“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?”
Bon snorted. “I could ask you the same thing.”
Never thought I’d be grateful to see Bon, but as the small man threaded through the tables covered in flipped chairs, I had the odd urge to give him a hug.
Taylor’s expression darkened, and he glowered at Bon. “This woman lured us here, then attacked us.” He jerked his head at the injured cop. Bon and the others took in the gash on his arm. Bon’s confidence seemed to falter for a moment, concern flashing through his eyes, but Daisy snarled and growled at Taylor.
Liar!
I grinned at the German shepherd. Again, not something I ever thought I’d feel, but I could’ve kissed her fuzzy little head.
Taylor’s face grew bright red. His calm began to dissolve as he jerked his wand from Bon to me to Daisy. “You going to believe a bogus pet psychic and a dog over your chief? Show some respect, you pathetic excuse for a cop.”
Bon drew himself up to his full (though minimal) height. The police cap helped a bit. “Before you suspended him, Officer Flint here—”
“You keep this up, you’ll never get your job back, Flint,” Taylor shouted.
Peter squared his shoulders and held his ground. Go, Peter!
“He’s been reinstated, on my authority.” Bon sniffed.
A vein bulged in Chief Taylor’s forehead.
“As I was saying…” Bon huffed. “Flint looked into the records from the night of the airship crash. They’d been altered—on your authority—to make it look as if the airship Jacob Emerson crashed had been reported stolen hours before it actually was.”
Bon smirked and folded his arms, then leaned against the nearest table. “You were covering up for Emerson Watts, who—” The upended chair he’d been leaning on shifted, and Bon lurched to the side. He caught himself against the table but knocked a couple of chairs off it at the same time. He righted himself, adjusted his tie, and scowled at the table.
Peter interjected. “Luckily, I was able to pass on my findings to Russo here before I left the station.” He clapped the rookie on the shoulder.
The younger guy grinned, in spite of his efforts to scowl at Chief Taylor.
Taylor shot a death glare at all of the cops. “You’ll all lose your badges if you keep this up! Now stop acting like fools and arrest this woman!” Spit flew from his mouth and the whites showed all around his eyes. He was desperate.
He jerked his head, and all eyes swiveled my way. My gaze met Peter’s, and my stomach lurched. We hadn’t talked in days, and he knew I’d been untruthful with him, and still he was willing to stand up to his chief for me… and, you know, justice, but for me, too.
The rookie, Russo, held a manila file folder. “Officer Flint clued me in.” He glared at the two buzzcuts. “Since you two had me on desk duty, I figured I’d use all that paperwork to my advantage.” He faced Chief Taylor. “I got ahold of some records. Turns out you’ve been cooking the books for years to skim department funds for your own pocket.”
Maybe it was just the blue light of the fish tank mixing with Chief Taylor’s flush, but he turned an alarming shade of deep purple. I smirked. Good.
Bon lifted his dimpled chin. “Team, arrest Chief Taylor and these two yahoos.” He pressed his lips tight together and shot Taylor a hard look. “I have another team arresting Emerson and his son Jacob as we speak. You’re done for.”
Russo beamed as he magically cuffed one of the two buzzcuts—the men who’d been hazing him—and Bon got the satisfaction of taking Chief Taylor’s wand while another cop bound his hands.
Taylor gritted his teeth at Bon. “You’ll be sorry.”
Bon sniffed. “I doubt it.”
I blew out a shaky breath as Peter rushed up to me. He grabbed me by the
