“Well, I’ve slept in worse,” I replied with a shrug. “Can you bring me a breakfast burrito from the café we had lunch at today for breakfast?”
“Seriously? You’ve just been arrested and put in jail and you’re placing an order for a breakfast burrito?”
“And a coffee would be great and a banana bread with energy potion added to it,” I continued. “It’s been a long night.”
“You’re ridiculous,” Jack said, shaking his head. “I’m leaving.”
“Don’t forget the banana bread,” I called after him, and Jack replied by turning off the main lights as he left, leaving me with just a small sliver of light from a nearby desk lamp that had been left on.
I curled up in the bed, deciding that I might as well go to sleep.
“You need to call someone to come and check you out of jail,” Jack said the next morning when he came by, handing me a breakfast burrito, banana bread, and latte through the cell bars.
“Thanks,” I said, taking the food from him. “Leda will come. Her work is less important than Willow’s.”
Leda was my sister who worked as a manager at Smells and Spells, a local beauty company that made soaps, shampoos, bath salts and the like on the upper floors of a factory and sold them in the shop down below.
“You’ve still got your phone?”
“And by some miracle it’s actually still charged. Don’t worry about me.”
“I always worry about you. Tell Leda she can come by at ten, and I’ll be here. I have to go for now.”
“Did Raoul end up showing up?”
Jack shook his head. “No sign of him. We’re going to try again tonight. There’s always a chance that he’ll try a couple doors down.”
“I doubt it,” I replied. “He’s a professional. He’ll have gone to scope out the shop if he was considering it, and he’d have realized it’s much riskier.”
“I think you’re right,” Jack said with a sigh. “I wonder where he is.”
“I’ll let you know if I find out.”
“Just stay away from the ice cream parlor and the bank. And please just stop trying to find Raoul. He’s dangerous.”
“So am I,” I replied, placing a hand on my hip, and Jack gave me a look that screamed, “I don’t believe you.”
“Enjoy your food. I’ll be back in a bit.”
I settled myself in as comfortably as I could in a jail cell and began working on the breakfast burrito and coffee, taking a long, deep sip of my latte. I was going to need the energy today. Right as I finished and was busy taking the banana bread out from the paper bag, my phone binged, indicating that I had a text.
It was from Elvira.
I asked around, but no one recognizes the picture of the shifter. Sorry I couldn’t be more helpful.
I frowned. That didn’t make sense. Raoul had to be staying somewhere. He couldn’t have been sleeping in the woods, and it wasn’t like he would have friends in town that he could stay with. The shifter had absolutely no connections here in Mt. Rheanier; he was from Arizona. So that left a hotel, but if no one recognized him, then he wasn’t staying there, either.
I didn’t like how many questions I had that I couldn’t answer.
Thanks. Is there anywhere else you can think of that he might be staying? I texted back. After all, who better to ask about accommodation than a vampire running one of the local hotels?
Elvira replied a moment later. Sorry, the local B&B is closed for a few weeks for renovations, and there’s nowhere else I can think of.
I breathed a sigh of disappointment then shoved a big piece of banana bread in my mouth, thinking things over as I chewed it. Raoul had to be somewhere. After all, he had been seen coming into town and then had never been seen leaving. So he was here. I just didn’t know where.
When I was finished, I set about my next big task of the day: getting out of here. I sent Leda a quick text.
Hey, do you mind coming over to the Enforcer’s office at ten? I need a quick hand with something.
Perfect. My message was casual, vague, and hopefully wouldn’t have my sister immediately calling Mom to tell her I’d been arrested. Unfortunately for me, Leda was smart, and I couldn’t fool her that easily.
Her reply came a moment later. Please do not tell me you’ve been arrested.
I bit my lip as I typed out another reply. Please don’t tell Mom.
ALTHEA! What did you do?
Nothing bad, I swear. I’m only in trouble because I got caught.
I’m pretty sure that’s not a defense. You aren’t in serious trouble, are you?
No, Chief Enforcer Loeb just had to arrest me to make herself look good. They’re letting me out of here by ten.
As long as you’re not going to Spellcatraz.
Of course not. And seriously, don’t tell Mom.
Your secret’s safe with me. I don’t want to be there when she finds out, though.
Me neither.
See you soon.
Since I had nothing to do for another couple of hours until Leda came to pick me up, I ended up settling back down on the bed and having another quick nap before the energy boosting potion kicked in.
I woke up to the sound of my sister’s voice.
“Thank you for taking care of her.”
“No problem,” Jack replied. “It was a long night. I’m just glad Chief Enforcer Loeb doesn’t want her charged with anything.”
“Me too,” Leda replied. I yawned and sat up and flashed my sister a smile.
“Thanks for coming.”
“I had to lie to my boss to come here, you know,” Leda replied, her mouth a firm line. She obviously wasn’t happy about it.
“Well, I appreciate you doing it for me.”
“My sister, a criminal.”
“I’m not technically a criminal. They’re letting me out of here without charges.”
“You didn’t tell me you broke into the ice cream parlor!”
“Does it help if I tell you it was for
