Max shared a glance with Sasha, took in her frown but decided a few questions wouldn’t hurt.
“Hello.” The cop gentled his voice and smiled at Noel. “Can you tell me what happened?”
“A man picked me up,” Noel said. “He ran away with me. But Shasha came. She turned into a dragon and rescued me.”
A nervous giggle emerged from Sasha, one Max had never heard before from the confident woman. “I did turn into a bit of a dragon,” she confessed. “I was desperate to save you.”
“You breathed fire.” Noel’s grin was broad.
“I did,” Sasha said. “I didn’t want the men to steal you.”
“Right.” The dark-haired cop shut his notebook and rose as did his partner. “We’llfile the statement and start our investigation. Hopefully, there is a CCTV in the car park, which will help us with our inquiries.”
Max stood too. “Thank you. I’ll see you out and make sure the gate is closed.”
Max escorted the cops to the gate, and immediately, the reporters burst into a hubbub of questions.
“Is it true you have a pet dragon?”
“Where do you keep a creature that large?”
“Is there a fire danger?”
Those were the questions he registered through the white noise. He gaped at the men and women, some of whom he knew through work and his contacts.
“Can we come inside and see the dragon?”
The cops exchanged a glance then focused on Max as they passed through the gateway to get to their vehicle.
Max shrugged. Hell, if he understood what they meant. The only thing their crazy questions did was confirm that he didn’t want to work for the Edinburgh paper with its increasing tabloid stories. He wanted to do serious reporting on politics and break scandals to improve people’s lives, not to increase the popularity of local celebrities. He glanced along the boundary that surrounded his property and noticed several reporters climbing the wall.
“Hey! This is private property. You can’t enter without my permission.”
The dark-haired cop was already behind the wheel of the police vehicle, but his red-haired buddy let out a shout. “You! Stop right there. The owner told you to leave. If you don’t comply, I will issue you with a fine.”
The trespassers climbed back to the public side of the fence with bad grace.
“We should be able to go after a story,” one of the nearby reporters grumbled. “You can’t stop us from writing about the dragon.”
“Are you listening to yourself?” Max demanded. “You’re all crazy. Dragons are fictional creatures. Storybook characters. Go home and give it a rest.” With that, Max strode back to the house. He let himself inside and hesitated a beat before he locked the door.
“What’s going on out there?” Sasha asked. “Why are there so many people?”
“They’re convinced I’m harboring a dragon, keeping it hidden for my amusement. Idiots,” Max snarled.
Noel appeared behind Sasha. “Shasha is a dragon.”
“Yeah.” Max dragged a tired hand through his hair. “I’ll check the windows before I take a shower. My head is aching.” He pressed his thumbs against his temples.“If you discover anyone peering through the windows, pull the curtains. And above all, don’t talk to them. All right?”
“Yes, Max,” Sasha said.
“Max sounds cranky,”her dragon observed.
“He has a headache. We’ll make him a tonic while he’s taking a shower.”She held out her hand to Noel. “Let’s make some cookies. I have some dough in the fridge.”
While she made her headache potion, Noel busily cut out shapes with the cookie cutters Sasha had found in the cupboard. Luckily, she had everything she needed in the kitchen. Everything except one ingredient. Fresh chamomile. She hesitated before deciding. “You wait here, Noel, and don’t move. I need to collect fresh herbs from the garden. If anyone knocks at the door, please ignore it.”
He didn’t look up, happy to play with the tiny bits of dough.
