are saying you are just trying to deceive me, to manipulate me further." Peter was talking himself into a rage not wanting to believe a single word from the man that had hurt him so much and had manipulated him and had even admitted that just now. And while the anger was back and he was pushing the thought of Mad possible doing something good here away his hand hovered over his gun. This was enough for one night. This was enough lying for his whole lifetime. Eventually he grabbed the gun. Mad was watching him closely while he grabbed the weapon and held it grabbing the phone with the other.
"You have one last chance to make me believe a single word you are saying. No more lies, no more games I want to know the truth. What have you done with the feathers from the evidence locker?" Peter was not pointing the gun at Mad just now but he was ready to. Mad shrugged: How did they end up right here now? But when Peter wanted the truth he should get the truth.
"I burned them!" He simply said and waited for the reply still displaying his calm demeanor. Peter laughed as if he already knew this would be the answer.
"In order to cover up your involvement in the shooting that killed Lieutenant Pierce! We would have found your blood on these feathers. Admit it!" He concluded and the gun was now pointing in Mad's direction. Mad watched the weapon when he replied.
"No. I burned the feathers as they would have proven that a friend is in fact an angel from heaven and not a human being as everyone of you thinks!" Mad tried to be as clear as possible and he could see the reaction right away.
"What?!" Peter asked and when Mad wanted to repeat his reply he snapped back at him: "I heard what you said!" He pondered for a little before he replied. "This is bullshit… I told you no more lies!" Peter seemed to get angrier now as he had the feeling that Mad was playing with him.
"I am not lying. The feathers would have exposed him for what he truly is and as no human on earth should know that I stole and burned them. The funny thing is I don't even like the guy and did it anyways. " It was not the content of the supposed lie itself that got Peter angrier now it was the way Mad told the lie. He was so calm and sincere as if he believed his own words from A to Z.
"Bullshit!" he spit out and could hardly control himself. His hand holding the gun was shaking.
"Let me…!" Mad started and wanted to get up. The movement surprised Peter so much that he twitched and out of nowhere he fired a bullet. It all happened so fast that none of them had the opportunity to react before the bullet hit Mad in the stomach and he fell back down onto the couch. His face in complete surprise still looking at Peter before he hit the cushions, his face suddenly contorted with pain and his shirt already dripping with blood.
OOOO
In silence but not without glancing at each other every now and then Lucifer and Chloe got dressed. It all seemed quite surreal: This night, them together, the shower just now. On the one hand it seemed so strange and on the other hand it felt so right. They both had to focus hard on what they needed to do next to get finally dressed. They kept distracting each other by simply being in the same room. When Lucifer stepped in front of the mirror doing a final check of his outfit Chloe had the chance to look at him properly from behind. He had chosen a dark blue three piece suit with a turquoise shining shirt and some designer shoes matching the whole outfit. He looked gorgeous as always and Chloe had to keep herself from feeling a little under dressed in his presence.
The way he was standing in front of the mirror looking left and looking right she had a moment to take a deep breath and to clear her head. Something had dropped in her body. Some weight was gone. It felt as if an unseen burden had pulled her down and that seemed gone now. Even though one part of her mind tried to remind her that she had slept with the devil she kept looking at that handsome man, her partner in front of that mirror and she could not remember a time when she had felt happier or lighter. This was right and they just had to figure out now where this was going. When Lucifer turned around and saw her looking at him a smile curved his lips.
"One penny for your thoughts, detective!" He said and walked over to her. He had a dress handkerchief in his hand and while he stopped in front of Chloe he elegantly out that into his breast pocket. Chloe watched him and when he was done and their eyes met, she simply said: "Later!"
She turned around and led their way past the bathroom and his bedroom to the top of the small stairs. When they reached the entrance of the living room they watched Maze and Rivers argue. They were both standing in the middle of the living room and it seemed as if Maze was trying to get rid of them. When Chloe walked down the stairs Rivers with Lucifer following her his head turned to them.
"Please tell her she cannot throw me out just now. I have valuable information for you!" He stepped away from Maze and approached Chloe and Lucifer.
"Please accept my apology I don't think we have met in person yet. My name is Ben Rivers. And you must be Detective Chloe Decker and Lucifer Morningstar." He first shook Chloe's and later Lucifer's hand.
"I know who you are, Mr. Rivers!" Chloe said and looked past him to Maze. She was not happy that he was trying to get the attention of both her and Lucifer to save himself from being kicked out.
"Please call me Ben!" He quickly said together with his charming smile. Lucifer frowned and stepped past him and over to Maze. She had her arms crossed and did not look amused at all.
"Okay, Ben. What kind of valuable information are you referring to?" Chloe asked and also glanced past him to look at Maze. She frowned as well dramatically tossed her arms up in the air.
"He is referring to his case. He thinks it is connected with what is happening right now." Lucifer looked from Maze to Rivers and to Chloe. Did this all really reach so far back? Chloe also looked confused.
"But Herrera is in prison. There is no way that he can be connected to what is happening right now." She looked back to Rivers who shook his head.
"Herrera was just a middle man. He was never the top guy. I never met anyone else than Herrera so I cannot tell you anything about the organization but I have my contacts. When Herrera went to prison it got very quiet but recently people are busy again and it seems the whole machinery is starting again." Rivers was hoping for one of them. He did not want to leave now and he could not leave now. He needed to stay with Maze as he could feel that their chapter was not over yet.
Chloe was thinking about what he had just said and kept the words turning in her mind. If Herrera was connected to whatever was happening now they at least had another point of contact. Herrera was in prison and maybe he would be willing to cut a deal. From what Rivers said they needed to be careful though. If the machinery started again they would have a couple of people watching and once they reached out to Herrera that would be an indicator for those figures in the shadow that they had a new lead. But something else was bothering Chloe just now.
"Since when did it all start again?" She asked Rivers while Maze shifted her weight from one leg to the other her arms still crossed. Lucifer pulled his brows together. He thought he knew which way she was thinking now.
Rivers thought for a moment before replying. "I don't really know… I remember getting a message from a contact saying I have to be careful again. That must have been a couple of months ago, probably around August or September. Why?"
Chloe looked at Lucifer to see if he was thinking the same thing. She saw quickly that they had the same kind of thought right now. "This was the time the sinnerman came to town." Lucifer said and Chloe added: "And when Pierce took his office as Lieutenant!"
Silence fell as they let the realization sink in. Chloe was the first to sum the details. "So when Herrera went to prison the organization got quiet probably waiting to live down the case and when the sinnerman aka Pierce came to town they got active again." Chloe had her eyes locked with Lucifer as if looking at him now was provided her with the clarity she needed to put the puzzle pieces together.
"It seems someone felt threatened when the sinnerman came into town." Lucifer concluded and Chloe nodded.
"We need to talk to Alex. We have to put all the details together and discuss the next steps." Chloe said and looked at Maze. "We need to take him with us just to make sure that we have all the details." Maze clenched her teeth turned around and went down the stairs without saying another word.
Rivers eyes followed her. "She will calm down!" Chloe said in his direction and tried a small smile. Rivers nodded.
"Where are we going?" He asked.
"Visiting a friend!" Lucifer added before he took out his phone and called Alex to let her know they were on their way.
OOOO
The sound of the gun was still ringing in his ears while he was bending over Mad trying to stop the bleeding. Mad had turned white in his face and was clearly in pain. Blood was pouring out of his wound even though Peter had been getting towels to press on the wound. He tried to stop the bleeding but whenever he pushed a little too hard Mad cried out.
"I am so sorry….!" Peter was gasping every now and then. He was clearly panicking right now and no idea what to do. The gun was lying forgotten on the table together with the phone. The moment Mad had fallen onto the couch and his shirt soaked in blood Peter had dashed over to his side caring for the wound. Tears were streaming down his face and he kept mumbling something incomprehensible.
"I need to call an ambulance…!" He finally said and wanted to get up to grab the phone. That was the moment when Mad grabbed him by the arm and stopped him. "No…!" He whispered his voice laden with pain.
"What do you mean, No?!" Peter cried. "You are bleeding to death!"
Mad clenched his teeth together and breathed heavily but continued to shake his head. "No… ambulance!" He managed to say. He tightened his grip on Peters arm.
"But I cannot help you…!" Peter continued desperation was rising in him now. If they would not do something soon Mad was dying in his couch.
Mad shook his head again. Every movement seemed to pain him even further. He could hardly think straight but tried. He had to try otherwise he was lost; lost without having achieved anything in his life. "Phone… jacket… my friend… Alex!" He stammered and every word caused more pain than before.
Frantically Peter searched his jacket for a phone and finally found one in his inner pocket. He did not know what his friend was supposed to do now especially if this one was no doctor but what other choice did he have. Surprised that his phone was not blocked by a code he clicked through until he found the contacts and searched for an Alex. He found it and showed it to Mad. "This one…?" Mad nodded and when Peter hit the dial button Mad swallowed hard and hoped Alex would come fast.
OOOO
In the meantime and at the other end of the city water was dripping from somewhere overhead. The constant dripping had already created a little pool of water on the floor. And with every new drop tiny little droplets splashed right in his face. He was lying flat on a dusty floor and with his face in the dust. With every breath he took he could feel the dust in his mouth and filling his lungs. Only very slowly his mind seemed to come back to him. These little details of his surroundings seemed to happen as if he was in some kind of trance. He could not really grasp and understand what was happening to him. He just noticed the water, the dust and the more his mind returned to him he could also feel the pain.
He was lying flat on the floor and did not dare to move a single bone as he could already feel the pain just lying motionless on the floor. He was not sure if something was broken or if it was something else but the pain was there. Step by step his awareness crawled back into him. And the more it was there the more he felt the aching in his lungs from breathing the dust. Suddenly he started coughing and while his body tried to get rid of the dirt in his lungs his whole body was cramping from the pain. While coughing he rolled over onto his back. The pain was beyond words but it did not feel as if something was broken. When the coughing stopped he could finally relax again but just a little.
His eyes were still closed but he could hear the water dropping. For a little while that was the only thing he could hear.
He lay on the back for a long time to wait for his pain to subside again. He lay on the floor and listened to the drops of water. More and more his awareness returned and he started to hear things beyond the water. He heard noises from outside, very dull at first and not clear but by the time he thought he could hear a train. Later some voices seemed to get mixed into the noises of that train before everything got quiet again. If felt like an eternity that he was lying in the floor without moving but his awareness was nearly back to its fullest when he slowly started testing his bones. He started with the legs, his hips, his back, the arms and his head. It all seemed fine and not broken.
After another eternity he tried to open his eyes. That was much harder as they seemed somehow glued together. Painfully he used his right arm to reach for his face and realized that he must have some kind of wound which had bled into his eyes. His face seemed swollen so he tried to swipe some of that stuff blocking his vision away before he painfully opened at least one eye. He could hardly see anything at first. His eye adjusted to the darkness. Then he could make out some lights and forms, some kind of metal surrounding him and shadows dancing on what seemed to be a high up ceiling.
He used the right arm to reach for that dripping water. Some of the drops were falling onto his hand. He tried to collect some water in his finger tips and swiped his mouth with it. It all felt so dry. He used his toughie and suddenly tasted that irony taste of blood in his mouth. He dropped his right arm again and lay still for another moment. It took another while before his memory returned to him. Flashes of what happened came as pictures into his mind and he remembered drinking in that bar, walking home when a car pulled over and men jumped out. After that it got blurry. He was interrogated. Someone was asking questions, wanting to know stuff… he could not quite get everything together and thinking and concentrating were more than difficult right now.
He tried to breathe steadily. But the more time he spent on that floor the more a feeling of panic was creeping up his spine. This place was no good and he should not be here. He needed to get out of here before anyone noticed he was awake. Even though he did not necessarily know why this was the case his mind started to try to push him into action. He could feel adrenaline rushing through his veins and kind of rolling over to what seemed to be metal bars he used them to pull himself up, his whole body screaming in pain. He leaned against the metal bars for another moment catching his breath and waiting for the pain to go away. When the pain reached a level where he could actually do something he took another look around.
It all seemed quite different from an upright position. He noticed that he was sitting in some kind of cage and was surrounded by metal bars holding him in. There was a door which seemed to be blocked by a chain with a lock. Just turning his head to see a little better send another stream of pain down his body. He sighed and leaned back against the metal bars. Just another moment and he would continue, just another moment. But that moment never came.
Suddenly a little distance away a door opened and footsteps came his way. He had no ability to turn and look who was coming before they had reached his cage. Suddenly he felt so tired.
"Detective Dan Espinoza I am glad you are awake. This means we can continue where we left off." Dan groaned and tried to turn his head into the direction of the male voice. But before he could see anything someone else had opened his cage and started dragging him along.