by Erin Johnson
I grinned. This guy might be tough, but at least he was willing to hear out ideas that ran contrary to his own. Unlike Bon. I shot a heavy glance in the direction of his office. He always seemed to be trying to close cases as quickly as possible, regardless of how well justice was being served.
“Edna!”
I glanced over my shoulder. The office manager held one finger to her ear and had a line of officers gathered around her desk waiting for her attention. She glanced up, looking slightly dazed and overwhelmed.
“Clear my schedule for the next couple of hours,” Chief Taylor directed. “I’m going to deal with this situation.”
Edna opened her mouth to say something, that same concern in her eyes, but was cut off by the person speaking in her ear. She nodded. “Yes, yes, I’m here.” She held a finger up to an officer on her right. “Just a moment, I’ll be right with you.”
Chief Taylor scanned the sea of desks, then whistled and waved a couple of cops over to us. My stomach sank as I recognized the two buzzcuts from the other night on the ship who’d been hazing that rookie, Officer Russo.
Speaking of whom….
The young man bounced over, getting in the path of the other two. One of the buzzcuts shoved him out of the way, then stalked toward us. Behind them, Russo’s expression darkened. He rose on his tiptoes. “Why don’t I go too, huh?”
Taylor scowled at him. “We don’t need you, son.” He shrugged, adjusted the neck of his uniform jacket, then nodded grimly at the other two officers who towered over me. “Ready?” They nodded.
I gave a more hesitant nod, wishing I was going with Peter and not these three. As a secretly cursed shifter running a semilegal business, to put it generously, I was wary of cops. Anyone raised in the Darkmoon District learned to be.
I climbed into the back of the airship beside one of the broad-shouldered, silent buzzcuts, and we lifted off towards the pirate ship. I told myself it was just my distrust of cops in general that had me so on edge. Plus, being powerless, always left me feeling vulnerable.
I glanced out the window at the glowing lights of Bijou Mer below and chewed the inside of my cheek, wishing I had my magic back… and Peter, too.
33
WALK THE PLANK
A tall wooden gate barricaded the ramp that led up to the restored pirate ship. I, the two buzzcuts, and Chief Taylor had barely spoken the entire airship ride down here to the docks and now even they were empty, save for a scuttling rat here and a whining seagull there.
I rubbed my arms, goose bumps prickling them despite the warm summer night. I wished, again, that Peter were here. Shell—I’d even take Daisy at this point.
A heavy chain with a massive lock looped through the gate’s handles. One of the buzzcuts, the taller one, tried to pull it open but it merely rattled.
I shrugged. “Oh darn, it’s locked, maybe we should come back another time.” With more cops… during the daytime. Wow. I, the nocturnal shifter, was hoping to do something during the day. I shivered. Now I knew I was freaked out.
I turned to go, planning to just book it back to the Darkmoon District on the next tier up, but Chief Taylor grunted. “Hang on, Ms. Hartgrave.”
The shorter buzzcut clamped a beefy hand down on my shoulder and brought me up short. I shrugged his hand off me, but I hadn’t missed the menace in that grip. My stomach sank and I slowly, reluctantly turned around.
Chief Taylor held up his wand, the tip glowing. He lowered it to the heavy-looking lock and sparks fizzed. “One of the perks of being Chief—I’ve got a master lock spell. It’ll open most any lock on the island.”
I flared my nostrils as I tried to measure my panicked breathing. “Oh… good.”
The lock clicked open, the chain dropped, and the tall cop pushed the gates open. They swung inward, and I followed the chief and tall buzzcut up the slightly swaying ramp to the deck. The other cop’s footsteps clomped behind me. I was surrounded.
I pursed my lips and blew out a breath. I was probably just feeling like this was menacing because I had a healthy fear of cops. Chief Taylor was willing to reconsider his suspension of Peter—that was a good thing. And he’d told Edna and announced to half the station where we were going. He hadn’t made a secret of it, so why would I assume he had some dastardly plan?
I curled my lip and looked down at my empty hands. I’d feel a lot more confident if I had my wand and powers back to be able to at least attempt to defend myself. I sighed and resigned myself to the less than ideal situation.
I thought back to the other night when I’d been marched through the sewer by a different set of three men. I’d survived a visit with Ludolf, which had to be worse than working with the police chief. I’d get through this. Cops just put me on edge.
We marched across the empty deck, and Taylor used his spell to open the cabin doors. During the policeman’s ball, golden candlelight had spilled from the large room out onto the deck, but now, the only light came from the eerie blue glow of the fish tank across the room. Round tables still dotted the space, but without their white tablecloths, the chairs flipped upside down on top of them.
I shivered. The last time I’d been here, it’d been full of music and people and light. It now felt empty and creepy. And this silence was getting to me.
I shrugged. “Think that legend about the ghost captain is real?”
The two buzzcuts, who now stood shoulder to shoulder blocking the doorway, sniggered.
The taller one smirked. “That was us. We were just pranking the rookie.”
I frowned. So reassuring.
I licked my lips and tried again. “I can uh, double-check with the fish in there, see if anyone remembers something from the other night?” I pointed at the massive, glowing tank.
Chief Taylor smirked. “Yes, that sounds like a good plan.” He jerked his head at the buzzcuts, and they fell in step behind him as we all threaded our way through the tables to the far wall. I wasn’t sure if they were aware of the door hidden behind the tank, or if it’d even be unlocked, but I felt a little better being closer to an exit.
I stopped right in front of the tank, and the cops all stopped behind me. It made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck to have my back to them, but I forced myself to stand tall. Not wanting them to overhear me speaking to the fish, I put my face right up to the glass and made some bubbling “bwab blab bob” noises—fish language.
A crab scuttled over—it looked familiar. It clacked its claws. Hey. You’re the witch from the other night.
I raised my brows. That’s me. Tapped my fingers and thumbs together. I wanted to ask if you remembered anything else from the other night, when there was that party—
I froze, my lips nearly touching the cold glass, when Chief Taylor stepped up beside me. I leaned back and shot him a forced grin.
“Hey there, Chief….” Had he overheard?
He glared at me from under his bushy brows.
The crab pointed its claw at him and clamped it shut. Oh! That’s the other cop we saw with the one who died.
I flashed my eyes at the fish tank. The other night, the crab had told that it’d seen Davies talking with another officer. And that other officer had dragged him outside.
I darted my eyes toward Chief Taylor, then widened them at the crab. I nonchalantly pinched my hands together. You sure? You saw this man drag the other guy away?
The crab scuttled closer to the glass, eyed Taylor, then turned to me. Yep. One hundred percent sure. I think.
Panic flashed through me. Oh now you’re sure?! You think?! I slowly spun to face the chief, who glowered at me with those intelligent, glittering eyes. That intelligence could easily be the glint of cunning, too. I took a step away from him.
The crab could have remembered wrong, and maybe him dragging Davies away didn’t automatically make him the killer, but it didn’t look good. Peter had suspected corruption within the department… could it go all the way to the top?
I bit my lip as I remembered
Emerson threatening to tell, not Peter’s immediate boss Bon, but Chief Taylor. Were Emerson and Taylor in on this together?
My throat was so dry I could barely speak. “I, uh—suddenly remembered an appointment I have to get to.”
I thumbed over my shoulder and backed away, but Chief Taylor smirked. “Afraid this is the end of the line for you, Ms. Hartgrave.”
Ice flooded through me as the buzzcuts edged apart until they had cut off my escape through the hidden door behind the tank and the main doors from the deck. I was surrounded, without magic, and outnumbered. Looking good, Jolene.
34
PROTECT AND SERVE
Chief Taylor slowly drew his wand. “You and Flint just couldn’t leave well enough alone.”
I glanced to my side and behind me. The two buzzcuts drew their wands as well. The shorter one shifted on his feet.
“What’ll the story be this time, Chief?”
I raised a brow. This time? Snakes. They were a well-oiled corruption machine.
Taylor looked me over, then shrugged. “Let’s say she brought us down here, claiming she had evidence, then snapped and went crazy.”
The corner of his mouth twitched toward a smirk as he eyed the messy bun on top of my head, then scanned downward over my ratty band tee and torn jeans. “Look at her.”
Hot anger flashed in my chest. He said it as if that was evidence enough.
“Hair’s a mess, dressed in rags—”
I scoffed. My tee was vintage, thank you very much.
“—rambling about being a pet psychic.”
Taller buzzcut snickered, and I spun around to shoot him a dirty look. He sneered back.
Chief Taylor stepped a little closer, and I inched back. “No one was going to take her seriously, but I, out of consideration for Davies and Flint, thought I’d give her a chance.” He clicked his tongue. “Darn shame, though. As soon as we got down here, she snapped, pulled her wand on us, and we killed her in self-defense.”
I choked. Killed? “What happened to protect and serve, huh?” I scowled at the chief. “Guess we denizens of the Darkmoon District have good reason to think you cops are all dirty.”
It probably wasn’t a good idea to antagonize the man threatening to kill you, but then again, it hadn’t been a good idea to come down here with them in the first place. No way was I going down meekly.
I inched back as Taylor continued to advance. He stepped slowly, casually my way, the tip of his wand leveled at my chest. I forced myself to stop staring at it and meet his eyes.
“So what? Emerson paid you off to help his son and then cover it up when he killed Davies?” My heart pounded in my chest. I was trying to buy myself time, plus I was just genuinely curious. I gulped, my mouth dry.
Then again, no one was coming for me. Peter hadn’t even been into the station for days—he wasn’t coming to help. And why would anyone else from the station show up? Their chief told them he was taking care of it. I gulped. I’d taken the bait, and now was caught and cleaned.
Chief Taylor glowered at me under his heavy brows. “Emerson didn’t kill Davies.” He didn’t look particularly amused or proud, just serious and matter-of-fact.
I felt the blood drain from my face. “You?”
He didn’t react.
“You killed Davies? One of your own officers?” I glanced around at the buzzcuts. Did they not find this alarming?
Taylor’s eyes glittered, reflecting the strange blue glow from the fish tank. “He was out of line.”
I snorted. “This—this is out of line.”
“You wouldn’t understand, Ms. Hartgrave. We have a code of honor among the police. We take care of our own. Davies couldn’t be trusted—he broke the code by going above my head and confronting Emerson on his own.”
I shook my head, disgust making my skin crawl. “So you apparently take care of your own and anyone else who pays enough.”
His cheek twitched. “Emerson and I go way back. He’s one of the force’s most generous donors. You have no idea the politics and compromises needed to keep our men and women in uniform funded and safe—which in turn keeps the public safe.”
I raised my brows. “I know I’m feeling so safe right now.” I glanced over my shoulder. I stood near the center of the tank, with buzzcut at the end. I was running out of room. Still, Taylor advanced slowly on me.
“I’m of the opinion that the ends justify the means. Sometimes you have to crack a few clams”—Taylor’s eyes narrowed—“for the greater good. So of course, when Emerson’s son got in trouble a few months back, I told him I’d take care of it.”
I shook my head. “Gross.” I couldn’t believe I’d ever tried to impress my former boss. It made me reconsider all the cases I’d taken on, fought so hard to win, even when my gut was telling me these people deserved justice. My desire to get ahead and make something of myself had overridden that.
I bit my lip. Maybe it was Peter’s influence and—even facing death I could barely admit it—Daisy’s too—but I suspected that I was now a more honest and moral person than I’d been a few years ago when I was a lawyer. Weird.
The tip of Taylor’s wand glowed white and jolted me back to the present moment. Snakes! I scrambled for something to say—a way to draw this out. “So Emerson put up the funds to pay off Davies and you ordered him to kill that witness—” I searched my memory. “Gregor Caron—the guy who would’ve testified against Emerson’s reckless son.”
“More or less,” Taylor growled. “That, and I offered Davies the Officer of the Year award—money and accolades. The guy was more than compensated. He shouldn’t have gone against orders and hit up Emerson for more gold.”
I scoffed. “Oh! Money and a trophy were enough for killing an innocent man?”
Taylor scowled. “Innocent? Caron was a career criminal.”
I scowled back, though my legs threatened to buckle every few steps. “He was innocent of attacking Davies.”
Taylor’s dark eyes darted to the other two officers. “After Emerson told me that Davies had demanded more money, I had no choice but to take care of it. If he’d just followed orders, he’d be rich and well positioned to move up the career ladder.”
I glanced around. The two buzzcuts nodded their agreement. Oh good—glad this was a teaching moment for these three. I splayed my hands, my tone exaggerated.
“Well, yeah, you have to be corrupt in the right way.” I shot Taylor a flat look. “What’d you do? Pull him out the back door”—I jerked my head to my right at the door that stood behind the fish tank“—and shove him overboard?”
Chief Taylor glowered at me but didn’t speak.
Ah. So I’d guessed right. “Classy.”
His wand glowed brighter.
My breath caught and my panicked brain raced. “Like anyone’s going to believe that three officers had to kill me in self-defense.” I blurted the words, then looked between the three. No one would believe that… would they?
I thought of Peter. Would he? Then my stomach clenched. Taylor had said that Peter and I couldn’t leave well enough alone… did that mean Peter was in danger, too?
Chief Taylor seemed to consider a moment, then shrugged. “Again, you were unhinged. Spouting nonsense. Two upstanding officers and the Chief of Police all telling the same story?” He smirked at me, though his eyes held no humor. “Against a dead pet psychic from the Darkmoon District? Who do you think people will believe?”
I gritted my teeth. He was right, of course. I balled my hands into tight fists, angry at the injustice of it all.
In a whirl of movement, the chief extended his arm and his wand flashed. I squeezed my eyes shut and braced for a blow that didn’t come.
“Oof!”
I peeled my eyes open and spun to look behind me. The shorter buzzcut winced and glanced down at his left arm. A gash tore through his uniform sleeve, the exposed skin below red and bloody. He groaned and clutched at it.
I whirled to face Taylor. “What in the—
?”
He addressed the injured officer. The other buzzcut shifted on his feet, nervously looking from his peer to the chief. I didn’t blame him. I’d be wondering if I was next.
“She attacked first.” The chief aimed his wand around the room, firing off spells that left scorch marks on the walls and ceiling. The other cop had to duck to avoid getting hit by one in the face. Chief Taylor was out of control.
He finished half destroying the cabin, then jerked his head at the taller buzzcut. “Grab her wand.”
I rolled my eyes. “Another flaw with your plan—I don’t have one.”
The cop stopped halfway to me and shot the chief a questioning look. Taylor looked bored, his lids half closed and mouth a straight line. “Fine. We’ll say she nabbed one of yours and used it against you.”
The cop nodded.
Taylor swept his wand from the cop to me. “Now take her out.”
35
BACKUP
I sensed movement behind me and glanced over my shoulder. Both the other cops pointed their glowing wands at me. I squeezed my eyes shut and waited for death—there was no getting out of it this time.
Muffled footsteps sounded. I peeled an eye open. It seemed like they were coming from the deck.
“Chief?” The taller buzzcut’s eyes grew wide.
“Stop!”
I spun to face the voice—Peter’s voice! He shoved the double doors to the cabin open, wand at the ready. Relief flooded through me, followed by panic. Taylor wouldn’t hesitate to kill him too!
But then Daisy appeared at his side, followed by Inspector Bon, the rookie, Russo, and several other officers in uniform. My legs nearly buckled with relief.
The group of officers advanced slowly, wands all drawn. Taylor’s nostrils flared, and a flush of anger spread up his neck. “Inspector. What are you doing here?”
