009

Cole stood outside Zafira's lair under the dirty highway overpass. He felt a little foolish, but he held the crystal she gave him in his right fist and raised it above his head. The crystal responded with a dim hum and a bright violet glow.

Immediately, a portal appeared from the concrete wall where Cole had entered her lair before. Zafira stepped out, wearing an all-too-familiar dress -- the red cocktail dress she wore when they first met at the night club. The dress left little to the imagination as to what was underneath. She also wore the same stiletto heels that would be the envy of all women onlookers.

Zafira sashayed over to Cole, standing beside his car.

"Get in," he said brusquely.

"Hmmm, I don't see anyone with you. I assume I'm eating out tonight?"

"I said, get in!" Cole ordered.

"My, my! You're even crankier than this morning. Did you forget who you're talking to?" Zafira asked, her bright red eyes giving him a cold stare.

Cole quickly came to his senses. He was not normally this temperamental. His rage and impatience clouded his judgment.

"I'm sorry, Zafira," he apologized. "I'll explain on the way."..

"Apology accepted," Zafira said. She opened the passenger door. "Besides, the badass vibe doesn't work well for you."

They drove from under the overpass onto the access road. Zafira noticed Cole gripping the steering wheel unusually tightly. He had a fierce, fiery look in his eyes, a look of complete determination.

"So, uh, where are we going?" she asked finally.

"Some colleagues at the station found some new evidence on Maria's murder. We are going to make sure it checks out."

"I thought you were supposed to bring me dinner," Zafira sighed.

"If it does check out, you'll have your damn dinner, don't worry," Cole said coldly.

Zafira tossed him her signature devilish smile. "Oh, I like it when you're cold hearted!" She leaned over and kissed the side of his neck. "It really turns me on."

Cole paid no mind to her tongue running up and down his neck and her hand fondling his genitals as he drove. He was focused, and not even a sexy demon like Zafira could deter him from his goal.

It was not a far drive to his destination. He parked on the roadside next to a shabby set of run-down houses. It was a very poor neighborhood; Cole's police instincts told him to be on his guard here. He looked across the street at a run-down white house. It had expanded metal sheets over the windows to protect against vandals, broken downspouts, chipped paint, an untended yard, and several beat up cars in the driveway.

"Well this certainly isn't the most romantic place to dine," Zafira said. "But I'm not going to be too picky at this point. What are we doing here again?"

"We're looking for a man: Markus Santana. His last known address is that shitty house over there. The cars in the driveway suggest he is inside. When he comes out, I need you to use your mind reading ability to tell me if he killed Maria."

Zafira looked at him, confused. "And you suspect the man who killed your wife lives in that shithole? What do you base this on, exactly?"

"It's a bunch of techno-babble you wouldn't understand," Cole said. "You and technology don't get along, remember?"

"And yet here you are, using my magic for confirmation. Oh, the irony." Zafira said with a smug look.

A man opened the front door of the shabby house just then, a very thin dark-skinned man with huge unruly curly hair. He stepped from the porch and walked to a car.

"That's him!" Cole said. "Get everything you can on him."

"I need him to look me in the eyes," Zafira proclaimed.

The man was just about to get in his car when Cole rolled down his window and whistled at Markus. The man turned his gaze towards them, and then showed Cole his middle finger. Zafira's eyes flashed red for an instant and went back to their normal color.

"Well?" Cole asked impatiently.

Zafira sighed, "I'm sorry Cole, but it wasn't him. He has never stepped foot in your house."

"What?" Cole shouted. "That can't be! His prints are on the fucking bullet casing found at the crime scene!"

"Stop your shouting!" Zafira countered. "You wanted me to tell you and I did. What reason would I have to lie to you?"

"So you can finish this ritual thing you keep vaguely mentioning that I still don't know what the hell it's for."

"It's to find Maria's killer. That is all you need to know. Performing it has absolutely no benefit to me. Now you can either take my word for it or I can leave Chicago. The choice is yours."