Kiss of the Succubus Ch. 04

She scoured the living room for her gun, but remembered she'd thrown it into the bushes outside. The silver dagger still lay on the floor, right where she'd dropped it. Grace grabbed the dagger, tucked it into her purse, and hurried out the back door with her sobbing daughter in her arms. Quickly she raced around the side of her house, praying the attacker would not see her.

When she rounded the corner and reached her driveway, she saw the young man had circled around the other side, and was now lobbing Molotovs through the side windows.

Grace unlocked her car and put Kayla in the backseat. She quickly got into the driver's seat and started the car, not even pausing to lock her seat belt. As she backed out of the driveway, the car came to an abrupt stop, knocking her against her headrest. It was as if she'd backed into a solid brick wall. Frantically, Grace pressed the gas pedal, only for her wheels to spin in place. Something was stopping her from moving.

A glance in the rear view mirror revealed nothing. Panicking, she pressed the gas pedal harder, but to no avail. Her tires squealed against the pavement, but the car remained immobile. Grace turned to see what was stopping her from moving, and saw, to her horror, Lukas Balko standing behind her car. He held his palm open-fingered upon her trunk lid, laughing sadistically as he held the one and a half ton automobile in place. Grace screamed.

So this was his plan. Recruit some hapless teenager to drive them out of their home so he could prey on them as they attempted to flee. It might have worked. If Grace hadn't been armed.

Grace reached into her purse and drew the silver dagger. She opened the car door, only to see Lukas opening the passenger side rear door- and reaching for Kayla. The toddler screamed. Kayla kicked and wailed as Lukas reached for her, with pure malice in his glowing red eyes.

"Get over here! It's time for you to join your daddy!" he hissed at the sobbing girl.

Grace swung the dagger, and slashed the vampire across the wrist. He screamed and jerked away.

"You BITCH!" he growled, his eyes glowing with rage. Grace pressed on the gas again, speeding down the driveway and knocking the vampire to the ground as she did. She'd never peeled out of the driveway so fast in her life; waking up half the neighborhood as she did.

Lukas jumped to his feet and scowled hatefully as Grace sped away.

I'll find you, Grace, she heard him say, somehow sending the words directly into her mind.

You'll have to sleep sometime. I'll find you wherever you run.

* * * * *

His tires squealed to a stop in front of her house. Joe's mouth dropped when he saw a burning wreckage where Grace Harker's home had once been. Firetrucks were already on the scene, and while the fire was almost out, Grace's house was nothing more than a pile of charred bricks and ashes.

He leaped from his car and ran towards the ruins.

"Pratt!" Captain Pillar pulled himself away from the arson investigator when he saw the desperate detective running towards the burning remains. He was worried he might run inside, but Joe stopped at the edge of the foundation and stared hopelessly at the ruins.

"Pratt!" Pillar repeated. He grabbed Joe's arm, and only then did the detective face his captain. "The inspector said no bodies were found inside. Her car is gone too. We can assume Harker and her family weren't here."

"Where the hell is she?" Joe asked. He'd made ten calls to Grace's cell phone on his drive over, and each one went straight to voice mail.

"We don't know," Pillar said. "We've been trying to reach her all night. She hasn't been answering."

Joe cursed, and paced back and forth in the driveway. He knew this was no accident. He found himself wanting to kill whoever had done this.

"Who did this? It was Liana, wasn't it? Killing her husband wasn't enough!"

"Neighbors say they saw a teenage male throwing burning jars through the windows. Probably a pre-Devil's Night prank."

Joe shook his head. Grace's words echoed in his mind. It was Balko. It didn't add up. Balko was dead, yes, but there was so much to explain. How such an old man had managed so much destruction when he was alive. He'd had help, that was certain.

Joe spotted something in the driveway, and picked it up. It was a small necklace, with a cross on it.

"This was Kayla's," Joe said, showing the necklace to the captain. "Grace had her daughter wear it all the time. I've never seen her without it."

"Maybe they left in a hurry."

Joe knew the captain was probably right. Still, it infuriated him that Grace wasn't answering her phone. One call, one text, letting him know she was all right was all he wanted. Until then, all he could do was wonder.

Joe looked at the necklace again, and back at the smoldering home.

"God, I hope they're okay."

* * * * *

Grace awoke with a startle. An 18-wheeler roared past her car and rumbled towards the highway. She looked in the backseat to see Kayla was still asleep. Grace breathed a sigh of relief as she felt the warm morning sunlight shine through the windshield of her car. She'd survived the night.

She set the silver dagger aside, having slept the entire night with her fingers wrapped around the handle. Grace pulled her seat back into a sitting position and pondered what to do next. She was parked at a rest stop off Route 101 without a soul in the world knowing where she was. At least she prayed so. Knowing Lukas and Gabby's abilities, she would soon be found if anyone at San Amaury Homicide were to discover where she was. For now, she would keep them all in the dark.

Quietly, she climbed out of the car, trying her best to keep from waking Kayla. She stretched her arms and let out a yawn. She had a long drive ahead of her and would not have many opportunities to stretch her legs. It made all the sense in the world to go to her grandparents' cottage now. It was off the grid; no one would know how to find it. She and Kayla could hide there until Daniel Becket took care of Lukas.

She slipped the batteries into her phone and turned it on. She'd removed them the night before to keep the police from tracking her; she would do the same now as soon as she listened to her voice mails.

Twenty-six unheard messages. Grace's heart sank realizing how many people were trying to find her. Nearly half of them were from Joe, begging her to return his calls and let him know she was all right. More were from the police, Ted's parents, some even from friends she hadn't spoken to in years.

There was only one message not fueled with panic and asking where she was; it was from Nora, but calling from a number she didn't recognize.

"Hey sis, just wanted to let you know I found my old diary. Didn't have any maps or anything, but I did find one note. It mentioned getting off on Route 1. Hopefully that can help get you on your way. Maybe you'd recognize the roads when you get up there. By the way, I tried what you said. I promised Evan some space, and he totally warmed up after that. He's taking me to Five Gardens tomorrow, and everything's cool. I can't thank you enough; you really have the magic touch. Let me know how your trip goes. I can't wait to see you again. Love you, bye."

Grace let out a smile. She might not have been born into the best family, but Grace could always count on Nora to be there for a favor or emotional support, and right now, Grace needed both.

She shot Joe a quick text message: "I'm okay. Lying low for a bit" before taking the batteries out of her phone again. He'd hate her for it, but she at least let him know she was well. She prayed no one would find her before Daniel found Balko.

Kayla was awake when Grace got back into the car.

"Mommy? Can we go home?" she asked, sleepily.

"Not yet honey, but hopefully soon." She noticed then that her daughter's neck was unprotected. "Kayla, where's your necklace?"

"I don't know."

"Damn it," she whispered to herself, praying Kayla would not hear. She at least had the silver dagger. It remained her sole means of protection if Balko- or anyone for that matter, found her.

"I'm hungry," Kayla moaned.

"Okay, we'll get breakfast now," Grace said. She'd stopped at a 24-hour ATM after leaving her house the previous night and now had plenty of cash on hand. She would have to avoid using any credit cards from this point on if she wanted to stay off the map.

Grace started the car and headed towards a McDonald's up the road, ordering a small breakfast for herself and Kayla from the drive-thru and quickly eating their meal in the parking lot. When they were done Grace got back onto Route 101 and made her way up the highway towards the Route 1 exit.

Traffic slowed to a crawl. She found herself in bumper-to-bumper traffic, edging on at a snail's pace. Grace sighed; frustrated at how a day she expected to spend driving was starting. She hoped to make it to the cottage before nightfall but it looked doubtful if the traffic jam did not let up soon. Briefly reassured by a sign reading "Route 1 exit, ¼ mile," Grace patiently continued on.

She heard sirens wail in the distance. Red and blue lights flashed in her rear view mirror and she instinctively froze; worried that she might have been recognized at the McDonald's or tracked via her cell phone.

The police cruisers sped past her in the emergency lane, and Grace breathed a sigh of relief. Two more cruisers, followed by an ambulance soon followed, quickly passing her by.

"What's going on, Mommy?" Kayla asked.

"There must be an accident up ahead, sweetie." Judging by the number of police cars, it looked to be a bad one. Grace hoped Kayla would not be subjected to a gruesome accident scene when she finally passed; praying the accident occurred after the Route 1 exit so she could bypass it entirely.

Traffic barely moved. Grace considered looking for an earlier exit, but knew of no other way to get to Route 1. If she weren't trying to stay invisible, she'd normally pull a U-turn at the emergency turnaround and use her badge to get out of any trouble, but today that wasn't an option. She would just have to wait it out.

Nearly twenty minutes passed before Grace was able inch forward enough to reach the crest of an incline in the highway. From there she would be able to see the accident up ahead.

The police cars numbered over a dozen. Officers were directing traffic through a single lane, yet there appeared to be no car accident. Instead, she could see what appeared to be a person hanging from the exit sign. The passing cars came to a standstill as their drivers stared up at the horrific display above them. Grace let out a scream.

"Kayla, cover your eyes!" Grace demanded.

"What's happening?"

"DO IT NOW!" she snapped.

Oh God, please don't let it be her.

Grace's fears were realized when she edged closer to the exit. The person hanging from the exit sign was Nora. She was wearing her beige coat, and what looked like nothing underneath. A noose of barbed wire was around her neck, suspending her blood-drained corpse from the sign reading "Route 1: exit right." On the sign, scrawled in blood, were the words "NOWHERE SAFE HARKER."

She later wondered if the scream that escaped her lips at that moment was loud enough that even Balko might have heard it, wherever he was.

He did.

* * * * *

"Come on, come on," Joe murmured impatiently. One by one, the copier spat out page after page of what to Joe was more important than the Holy Bible to the Pope.

An intern passed by in the hall and Joe immediately stopped her.

"You! Your name?"

"Me?" the intern asked, looking behind her, surprised to find he was actually addressing her. "I'm Stacy."

"Stacy, take these," Joe said, grabbing the stack of copies and handing them to her. "Post them at every coffee shop, gas station, college campus, and Internet cafe in the tri-county area!"

The documents read "MISSING: DETECTIVE GRACE HARKER" followed by a number to call to report her whereabouts. A photo of Grace in her officer's uniform was prominently displayed below the header.

Stacy looked at Joe, confused.

"Am I supposed to do that? Lieutenant Fabian doesn't usually have me leave the station."

"Of course you're supposed to do that! Why else would you be here?"

Frazzled, Joe hurried away and picked up a phone resting on his desk, leaving Stacy to clumsily carry the stack of copies back to her desk.

"I sent you the fax!" Joe screamed into the phone. "Did you get it now? What do you mean? Then get it from his office, I can't do everything for you!"

He slammed the phone on the receiver. He collapsed into his chair, exhausted. He hadn't slept a minute since learning Grace was missing, and absolutely nothing had been going his way all morning. He felt his eyelids, heavy as anvils, creeping down despite his best attempt to keep them open. Joe realized if he was to continue he would need some fuel.

Too much anxiety for breakfast, Joe headed to the break room to pour himself a coffee. The coffee at San Amaury Homicide was notoriously bad, but today, it would have to do. He gulped down the stale black liquid from a blue and white Dodgers mug as Officers Manning and Warner entered and poured themselves cups as well.

"That's a real shit sandwich Harker got served last night," Manning said, dumping a cream into his coffee mug. "Would not want to be that gal."

"She's been off the deep end ever since she saved that girl last year," Warner said. "I wouldn't be surprised if she finally snapped and burned her own house down."

Joe squeezed the handle on his mug and gritted his teeth. He was used to shit talking and misogyny in the station most of the time, he even spewed some of it himself some of the time, but today he was not in the mood. He counted backwards from ten, and prayed they'd be done by the time he hit one.

"She's definitely got herself into something over her head. Probably stepped on some toes she shouldn't've."

"No shit, right? Spent so many nights here barking up the wrong trees, no wonder her husband stepped out on her."

Joe slammed his coffee mug on the counter. He hadn't reached one, but they'd gone too far this time.

"What did you say?" he demanded.

Officer Warner took a step back. Joe looked him square in the face and puffed out his chest.

"Sorry Pratt. I'm just sayin'"

"Saying what?" Joe snapped. He glared at Warner, and stared him straight in the eye.

"Forget it, Pratt, we're just talking shit," Manning said.

"Well shovel it somewhere else! Harker's missing and no one in this station but me seems to give a shit!"

"Relax Pratt, you sleeping with her or something?"

Before he could blink, Officer Warner was on his ass with blood gushing from his nose. Manning immediately restrained Pratt before he could land his fist in Warner's face a second time. He wrestled Joe away from Warner and were it not for another passing officer to assist him, Joe would have likely put Warner in a coma.

"You son of a bitch! Get the fuck off me!" Joe screamed, struggling to break free of Manning's hold. Hearing the commotion, Captain Pillar hurried into the break room.

"What the hell's going on here? Pratt, get up!" Pillar shouted. He stared down at Warner's bloody nose in disbelief, and then looked back at Joe. "In my office. Now."

Joe did his best to explain to Captain Pillar why he attacked Officer Warner, and realized, after giving his explanation out loud, he might not have been in the right.

"He disrespected Detective Harker while she's missing and her life is probably in danger! I lost my cool, all right!"

Pillar took a seat at his desk and shook his head tiredly.

"Pratt you've been off your game all morning. I admire your dedication, but you need to step back."

"I'm trying to find a missing detective and we don't even have a clue who burned her house down!"

"We picked him up, Pratt," Pillar said. Joe stopped.

"You did?"

"We found him at a halfway house a half hour ago. He claimed a woman dressed in black offered him sex if he burned Grace's house down. He didn't even know who she was. Grace or the woman."

"It was Liana. It has to be her." Joe paced around Pillar's office, looking like he was ready to knock the plant over.

"She matched the description," Pillar said. "But- you're taking the rest of the day off."

"But I'm the most-"

Pillar cut him off. "I can't have a detective wound as tight as you around today. Warner's nose is testament to that. Go home. Relax. We'll talk about when you can return to work tomorrow."

Joe was about to protest, but stopped himself.

"Yes, sir," he fumed. He stormed out of Pillar's office, closing the door a bit harder than necessary as he left. He could feel the judging stares of his fellow officers and detectives as he grabbed his jacket from his desk.

Warner gave him the stink eye while he wiped his nose as Joe walked past. Joe simply ignored him as he got into the elevator and left the station for the last time in his life.

* * * * *

A memorial statue stood at the entrance of the station. On it, the names of police officers fallen in the line of duty were engraved. Joe passed it as he did every day, but this time he paused to give a reverent acknowledgment. One name stood out to him in particular. While Benny Mitchel was Grace's partner at the time of his death, secretly Joe blamed himself for Benny's death. It was a burden Joe and Grace both carried. Joe briefly wondered if Grace's name might be on this statue soon. He prayed he would find her before that happened.

As he walked away, his cell phone rang. Although he was inclined to ignore it, the possibility it might be Grace led him to answer it immediately. He looked at the Call ID. It was Erika. Frowning, he answered it anyway.

"What?" he snapped.

There was no response. He could hear shuffling in the background, but no one said a word.

"Erika, you there?" he asked.

Erika didn't respond. He was about to dismiss the call as a mere pocket dial, until he heard Erika grunting in the background.

"Ooh! Ooh! Ooh baby!" she cried.

Now it was a bit clearer what had happened. Erika often kept her phone in the back pocket of her work slacks; clearly she was engaged in a bit of physical motion that had triggered her phone to dial him.

"Oooh! Oooh yes Tyler, give it to me!" she shouted.

Tyler? Joe thought. Tyler Hambly was Erika's boss. Joe had taken an instant disliking to him when he picked Erika up from work one day. Tyler seemed to leer at her every chance he got. Joe had even caught Tyler checking out her butt while Erika was bent over fishing though her bottom desk drawer, and Tyler didn't even seem to care. Not that he blamed him for that, Erika's ass looked great in the tight skirt she was wearing, but Tyler hadn't even bothered to be discreet in front of him.

"Oh, you like that baby, don't you?" he heard Tyler say.

Joe squeezed his phone tightly. He wondered if it truly was a pocket dial or if Erika was looking to make him jealous. Either way, Joe found himself unable to end the call, and instead stayed on the line while he listened to Tyler pound his ex-girlfriend on top of her desk.

Her moaning got louder and louder, and soon he heard her climax into a powerful orgasm. What made it worse was that it was a sound Joe had never heard before. He and Erika hadn't made love during the time they dated. She'd given him a few great hand jobs, but was put off by the foreskin on his penis. She insisted he be circumcised before they made love, and Joe had obliged.

Joe hung up his phone and hurried into the men's room. After locking himself in a stall, Joe unzipped his pants and removed his bandage-coated penis. There was another reason he was so on edge today, besides his partner's disappearance.