Chapter 22

"Larry? Who's Larry?" Archer asked, watching Grace run to the phone.

"Dammit Scarlett! She isn't answering. Can you try Lucas?"

"Strange, he isn't answering either."

Grace ran to the door and stuck her head out of the conference room.

"Larry is back. This is not a drill. Someone get security to the roof, now!" she yelled. With no time to waste, Grace ran back to the phone and called the authorities.

"Hi, I'm calling from the high-rise at 115 Bay St. Larry is back and already on the roof. Yes, that's right. No, we have clothes being thrown from the roof, so I think it's the sunset jumping bit, but I can't be sure. Exactly, you'll want to bring a lot of blankets. My name is Grace Walker. We'll have someone meet you on the street to escort you up. Thanks. Bye."

Grace hung up and tried her assistant again.

"Goddammit Scarlett," she yelled as she slammed the phone down on its base.

"Something's wrong because I can't get a hold of Lucas either," Archer added.

"Maybe they're already involved with this Larry situation, but it doesn't make sense that neither of them would answer," Grace considered.

"Can you please tell me what's going on?" Archer asked, panic in his voice. "And who the fuck is Larry? "

"One sec, Scarlett is calling," Grace said before answering. "Scarlett, just shut up and listen. Come to the conference room now. Yes, this second."

"...something is happening, I need you here," Archer said, finishing a call with Lucas. Then he whirled around to Grace. "Explain, please."

"Larry is a serial cult leader. He is constantly organizing mass suicides."

"What do you mean constantly?"

"We've always been able to step in before anything too bad happens. We stop him, save the people in his group, and then he finds new people to bring in. He's obsessed with the clock tower, and his end-of-the-world ceremonies always include it, or he uses it to tell time or something, I don't know. Our building has the best unobstructed view, so this is where he always goes."

"So it's a scam? He makes everyone kill themselves and takes their money?" Archer clarified.

"Honestly, no one has figured that out. It sounds likely, but each time he's taken away, he cries about not being able to ascend or whatever. It destroys him," Grace explained while watching more articles of clothing fall from the sky.

"How does he keep finding people?"

"He recruits them online. Preys on the vulnerable and like-minded."

"Why don't they just keep him locked up?" he asked, jumping as a shoe hit the window.

"He has really good lawyers," Grace shrugged.

The door flew open, and Scarlett and Lucas hurried into the room.

"What? What's wrong?" Scarlett asked.

Scarlett's always-perfect hair was ruffled. Her lipstick was smudged at the corner of her mouth, her blouse was wrinkled, and her ski rt was twisted.

"Were you sleeping?" Grace asked, disappointment clear in her tone.

She was about to rip into her assistant when she took in Lucas's appearance. His usual carefully styled gelled hair was a mess. His shirt was wrinkled and only half tucked in, and he had a faint smear of the same shade of lipstick Scarlett was wearing on his top lip.

"Larry is on the roof," Grace snapped.

"I'll call security," Scarlett said, dashing to the phone.

"It's been done. The police have been called. I need you to take Lucas to meet the first responders downstairs to escort them up," she commanded.

"On my way. Wait, do we know…?" Scarlett started.

"They're stripping, so it's either punch or jumping, but we've only seen shoes, socks and sweaters, so hopefully there's still time," Grace explained.

Scarlett nodded and left, taking Lucas with her.

"Ugh, this is bad. This is very very bad," Grace groaned.

"I know, you think they might jump?" Archer asked in horror.

"No, I mean yes, that could be a possibility, but I'm talking about Scarlett and Lucas. They clearly just had sex," Grace stated.

"Oh, yeah, that could be a problem. I thought he didn't like her," Archer asked.

"That's what I thought," she replied. "But Scarlett, somehow, always gets what and who she wants."

"Almost. She almost always," he corrected her. "She has been trying to sleep with me since I arrived."

"I know," Grace admitted. "At first it was entertaining to watch, but now…"

"But now?" Archer asked. He moved closer and grabbed her hand.

"Now I kind of want to rip her face off whenever she calls you ‘Boss Man' or ‘Sir,'" she admitted.

"Wait, she is doing that as a thing , isn't she?"

"Yes, she was hoping you were into it, or if not, hoping if she continued to call you that, she would unlock some dormant kink."

"No thank you," he said as he shook his head. "But maybe if you called me ‘Sir' I might think differently," he teased.

"Too bad we'll never know," she replied.

Archer tugged on Grace's hand, pulling her closer.

"Or are you the one who wants to be called ‘Sir?'" he chuckled as he started to lean his face closer to hers.

"We could try it on," she whispered, as she lifted her chin, anticipating his kiss.

"They're both in here."

Scarlett's loud voice broke them apart just in time for them to see her escorting a tall, blonde woman in uniform into the conference room.

"Captain, this is Grace. She's our Larry expert. Or, at least she has been here for most of his rituals. And that's Mr. Kennedy, our top boss," Scarlett said. "Grace, Mr. Kennedy, this is Captain Ward."

"Mr. Kennedy, the man who took down our corrupted police chief," the captain said warmly.

Grace and Archer shook the Captain's hand. She noticed the captain held on a little longer to Archer's but this wasn't the time to get annoyed or jealous.

But she was definitely annoyed that their kiss was interrupted again, and by this woman, and jealous of the captain's confidence and audacity to give Archer "come fuck me eyes," while on the job.

"Did you make it up there on time?" Grace spoke up, steering the conversation back to Larry.

" We did, thanks to you. My people are up there now defusing the situation as we speak. Everyone's a little hysteric, and naked, and it might take a while to get them down off that roof, but there were no lives lost," the captain proudly announced.

"Jumping or poison this time?" Grace inquired.

"They were preparing to jump. We didn't find any food or drinks. Why they felt the need to do this naked…" the captain said, shaking her head.

"At least when they strip, it means we have more time to respond. I don't know how they get up there undetected. Once, they prepared to sacrifice themselves with punch, but fully clothed, so we almost didn't get to them in time. Some drank it though," Grace sadly reflected. "But the naked thing is new, which means they start earlier," she explained.

"I'm here to take your statement and to get any information from previous incidents that I might not have. I'm hoping I can finally lock him away, if not for good, then at least for a while," the captain said.

"Of course, whatever you need," Grace offered.

"I'll give you two some privacy," Archer said.

"You could stay," the captain said, batting her eyelashes.

"I just started at this company a few weeks ago. This is my first Larry encounter, so I'm afraid I won't be any help. I'll be in my office if you have any questions later, but Grace is who you want to speak with," he said to the captain. Then he turned towards Grace. "I'll wait for you."

Grace spent the remainder of the day talking to Captain Ward. She had not expected to be with her for so long, but the captain had taken over Larry's case file, so she was extremely thorough with her questioning. She seemed more det ermined and capable than the last officer who handled it, and Grace did not doubt that Larry's mass suicide attempts would soon be over.

When Grace was walking the captain out, she found Archer waiting for her in front of her office.

"That took a while," he said to both women, but his eyes were locked on Grace.

"Shit," the captain exclaimed as she looked down at her watch. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize the time. Curfew starts in twenty minutes. I can give you two a ride home if you'd like?" the captain said to both Archer and Grace, but her gaze was fixed on Archer.

"I'll be fine. I don't have a long walk home, but you two go ahead," Grace offered.

"I'm a quick walk from here too, but thank you for the offer, captain," Archer replied.

"Here's my card, Grace has one too, just in case you think of anything. Don't hesitate to call, day or night," she said before sauntering away.

Grace stood there, mouth wide open in shock as she watched Captain Ward leave.

Archer chuckled.

"What are you laughing at?" Grace said, grabbing the card he had just been handed. She examined it and compared it to the one she was given.

"Nothing. Maybe you. You're being cute right now," he observed.

"Why because I'm reacting to the captain being completely unprofessional. She shouldn't be hitting on you…or anyone, while on the job."

"Grace, she was just being nice," he laughed.

"Sure," she said as she playfully slammed the card the captain gave him onto his chest. "Then explain why your card has her cell number and m ine doesn't," she snickered and walked away.

He grabbed her hand as she passed him and whirled her around. Her hands landed on his chest, and he held her close by her elbows.

"It doesn't matter who flirts with me, because all I can think about is you," he admitted. "I've tried to kiss you twice today."

"You have."

"I'd very much like to try again," he said, his voice sensuous and deep.

"I sense there's a ‘but?'"

"There is," he sighed dramatically. "If I kiss you, I'm going to want to keep kissing you. I'm a weak man and I won't be able to stop," he confessed.

"That doesn't sound so bad," Grace breathed.

"It doesn't but then there's the curfew," he reminded her.

"Stupid killer clowns," she groaned, leaning her forehead against his chest.

"I fucking hate clowns," he said, as he pressed his cheek to the top of her head. "But I don't want to cheapen or rush this. Us."

"I don't want that either," she said, her stomach doing summersaults at his use of the word "us."

"Can I walk you home?"

"You won't make it home in time for curfew if you do," she warned.

"Your safety comes first," he said, lifting her chin to make her face him.

"I won't be able to live with myself if something happened to you because you insisted on walking me home, when I'm more than capable of walking on my own," she explained.

"I should be insisting that you walk me home. You probably have better odds against whatever is out there than I do," he chuckled .

"Oh no! We didn't get your bag finished," she gasped.

"It's okay. I've lasted this long without one, I think I'll be okay for one more day."

"At least carry the knife and the UV flashlight with you. Those two items cover a lot of threats."

"I can do that, as long as you text me as soon as you're safe inside, not a moment sooner," he bargained.

"I can do that."

The building had been cleared out earlier, and Archer had sent Lucas and Scarlett home an hour before, so they left walking hand in hand. When it was time to separate, Archer hesitated, then reluctantly let go, and they quickly walked their separate ways. They had just over ten minutes to get home before the killer clowns started to roam the street. They would be cutting it close.