Meaning none of the magic. I launched into the story and didn’t hold anything back. He didn’t interrupt, just nodding now and again as he jotted notes. He snorted a little when I described the spells I’d cast. When I got to the end, he continued writing and then proceeded to read over his notes.
I waited semi-patiently. I was getting hungry and thirsty. I wanted to eat, have a long, hot bath, and then sleep for about a day. And snuggle Ajax. I’d left him at Luke’s with Rhi and Lorel to look after him. If I had to guess, he’d crawled into bed with Lindsey as soon as I left.
“You told Jen to call me or Detectives Ballard and Jeffers,” Mikey said, not looking up from his notebook.
I didn’t respond, and he lifted his gaze to look expectantly at me.
“What?”
“Didyou tell Jen to call me or Detectives Ballard and Jeffers?”
“Yes.”
“Why me?”
I gave him the side-eye, not sure where he was going with this. “Do you want me to apologize or something? I’m sure you could have figured out how to pass on the call if you wanted.”
He shook his head, running his hand through his hair. “That’s not what I meant.”
“What did you mean?”
“Why did you—” He broke off and blew out a breath. “No, that’s not it. You knew I was going to do this by the book. I wasn’t going to do you any favors.”
“We don’t need any favors. We just need a little honesty and integrity. Have you seen the video?”
He nodded. “Had a look after Lydia told me about it.”
“And?”
“DA won’t have a choice. He’ll have to charge him. Since it’s going to be high-profile, he might even decide to make an example of Flannery.”
“Good.”
“Thanks.”
“For what?”
“Trusting me to be a good cop.”
I shrugged. “You are a good cop. That’s not what I have issues with.”
“So you said. I’ve got some thinking to do.”
“About what?”
“Whether or not I’m as good a cop as I want to be.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. “Can I go?”
He nodded. “I’ll be in touch if I need more information. You’ll need to come downtown and make a formal statement, but you can do that Monday. Jen and Lorraine, too.”
“What’s going to happen to Lydia? And her cats? Can she have them back?”
He nodded. “I don’t know if the hospital will keep her overnight, but she’ll be able to pick them up. CSU took pictures, so there’s no need to keep them.”
“What happens if she can’t get them tonight?”
“Animal Control will probably take them.”
