Arrested (Book 1 of the Arrested Trilogy) {malec au}

Chapter Nineteen

Jace took out his own phone. "How is that even possible? This building isn't even completed. It can't be hooked up to Internet. It needs walls. Cables. Electricity-"

"Jace. Magnus is right. There's wifi here," To prove it, Alec held up his phone for Jace to see. "I just connected to it. Three bars too. It's a strong connection."

"But where's it coming from is the question," Magnus tapped on the metal pole next to him. "Here wifi, wifi, wifi....."

"Maybe it's from the building next door? I'll go ask," Jace jumped over a fallen beam on the ground and made his way to the building beside the lot.

Alec sighed heavily. "Look at us. We went from chasing criminals to chasing wifi signals. This is pathetic."

"Most people would kill to chase wifi signals, Alec. How often do you find a place with free wifi?" Magnus bent down and wiped at the dirt with a hand. "Do you think Jace is pissed at you for not telling him the truth?"

"Jace is pissed at everyone. But yeah...I think he's mad that I didn't tell him what really happened that night. He would've acted irrationally if I did." Alec kicked at the dirt with his shoe. "Jace acts before he thinks. Like that time we snuck into Pandemonium to free the hostages. He didn't think about the consequences-"

Magnus looked up to see why Alec had stopped talking. The detective was staring at something on the ground in front of them. "Alec? What's wrong? What is it?"

Alec knelt down and swiped the dirt by his foot away. "It's a cable. Or a wire. Whatever you want to call it."

"Where does it lead?"

"I don't know, Magnus. I literally just found it. You expect me to know everything as soon as we discover something? Jesus...." Alec lift the wire with a finger. "It must lead somewhere. Should we follow it?"

"Stupid question for a detective, don't you think?" Magnus got to his feet. "Follow it. But if it leads somewhere that can permanently ruin my shoes, I'm not going one step further. This is genuine Italian leather. Very expensive and hard to come by."

Alec scowled. Following the wire was easy enough; Alec held it in both hands as he pulled it up from the ground and walked towards its source. He only stopped when the wire wouldn't come up from the ground any further. "It ends here."

Magnus gave it a tug. "What do you mean it ends here?"

"I mean it ends here. It's like it won't come up any further because it goes deeper underground." Alec dropped the wire and looked around. "There has to be a way under the lot. The wire goes underground. We have to find a way to get there so we can learn where it goes."

Jace appeared next to them, breathless. "Guys. The neighbors next door said they have no idea where the wifi is coming from, but judging from their tone they're not complaining. Who doesn't love free wifi?"

"Hear, hear," Magnus muttered. "While you were gone, Alec found a wire that leads underground. Any idea where we can gain entrance to the underworld?"

Jace picked up the wire with a finger. "I think I might. Follow me, gentleman."

They followed Jace a few feet away from the construction zone. He bent down to lift a manhole, grunting as he did so. Taking a glow stick from his pocket, he cracked it and threw it down the hole which lit up the darkness down below.

"What's that smell?" Magnus gagged. "Oh. God. That's a-yeah, that's a sewer. That's a no go zone for me."

"Very observant, Mr. Bane. It is a sewer. Are you afraid you'll ruin your shoes?" Jace snarled.