“Who else could it be?” The Sheriff didn’t look happy about having Max locked up, which was good. Perhaps he could be persuaded to let Max go for a promise of good behavior.
Bubba said, “It could be a different Alpha, as loath as I am to say that. The explosion and fire by the fountain smelled like bauxite fuel, which is mined in Alienn.”
Ruby’s eyes narrowed. “Perhaps it was a supernatural being with the ability to be a chameleon.”
“That’s very rare.” The Sheriff looked both intrigued and unconvinced.
“What’s a chameleon?” Max asked. Could it help set him free? He wanted to be free. Now.
“Lots of magic in this town,” Bubba said. “It’s not out of the realm of possibility.”
“Still, I would need some sort of proof before releasing Max.”
Ruby squeezed Max’s fingers reassuringly. “I have an idea.”
Ruby was convinced Max was innocent. Someone was trying to frame him and they had stepped things up a notch.
“What’s your idea?”
Max looked so forlorn behind bars. She wanted to hug him and reassure him that everything would be all right. To the Sheriff, she said, “If you have surveillance of the fountain area, surely you have more cameras around town.”
Sheriff Merrow’s eyes narrowed. “I will not confirm or deny that.”
Ruby smiled. “Ifthere are more cameras, then there is more surveillance footage, and you should be able to trace him from Bubba’s Psychic Readings all the way to the fountain, showing where he got the paper sack along the way. Right?”
The corners of Sheriff Merrow’s mouth lifted to form a partial smile. “In theory.”
“So, let’s go look at some video. I feel confident we can prove Max’s innocence. In the meantime, please let him out of this jail cell.”
Sheriff Merrow gave Max a stern look. “Do you swear on all that you hold dear that you won’t run the minute I let you out?”
Ruby added, “Do you promise me you won’t run, Max?”
Max gazed deeply into Ruby’s eyes. “I swear I won’t run. I love you and I want to marry you. I could never leave you, Ruby.”
She winked at him. “See, Sheriff? He won’t run. He has to tell me the truth.”
“Whatever. I don’t even want to know why you’re convinced of that.” Sheriff Merrow reached for the keys in his pocket and unlocked the cell door.
Ruby pulled it open and Max rushed into her arms. He lifted her off the floor in an exuberant hug. “Thank you, Ruby. For believing I’m innocent.” He kissed her forehead. She kissed his mouth. He kissed her back.
“Break it up. Let’s go, you two.” Sheriff Merrow led them to an office near his that was set up with several pieces of equipment, surveillance monitors and a computer. “Aunt Birdie, will you come and help us out in here?” he asked in a normal tone, as if knowing his aunt was already listening in.
Birdie leapt out of her chair like the seat had been spring loaded and raced to where they all stood. Seating herself in the swivel chair before the computer monitor as the rest of them crowded behind her, she navigated her way into the town’s surveillance system without being asked.
Ruby explained what she was looking for. Birdie brought up the video feed for the back entrance to Bubba’s Psychic Readings, showing Max entering ten minutes before his shift started. She then brought up the feed for the front door. They all watched a split screen of both on fast-forward until the explosion. Max didn’t show up at either entrance during the timeframe when the explosive device was planted before the explosion, other than to go for lunch. Further surveillance showed him walking directly to Howler’s, then walking directly back to Bubba’s after his delayed lunch.
Ruby pointed triumphantly at the screens. “See? He didn’t do it. Alphas can’t teleport, right, Bubba?”
“That’s correct.”
“Then who is that?” Birdie asked, pointing at the man who’d left the paper sack beside the gargoyle fountain. She swiveled around and stared at Max. “It looks like him, except you can’t see his hair with the baseball cap on.”
“But I didn’t do it,” Max told Birdie. She narrowed her eyes as if considering whether to believe him or not. Birdie was really poking the bear. “So you say, but you’re the prisoner. What else would you say?”
“Please back up the footage from an hour before the explosion on the front door of Bubba’s Psychic Readings,” Ruby said before a fight broke out.
