“Why?” I asked, forever nosy.
Ethan pulled onto the main street, a wry smile clear on his face. “I would suggest you not ask Kerrity about that,” he said.
I glanced at him. “Not her favorite subject?”
“Miles is from a large city, with more dangerous crimes. He's also done a lot of research on the darker aspects of the job.”
“So when the crimes are really big, you call him.” Like murder. No wonder he was poking around.
“Basically,” Ethan said conversationally, slowing at a stoplight. “Not because we need his help, in terms of solving it, but because he has a lot more expertise on the protocols and whatnot than we do.” Ethan didn't seem to mind, but maybe he was just sort of an easy-going person.
“Kerrity doesn't like it?” I said cautiously.
He tapped his finger on the steering wheel. “She doesn't like anything that makes her look bad. And this, this almost makes it look like she doesn't know how to deal with her own department.”
I frowned, confused.
“We don’t have murders or violent crime here as a rule,” Ethan explained. “So when a big crime does happen, we don’t generally have established protocols. It hurts her ego to admit she doesn’t know how to do something.”
“Ah.“ That made more sense. I mean, not that you shouldn't put your ego aside. But if she felt like someone was overstepping, that could explain why she got angry.
“She's not the most popular,” Ethan said, his words curt.
I chuckled, although my mind was drifting. It was serious, then. For all that I'd assumed they would take me at my word, especially given this whole magic thing, that didn't seem to be the case.
“Does she know about magic?” I asked, trying to gather information.
Ethan nodded, turning the turn signal on and turning into a small parking lot.
“She's a witch herself,” he said. “But she hates magic, and isn’t very good at it.”
“Which would be why she hates it,” I guessed.
Ethan grinned. “You learn fast.”
“People in power are all the same,” I said dryly. He parked and unlocked the car doors. I got out, missing Mocha by my side or even having the security of having a car here so I could leave when I wanted to. It wasn't that I was seriously concerned for my safety, or my freedom, but this wasn't anything I was looking forward to.
“If you would follow me?” Ethan asked, already moving forward. He pushed open the door to enter, and I realized we were coming in a side entrance, not the main one. But it was the Elder Police Department, without a doubt. I caught sight of Sally, with her curly hair, and a few other people I recognized vaguely from the crime scene, but she was the only one I knew by name.
Ethan exchanged nods with a couple of them, before he stopped a few feet away from a polished oak door. It was a nondescript door, but given the glance he gave it before he turned to look at me, it was probably Kerrity's office door.
“Let me take the lead,” he said, his voice quiet and calm. “If you don't know, say so. Don't agree with anything you don't want to.”
I nodded, signifying I understood. How seriously he was taking it made me nervous. Ethan gave me one more look over, and then nodded, seemingly satisfied. He pushed open the door, gesturing for me to go inside first.
Police Chief Kerrity wasn't really what I expected. For all that Ethan had built her up to be this cranky old woman, she had a smile that was nice, and horn rimmed glasses that made her look intelligent. Her light brown hair was in an updo, and her blue eyes looked kind. Then she opened her mouth.
“This is the murderer?” she asked, and the voice that came out of her mouth did not match her looks at all. It was bored and accusatory, like she was only doing the minimum of what she had to.
“The suspect, ma'am.” Ethan sounded as respectful as he had to. He didn't give her more than a modicum of what he had to. I could see why they didn't like each other. I didn't like her much, if I had to be honest. I didn’t know her, but first impressions mattered.
“Sit,” Kerrity said, nodding directly at the chair in front of her.
I sat. Ethan remained standing. He had his hands tucked at his sides, almost like a ready posture. I half expected to see him salute.
“You're dismissed,” Kerrity said, waving a hand.
Ethan cleared his throat. “As the senior officer on the case –”
“I'm going to replace you,” Kerrity said with another dismissive wave of her hand. “If you have family ties to this woman, then your bias is obvious.”
Ethan looked like he was seconds away from grinding his teeth. “I'm afraid if you excuse an officer so soon, you’ll face backlash. Especially given she's new to the town.”
“Yes, but you're a soft person. You get attached easily.” She gave Ethan a scrutinizing stare, challenging him. “If you can prove you're not attached, I'll let you continue on the case. Otherwise, you’re to brief Detective Archie and you're off.”
I could practically hear him trying not to answer her. I was surprised he didn't, because I sort of wanted to smack her.
“I'm innocent,” I said. “Ma'am.”
“That's what they all say,” she said dismissively. Her gaze was contemptuous. “Do you have anything better than that?”
“I'm new to the town, I had an argument with Mildred, and when I came home from some errands, I found her dead in front of my apartment.” Now that I thought about it like that, it really didn’t look good. But I wasn’t going to admit that out loud.
“Yes,” she said, the word heavy with emphasis. “You found her dead on your doorstep after you had an argument with her.” Her look was pointed. She made an attempt to flip through some files in front of her, and she seemed to give up on making Ethan leave the room. “She accused you of stealing from her coffee shop, breaking and entering. Using magic, nonetheless. And your only attempt at an alibi is that ‘familiar’ of yours.” She said ‘familiar’ like it was a dirty word.
“I didn’t break into anything,” I said firmly. I hoped she wouldn’t ask me any more questions. I didn't really know what I was talking about, whether it was about Mocha, or magic, or in general. “And Mocha is my familiar. She was with me.”
The triumphant look she was wearing wasn’t reassuring.
“And yet you claim you've never had one before,” she continued.
I crossed one leg over the other, my hands clasped on my knee to avoid showing my hands were shaking. “No ma'am,” I said. “I've never had a familiar before. I didn't even know I was magic before.”
“A likely excuse,” she scoffed. “It's a good way to try to get an alibi. Convenient, isn't it, that we can't question your familiar. We would just have to take your word.”
“Familiars aren’t known for lying for their bonded matches,” Ethan said, his voice stiff.
“But you forget,” Kerrity said, sounding way too happy for my liking, “we don't know what type of witch she is. Maybe she's the type that can do all sorts of trickery.”
My brain was like one giant question mark. There were types of witches?
“Preliminary results indicate that she's –”
Kerrity stopped Ethan with a single raised eyebrow, and the tension in the room shot up another notch. “I'm not interested in preliminary results,” she said. “I'm interested in hard data. Can you give me hard data?”
“No, ma'am,” Ethan said, his teeth gritted.
Many, many years ago I’d once thought about entering the police force. This little display was making me really glad that I’d rethought that decision. Although if Ethan was to be believed, this wasn’t quite normal. I wasn’t sure about that.
“I still don't see how we can assume that she is lying,” Ethan said. “Innocent until proven guilty is what our –”
“Your job is to find evidence,” she said dismissively. “Not decide guilt. That’s for those above you.”
Ethan bristled, and it looked like tiny sparks had j
umped off of him, glitter swarming for the blink of an eye before vanishing. I blinked. Had I actually seen something, or was my brain just being fanciful? While I was in the room, I was basically being ignored, even though the conversation and its outcome decided my future.
“With all due respect ma'am,” Ethan said patiently.
“You don't have to bother with the platitude,” Kerrity said irritably, leaning back in her chair. “There's no love lost between you and I.”
That – that I could agree with. It looked like the thing they both most wanted was to strangle the other one. Though who wanted to strangle who most, I couldn't say. I figured the odds would give Ethan a slight advantage.
“Then you agree that we should do more investigating.”
Kerrity snorted, but delicately. “Of course,” she said. “We need more evidence for a conviction.” Her eyes sharpened like a knife, slicing through me to land on Ethan. “Your bias prevents you from doing a good job.”
It took all my effort not to cross my arms over my chest. I didn’t like Kerrity. I didn’t like her at all. Whether her dislike of my family was valid or not, she didn’t have to be so rude.
“Get that pet of yours,” Kerrity said, her eyes narrowing. “That novelist.”
“Miles,” Ethan said, his voice stiff. “He is aware of the case.”
“He won't have the same bias you do,” she said, sounding approving. “He can assist Archie in replacing you.”
I coughed into my hand to hide a somewhat hysterical laugh, because obviously nobody had heard about what had happened with us this morning. I'd accidentally met his daughter and ended up inviting them to breakfast.
No bias, indeed.
“I expect your report on my desk tomorrow,” she said, and her tone brooked no arguments. “You have a week hours to prove this woman isn’t guilty, otherwise, I'll issue an arrest warrant.”
“You don’t have enough evidence for a warrant,” Ethan said tightly.
Kerrity’s smile was lazy and self-satisfied. “Don’t I, though?”
Shaken, I glanced at Ethan. So much for ethics. How had she not been fired with an attitude like that? “May I speak?” I asked.
“No,” Kerrity said without looking up. “You’re excused.” She flicked a finger at us, apparently reading something on her smartphone that was more entertaining. Without a second thought, I stood and headed out the door, my hands shaking at my side. There were better things to waste our breath on at the moment than Kerrity. Like figuring out who had actually murdered Mildred.
Ethan waited until we were out of the building and near his car before he sighed, rubbing his forehead.
“You weren't kidding when you said she hated you,” I said, half laughing and half worried.
His smile was rueful. “She really doesn't like us.”
“Is there a reasonable reason, or…?” I wasn't sure how to finish that.
“Depends on your definition of reasonable,” he said. “To her, yes. To the magic side, no.” He leaned back against the car, his body a long, lean line. “She delights in making my job hard. I delight in doing a good job. We survive.”
“Probably with a lot of meds,” I muttered. “Tranquilizers for everybody.”
I didn't realize I’d said that out loud until I heard him snort. “Let’s just say she’s not the most popular.”
I chuckled, although it came out a bit too high pitched. Adrenaline was racketing through my body, making the world feel slightly off. “So what next?” I asked, following him with my eyes as he straightened up and looked behind me, his expression a mixture of fond and exasperated.
“Of course you’d be here,” he said, teasing. I followed his gaze, only half surprised to see Miles standing there, arms crossed over his chest and his eyes intent on me. I didn't see Sarai, but after her appearance earlier, I didn't rule out her still being there.
“Lost the kid?” Ethan asked.
“For the moment,” Miles said, the sarcasm dry when he looked at Ethan in a way that could actually be called friendly. The sarcasm well dried up the moment he looked at me, his eyes hard.
Ethan coughed politely. “Miles, this is Lou. Lou, this is Miles.”
“We've met,” I said.
“And you didn't kill each other?” Ethan sounded impressed. “Well, that's a good start.”
I glanced at him, trying to figure out if he was joking or not. “Do most people try and kill him when they meet him?”
“I'm an acquired taste,” Miles said with no embarrassment whatsoever. “I'll walk her home.”
“Thank you,” Ethan said after an apologetic glance at me. “I have to give this paperwork –”
“I've been looking for you,” Lizbeth called, shoving open her car door and heading my way, interrupting everything.
“It's turning into a party,” Ethan muttered under his breath.
Miles rolled his eyes. Was he an introvert? Or did he just not like people? Or did he just not like interruptions?
“Sorry,” I said. I wasn't sure why she was looking for me, but I bet it had to do with the fact that I was supposed to be in lessons and that Ethan had taken me.
“Do you have a lawyer?” she asked.
That wasn’t what I had expected. “Do I need a lawyer?”
The look she gave me was obvious. “You should always have a lawyer,” she said. “Innocent or not, that woman's good at twisting facts.”
Great. That was just what I wanted to hear. I didn’t like her wording, either. Ants crawled under my skin. I was innocent, they had to know that. I looked at Ethan. “Were they able to get surveillance footage?”
His face was troubled. “The system malfunctioned that night, and the woman doesn’t remember you.”
My stomach dropped, my heart thundering in my ears. My life didn’t flash before my eyes, but it was close. “That’s not good,” I said, not sure what else to say.
The look Miles gave me was surprisingly soft, but the moment he noticed I was watching it clammed up again.
“I can take you to your car –” Lizbeth started.
“I was going to take her home,” Miles said smoothly.
The look Lizbeth gave him was less than impressed.
“And why would that be?” she asked, archly, as if she knew the answer.
“I'm a gentleman,” Miles said with a straight face.
I almost choked on my laugh, and coughed to hide my amusement.
“Mhm.” Lizbeth’s lips were pursed. She didn't look impressed. “Lou?” She turned to look at me, and I looked between the two of them.
My mind had already gone in a different direction. “What's going to happen to the coffee shop?” I asked.
“Depends what was in the will,” Miles asked, his eyes intent on me. “You do realize asking about that gives you a motive?”
My exasperation was high. “If I was dumb enough to do something like that, do you really think I'd be able to get away with it?”
There was a serious look in his eyes, something that made me hesitate. “I never underestimate criminals.”
A long sigh. “Do we have to drive?” My car was still at home.
Lizbeth frowned. “No,” she said. “Walking is an option.”
Miles looked like he was about to protest, but Lizbeth silenced that with a sharp look.
“Where's your car?” Miles asked, glancing at me.
I opened my mouth and then I stopped, realizing that nobody had mentioned magic in his presence. “She was helping Wren at the halfway house,” Lizbeth said.
“Is that so.” Miles didn't look impressed, he just looked skeptical. “How convenient to develop a good reputation.”
I propped a hand on my hip, fed up. “Are you ever happy about anything?”
“Nope,” he said, giving me a pointed look. “Are you coming or not?”
“My car’s at my place.” I glanced at Lizbeth, not sure whether to go or not. “I didn’t drive.”
Lizbeth rubbed her forehead, l
ooking apologetic. “It slipped my mind,” she said. “We can –”
“I’ll take her,” Miles said again. He loomed over me, at least six inches taller, and his smile went from smug to gentlemanly. I didn’t buy it for one second.
Lizbeth narrowed her eyes, but then she lifted her chin and felt taller than he was. “Return her in one piece.”
Miles threw her a casual salute. “Or two.”
Chapter Ten
Lizbeth grabbed my shoulder and pulled me aside, giving Miles a dark look when he tried to follow. “No magic, and be careful what you say to him.”
I nodded, taking things seriously for the moment. It made me nauseous, reflecting on the reality I was living in, that I was now a suspect in a murder. It was so fictional I almost laughed. Instead, I tucked my hands in my pockets when Lizbeth let go of me, taking a few steps in Miles’s direction.
“Let’s go,” he said without preamble, spinning on his heel and heading off down the sidewalk. I followed without saying something, studying him from behind. He was grumpy, but he seemed to have a sense of humor underneath it all. Even if you did sort of have to yank it out of him.
I did wonder about Sarai's mother, because whoever must've married him would've been an interesting woman.
“Ethan mentioned you wrote?” I asked, trying to sound nonchalant about it. Technically it was Kerrity, but I wasn’t going to mention her name unless I had to.
Miles stopped for half a step, then continued as if nothing had happened. “Ethan has never been good about keeping his mouth shut.”
“He seems to do a good job,” I said in protest, thinking about magic and everything else.
“How long have you known him?” The words didn’t sting, like he’d pulled the punch, but they weren’t intended to be nice.
“You really are a jerk, you know that?” I clenched my hand into a fist in my pocket, distracting myself. I regretted ever thinking he was cute. Instead I wanted to call him something else, but my mother had taught me to be polite.
“You’re charming yourself.” Miles half-turned to throw me a mocking smile. “Murderers always are.”
I stopped where I was, seething. My heart was racing and my palms were sweating, the anger making my head spin. “Why did I agree to go with you?”
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