Someone knocked at the door, but before I had a chance to say a word, Mrs. Chief Quinn poked her head in.
“Speak of the Devil,” Alec stated in a wry tone.
“Don’t,” Bailey ordered. “If you do, he might show up.”
“Yes, I might,” an amused masculine voice stated from behind the woman.
Bailey squealed, spun around, and judging from the thumps in the hospital hallway, commenced with beating her target.
Mr. Chief Quinn came into the room, and he heaved a sigh. “Nilman called, because he knew if he didn’t, he’d have literal hell to pay in the morning. I’ll just apologize in advance.”
Alec’s brows furrowed. “Is… is that the actual Devil?”
“Yep. He’s also my uncle, and he almost always listens in whenever his name is invoked anywhere near Bailey. I’m sorry about them.” Samuel closed the door, eyed one of the chairs as though considering barricading it so the troublemakers would remain outside, and sighed again. “I’ve been updated on the rain of frogs, in case you are curious.”
“Actually, yes. I am. The toxicity reports won’t be back for a while, right?”
“I pulled in a favor from the CDC for access to one of their scanners, which was able to churn through most of the common narcotics. I wanted to make sure there wasn’t going to be anything you might need to be treated for due to secondary contact. Beyond the dart frog toxins, which is why you’re here under observation instead of enjoying your hotel room.” My boss eyed Alec with interest. “Thank you for keeping an eye on my cop, by the way.”
“I’m pretty sure I’m the cause of the whole problem,” he replied with a grimace.
Samuel went to the door, opened it, and said, “Hey, Lucy. Come here a second, please.”
Lucy? I frowned, but before I could ask, a tall, dark-skinned man with flaming hair, curved horns, and wearing a designer suit ducked into the room. At eight feet tall, he fit what I expected from the Devil, although nobody had warned me he rocked in the sex appeal department.
“My wife likes this look on me, and I’m trying to earn some spots,” the Devil informed me. “But thank you for the compliment.”
Well, that would leave me pondering the mysteries of the universe for at least a few nights. “You’re welcome.”
“You got a sturdy one this time, Sam. You should keep her.”
“That’s the idea. I stole her from a precinct in Long Island after she got passed over for promotion for several years despite her obvious qualifications. I have to start her as third grade, but I expect she’ll move up at the minimum allowed promotion rates.” My chief grabbed a seat, sat, and propped his feet up on my bed. “Word on the wire is your wife really wants to babysit cindercorn foals again, and she wants the really young ones, so you’re just going to have to bargain with me to get what she wants.”
The Devil laughed. “All right. What do you want now?”
“No deals!” Bailey complained, coming into the room and placing her hands on her hips before stomping her foot.
“You’re getting a babysitter for the next batch of Quinns out of the deal,” he replied.
She spent a few minutes thinking about it before she relented with a nod. “But do I get his wife? I only want the premium babysitters, and that means him or his wife. The rest are pushovers.”
The Devil laughed. “She’d take over my many hells if I gave her a chance and a reason.”
“She really would. Here’s the problem. This is Alec Mortan, and there’s no way one human could have the infernally bad luck as to witness so many murders, accidents leading to death, and otherwise unexpected deaths as he has without some form of magic being involved. While I understand you may not be able to solve the mystery for us, a clue or two would be appreciated.”
The Devil looked me over. “You should watch where you put your mouth, young lady.”
“I’ll start keeping the appropriate mouth guards in my purse or pocket,” I promised, rather dismayed over the number of times I’d been forced to perform CPR during the course of my career. “Usually I have one, but I was not expecting an incident outside of my hotel room.”
“I recommend you move them into the same hotel room, as this will limit the amount of anxiety your cop will experience rather significantly. It won’t change the number of incidents, but she’ll appreciate her ability to be able to act when they happen.”
“How much is this advice going to cost me?” Sam asked.
“I get the foals tomorrow.”
“Take them, and take the other kids with you. You can even take the doohickeys out for a jaunt if you want for all I care. If you’re going to charge me in a day off from being hover dad, I’m not going to complain about this. Just try not to teach them too many bad habits.”
Bailey bobbed her head. “What he said. I’m too tired to hover mom, and I’m still trying to figure out why Beauty keeps puking pineapple.”
