The Demon Detective

The Letter

The warehouse felt empty after Penn left. The silence was heavy. Angel’s body ached from the fight. The soul-chill was gone, but a new coldness had taken its place. The coldness of being known.

Detective Lockley had seen too much. Penn was still out there. And Wolfram & Hart was still standing.

Back at the office, the mood was tense. Cordelia was wiping dust off her desk, a little too hard. “So the evil law firm makes a super-vampire, it goes bad, and now it’s our problem? We need a raise. Or a nap. Or a raise so we can afford a nap.”

Wesley was drawing the scarred symbol from Penn’s chest in his notebook. “He represents a fascinating, albeit terrifying, flaw in their process. He retained his intellect. His ego. He’s not a mindless soldier. He’s a rogue agent.”

“He’s also crazy strong and has a crush on Angel,” Gunn said, sharpening a blade. “Not the good kind of crush.”

Angel stood by the window, looking out at the city. “He’s curious. Curiosity can be more dangerous than hate.” He turned. “We need to find him before Wolfram & Hart does. Or before he decides to test me again by hurting someone else.”

The front door chimed softly. It wasn’t Lockley’s forceful push. It was hesitant.

A woman stood there. She was older, maybe in her sixties. Her clothes were simple but neat. Her eyes were red from crying, but her hands were steady. She held a plain envelope.

“I’m looking for Angel,” she said. Her voice was soft but clear.

“I’m Angel,” he said, stepping forward.

The woman looked at him. There was no fear in her eyes. Only a deep, tired sadness. “My name is Claire. Claire Miller. My grandson… my Danny… is missing.” She held out the envelope. “This was left on my doorstep this morning. It’s for you.”

Angel took the envelope. It was heavy. He opened it. Inside was a single, elegant piece of paper. The writing was in beautiful, old-fashioned script.

*‘Angelus,*

*You took a project of mine. The marked ones in the club. You cost me a great deal of money and time. A lesson must be learned. Not on you. You are used to pain. The lesson will be on the helpless you claim to champion.*

*I have taken the boy, Daniel Miller. He is safe. For now. He will remain safe if you do one thing: Bring me the vampire called Penn. Deliver him to the old Ramsey Building at midnight. Come alone.*

*If you involve your friends, or the police, the boy dies. If you fail to come, the boy dies. If you try to find him first, the boy dies.*

*This is business.*

*— Lee’*

Angel’s hand crushed the paper into a tight ball. A hot, black rage filled him. He forced it down. He looked at Claire Miller’s hopeful, shattered face.

“They have Danny?” she whispered. “The lawyers?”

“Yes,” Angel said, his voice like gravel.

“They said to contact you. That you could help. Can you? Can you save my boy?” A tear finally escaped down her cheek.

Angel looked at her. He saw every mother, every sister, every person he had ever hurt in his long, cursed life. “I will get him back,” he said. And he meant it.

***

When Claire left, the team exploded.

“It’s a trap! An obvious, stupid trap!” Cordelia cried.

“Of course it’s a trap,” Wesley said. “Lee wants revenge for the crystal. He wants Penn back under his control. And he wants to punish you, Angel. He’s using an innocent life as leverage.”

“So what’s the plan?” Gunn asked, hefting his ax. “We can’t just hand over Penn. Even if we could find him.”

“We’re not handing anyone over,” Angel said. He smoothed out the crumpled letter on the desk. “Lee wants me alone. At the Ramsey Building. He’ll have the boy there. Or nearby. He’ll have his people there. Probably more marked vampires.”

“So you walk into a building full of bad guys, alone, with no plan?” Cordelia said, throwing her hands up.

“No,” Angel said. A cold, focused look was in his eyes. “I walk in alone. You three don’t.”

He explained. The Ramsey Building was an old, empty office tower downtown. Wesley could access the city’s blueprints. Find the sewer lines, the old utility tunnels that ran near it. Gunn knew the streets. He could find ways in that Wolfram & Hart wouldn’t watch. Cordelia would be their voice, linked through headsets, from the van outside.

“We find where they’re keeping Danny first,” Angel said. “We get him out. Then we deal with Lee.”

“And Penn?” Wesley asked.

Angel’s jaw tightened. “If he shows up, he’s a problem for another day. The boy comes first.”

***

The Ramsey Building was a dark giant against the night sky. No lights. Angel walked toward the front entrance, his coat blowing in the wind. He felt completely exposed.

“I’m at the entrance,” he whispered into the tiny microphone in his collar.

“We hear you,” Cordelia’s voice crackled in his ear. “Wes says the main power conduit runs into a basement sub-level from the east. Best bet for a hidden room.”

“Gunn is in the storm drain two blocks over,” Wesley’s voice cut in. “He’s making his way. No signs of life yet.”

Angel pushed open the heavy front doors. The lobby was vast and empty. Dust sheets covered old furniture. Moonlight came through the dirty windows.

“Right on time,” Lee’s voice echoed through the space. He stood at the far end of the lobby, near the elevator banks. He was alone. “Where is Penn?”

“Where’s the boy?” Angel asked, walking forward.

“Safe. You’ll see him when I see my property.”

“Penn isn’t property. And he’s not here.” Angel stopped halfway across the room. “Let the boy go, Lee. This is between you and me.”

Lee smiled. “But it’s not.” He snapped his fingers.

From the shadows of four doorways, figures stepped out. Not marked vampires this time. These were different. They were humans. Men and women in dark clothes. Their eyes were blank, but their bodies were tense, ready. They held strange weapons—rods that glowed with a faint blue light. Soul-Chill weapons.

“Wolfram & Hart’s new private security,” Lee said. “Psychically dampened. No emotions to read. No fear to smell. Just perfect, obedient soldiers. Let’s see how you fight them, Angel. Can you hurt these innocent, controlled humans?”

The guards moved in, silent and swift.