Mind Sweeper by AE Jones

do that.
    “Are you going to cut the BS now and tell us what Hampton paid you for?”
    “I’ll need to check my books.”
    “Let me guess, they’re in the back room. Don’t even try to make a run for it. I’ll just stake out your pawn shop until you come back.”
    He sighed. “Fine, Hampton wanted me to find him a straend.”
    I enlightened Dalton. “Straends are instruments of torture. Very effective, too. Almost all humans succumb to them, and it does a pretty good job on supes, too. Of course they’ve been banned for over a century.”
    Doyle sputtered. “He wanted them for ornamental purposes.”
    “Whatever helps you sleep at night. Since this transaction was a few months ago, did you send them to him in Chicago?”
    “Yes.”
    “And he only paid twenty for them? You must be slipping. Did he have you locate anything else?”
    “No. Are we done now?”
    “You’re awfully anxious to get rid of us.”
    “I have a business to run.”
    I glanced over my shoulder at the empty shop and then back at him. “They’re lining the aisles. I’ll leave you in peace if you tell me what else you’re hiding.”
    “I’m not hiding anything.” His eye twitched again.
    Man, he had a ridiculous tell. I would love to fleece him at poker.
    “I’ve got an idea. I’m going to find a woman and tweak with her memory a bit, have her remember you propositioning her. Then I’m going to send her to Coleen.”
    He turned an interesting shade of puce, and his eyes bugged out even more than normal.
    “You wouldn’t.”
    “Try me.”
    We stared at each other for a few seconds before he finally caved.
    “Word on the street is they’re looking for Hampton.”
    I shrugged. “What’s the big deal about that?”
    “They are specifically asking for his head and offering money for its retrieval.”
    “Do you know who is asking?”
    “No.”
    Interesting. “If you hear anything else, get in touch with me ASAP, or Coleen will have a special visitor.”
    Dalton drove back toward the office while I sorted through everything we had learned from Doyle.
    “So who is Coleen?”
    I smirked. “His wife. Dalmot demons are matriarchal. The females are dominant and can be extremely powerful. You don’t cheat on them, ever.”
    “What happens if you do?”
    “They have a giant tail like a scorpion and they beat you to death with it.”
    “God!”
    “Then they eat you.”
    He glared at me. “Kyle…”
    “The tail is a bit of an exaggeration.” I laughed. “And demons aren’t into cannibalism.”
    “I really need to have Misha tell me more about demons.”
    “Might be a good idea.”
    “Why would Hampton risk buying a straend?” Dalton asked.
    “To ensure he could extract information from someone.”
    “What kind of information?”
    I shook my head. “Not sure, but if an angel is willing to go all Shogun on someone’s ass, then I think it must be pretty bad.”
    “What’s the deal with the head?”
    “That one is totally puzzling me.”
    “Do you think Doc Miller might have an idea?”
    “It couldn’t hurt. I’ll see if she can meet us. Maybe Misha and Jean Luc can throw in their two cents’ worth, too.”
    * * *
    Dalton and I made it to the storage facility first. Doc Miller had just gotten off her shift at the hospital and would meet us shortly. Then we’d conference in Jean Luc and Misha once she arrived.
    I walked slowly through the shelves staring at the different items we had nabbed over the years.
    “Does this place creep you out?” Dalton asked.
    “No. It’s necessary.”
    “So you don’t think people can handle the truth?”
    “I think humans would exploit supes if they knew about them.” He locked his eyes on me and I squirmed under his gaze. “What do you think?”
    He thought for a moment. “Some could handle the truth, but others would treat it as an excuse for bigotry.”
    “What did you do when your captain told you about the supernatural world?”
    He smirked. “Honestly, I thought