The Demon Abraxas (28 page)

“It’s Johnson,” Ana said. “Helen was having an affair with him. That’s why she started to suspect something was happening.”

He slapped a hand down on the arm of the chair. “Of course! Johnson’s been trying to sell the company for an inflated price. The other executives are behind it because it would mean a lot of money for all of us individually, but it will destroy the company within a few years.”

“Johnson wants the money,” Ana said. “He’s involved with this group of men who all want as much status and power as they can grab. He would make a lot on that sale, wouldn’t he?”

“Loads. He’s set himself up as the broker so he not only gets his stock value but a commission on the sale itself. That alone is worth millions.”

“And the only bid on the table is from Drake?” Ana asked and Detlefsen nodded.

He’s looking for a simple way to pass a lot of money to his human servants,
Abraxas offered.

“Johnson knows you found him out?” Detlefsen asked. “That’s why these guys are after you?”

“My clever surveillance plan backfired.”

He shook his head. “You need to turn over the evidence you have and let the police handle it.”

Ana had no trouble agreeing with him.

The elevator dinged on the floor below them. Detlefsen’s head came up like an animal’s, sniffing the air. “Let’s go back down.”

“What?” Ana looked at him in concern.

“Back to our floor. They won’t look for you there, not until they’ve gone all through the rest of the floors. They don’t know you’re with me, so they don’t know you have the keys to get back onto our floor.”

He surged out of the chair and padded like a bear to the office door. They retraced their steps to the back stairwell. Detlefsen eased the door open and held it for Ana. A voice called out from a level above them, “The doors are all locked!”

Detlefsen put his finger to his lips, smiling, and started down the stairs. For a man of his size, it surprised Ana that he could move along in perfect silence. She kicked off her shoes and carried them.

At the level of Roth’s offices, Detlefsen pulled the keys out of his pocket and slid one into the lock, clicking the door open. He shut it gently behind them, and skirted the back way around all the offices until they were standing in the finance department. In one cubicle, Ana picked up the phone and dialed 911 again.

“State the nature of your emergency.”

“We’ve already called once, we’re trapped in an office building in Soho.” She gave the address. “In the offices of Roth Software in suite 700, and there are men with guns trying to find us. Do you understand? I’m afraid for my life here.”

“Two officers already reported to that location and found nothing amiss.”

“Send them back,” Ana said. “Tell them not to leave until they’ve spoken to Ana Khoury and Stephen Detlefsen. Whoever told them there wasn’t trouble here is one of the guys trying to find us.”

“All right,” the woman sounded resigned. “I’ll send them back.”

Ana wasn’t sure her plea would help. Whatever Jedi mind trick they’d used to dissuade the cops the first time might work a second time.

“Why aren’t the damn cops here yet?” Detlefsen asked when she hung up.

“They came and apparently someone told them there was no problem.” She hoped that was enough of an explanation without having to resort to the supernatural reasons, though it sounded thin to her ears that the cops would just turn around and leave.

“Damn fools.”

The elevator chimed on their floor, Ana heard it faintly in the distance. She was never aware of that sound on an ordinary day, but then noise always filled the office and the short, clarion tone wouldn’t stand out. Men’s voices, too dim to hear the words, came through the halls.

“I’m getting really sick of this,” Detlefsen said. He picked up an empty vase from the top of a bookshelf. “Did they have guns the last time they came after you?”

Ana looked at the stout man hefting a ceramic vase. He looked both threatening and comical. “No,” she said. “Just Tazers.”

“Let’s go fuck up these sons of bitches.”

Ana wasn’t clear about the wisdom of that idea, but she had started to feel like a rat trapped in a maze with no cheese and no way out. If there were only two men, it was possible she and Detlefsen could take them. All six of them couldn’t have demons with them, could they? Lily said they would be running out of the small demons Drake liked to use. And they didn’t know that Detlefsen was with her. If they could knock them out before any demons got involved, they had a chance. Even if she had to host yet another little demon in her body, it would be worth it if it meant getting out of the building.

Together they crept back around the gray bulks of the cubicles toward the elevators. Detlefsen motioned, directing her eyes toward two heads barely visible over the dividers. He lifted the vase above his shoulder and headed in their direction. Ana prayed those weren’t the cops.

Ana waited for Detlefsen to put on a surprising burst of speed, as Gunnar could when moved to action, but instead he kept his ambling bear’s pace, rounded the edge of the cubicle and brought the vase smashing down on one man’s head. Then he let his momentum carry him into the cover of a cubicle. This forced the standing man to turn toward Detlefsen, placing his back to Ana. She struggled to remember all of six months of karate she’d taken in college and aimed a shaky side kick at the small of his back. He staggered and then turned, pointing a vial at her.

Detlefsen’s arm came around his throat and the two men went down in a struggle. The vial rolled out of the man’s hand and Ana grabbed it, stuffing it into her pocket and out of sight. A moment later, Detlefsen pushed himself stiffly up from the carpet.

“Sleeper hold,” he said with a smile.

“We should have done this sooner,” Ana joked.

“Not possible. They’d gotten careless thinking you weren’t here. And they don’t really mean to kill us. Well, you at least. He’d have gone for you after that kick if he did.” He dusted his hands on his pants as the elevator bell sounded again. “We’re not going to be able to take out all of them,” he warned.

Ana heard the elevator ding open again and saw two people with blue uniformed shoulders visible over the field of cubicles.

“I think we finally have our cops,” she said.

Detlefsen snorted and walked toward them, his rocking gait slightly slower than before. Had he hurt himself taking down that man? She could feel the tightness in her hip from overextending it before impact. Ahead Detlefsen was introducing himself with all the angry bluster of an executive whose sacred office had been violated. He waved toward the two unconscious men and then motioned for Ana to join him.

“I appreciate everything you told me tonight,” he said. “I’m going to make that bastard hurt. I’ll need the information you got from Helen’s apartment—when can you bring it to me?”

She opened her mouth to tell him she’d go right home for it, but another voice interrupted her from the direction of the elevator. It was Johnson.

“Ana, Steve, thank God you’re all right. Men came after you? In our offices?” Charles Johnson asked with a shocked tone that Ana knew had to be fake. He held a file folder in his hand and his normally neat shirt was crumpled and untucked from his belt. He looked at Ana. “I’m sorry you got caught up in this. I’m sure it’s doubly difficult after your recent experiences. And I’m afraid it was me they were after.”

“What?” she asked, incredulous. It was true that he’d been coming toward her desk when the men showed up—could they really have been after him? Had Drake double-crossed him somehow?

Johnson turned to Detlefsen. “We have employees who’ve been using our company to launder drug money. It’s a terrible mess. I’ve been trying to figure it out for months and it turns out the root is in our IT department, which is why it’s so easy for them to hide their activities, but I have the proof right here.” He handed Detlefsen the folder.

Detlefsen opened the folder, his jaw tight. As his eyes scanned the page, he grunted assent a few times. “Looks terrible,” he said. “This is really going to hurt the company.”

“I’m certain the IRS will give us time to sort it out,” Johnson offered.

Ana took a step away from them, looking from one to the other. Could Johnson be telling the truth? Her gut said no, but she had no way to prove it. Clearly he had just handed Detlefsen a wealth of evidence. She could only hope that the articles from Helen’s apartment still held some persuasive power against whatever Detlefsen read from the folder in his hand.

Detlefsen was shaking his head. “Fuck it all, Chuck, maybe it’s time to sell and walk away from this crap. You think Drake would still take us?”

Ana’s heart dropped into her belly with a sickening lurch. She’d lose her job if he agreed to sell the company, and more importantly she’d also lose her best access to proving that Johnson had killed Helen.

Johnson shrugged. “I can ask. We’ll be awfully lucky if Simon says yes, but he does believe in our product.”

“Stick around, I need to talk to you more. No one’s getting much sleep tonight and I want you to walk me through this,” Detlefsen said, gesturing with the folder toward Johnson. “I’m going to escort Ana to her car. She’s been through enough.”

“Of course,” Johnson said. “If you want, I’ll go. You look like you hurt yourself.”

Detlefsen laughed dryly, no real humor in the sound. “Pulled something, or a few somethings, but I really need to walk it out or I won’t be able to move in the morning. You look like hell too. Go take a load off in my office. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

He walked toward the elevators, leaving Ana to match his pace. When the doors closed he said, without looking at her, “You’ve done a great job, I think you should take a few days off considering everything you’ve been through.”

“But the publicity…” Ana meant to protest everything Johnson had just said, but those were the only words she could get out of her mouth.

Detlefsen smiled and put a hand on her elbow, guiding her out of the elevator and through the lobby without replying. When they got to her car, he looked back at the building.

“I’m going to kill that son of a bitch. Do you have information to fry his ass?”

“Not enough,” Ana had to admit. “What I have is a start. I thought you believed him up there.”

“Fuck no. He set it up as an exit strategy and some punk kid in IT is going to take the heat for him unless I can tie it back to Chuck. Where are you safest?”

“Home probably, or a friend’s house,” Ana said, thinking of Lily’s store.

“Go there and keep your phone on. If you find anything on him, call me, but don’t endanger yourself.” He shook her arm lightly. “I’m serious, Ana. These guys think you know enough that they’re willing to come after you in a building with people in it, don’t assume you’re safe. We’re talking about millions of dollars potentially and that makes people plenty stupid.”

“I’ll be extra careful.”

“Good girl.”

“Are you going to sell the company?”

He sighed, his massive shoulders drooping. “I might have to. This shit makes us look like clowns in the marketplace and I’m going to have days’ worth of calls from pissed-off customers on my hands. It’s more than we can handle and I doubt we have the capital to hire the people we’ll need to clean this up. I need you to bring me those articles you took from Helen’s place.”

She nodded. “I’ll drop them off tomorrow morning.”

“Make copies,” he said. “Two or three sets. And then write down everything you know or suspect, okay? Do you think Johnson set you up for that kidnapping?”

“Absolutely,” Ana said. “Drake was the one who kidnapped me, but I have no proof other than my word. Johnson works for him, for both of them. I think Simon had his brother killed.”

Detlefsen gave a low whistle. “That’s bad shit. Anything else you come across, call me. As soon as I get my hands on my cell phone it’s not leaving my grip.”

He stepped back and watched her get into her car and turn it on. Then he turned and walked, haltingly, back into the building.

* * *

Sabel had wanted to run over to Ana’s on Tuesday. Ana had arranged to spend the afternoon at Lily’s shop getting Abraxas transferred to another vessel and that meant Sabel would actually be able to touch her again. After Sunday’s doomed minute of hand-holding, Sabel had persuaded Josefene to alter the sensitivity of the leash slightly and make it easier for Sabel to reverse the constricting process if a demon wasn’t immediately pressing on her, but it wouldn’t come off until this whole business with the summoners was resolved to Josefene’s satisfaction.

Unfortunately, Leonard called her toward the end of her workday and told her to join them that evening to practice the ritual they planned to use to pull Abraxas out of Ana. She could hardly tell him it wouldn’t be necessary, so she ate a hasty dinner at a restaurant near campus and went to meet them. Wednesday night had been no better—the summoners wanted still more practice and Ana was tied up at Lily’s shop planning how they’d give Johnson the tracking amulet and then follow him.

Thursday found her pacing her living room waiting to hear how it turned out. She’d left it to Lily and Gunnar to do the tracking because of the frequency with which this group of crazies pulled out little demon servants. She’d be worse than useless if they tried to possess her.

The call that came in surprised her. The number was blocked, but she recognized the husky, barely disguised voice of Jacob who was Johnson.

“Do you have afternoon classes tomorrow?” he asked.

Doubly surprising was the fact that he posed it as a question and not a command to clear her schedule.

“Only a meeting, but I can postpone it. Is it important?”

“Very,” he said. “I have a task for you and if this goes well you might never have to teach another class again.”

She paused to make sure she could keep her voice positive and without the hint of disgust she felt. Let him assume she taught for money; let him believe she was motivated for the same reason he was.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Tomorrow,” he said. “Wait for my call.” He disconnected.