Missing Magic Read Online Free Page B

of the
driveway. Hands on his hips, he peered left, than right, finally
catching sight of the woman as she hurried towards him. “Stop right
there.”
    She stopped, maybe twenty feet from him.
“Mick? Are you all right?”
    “I’m fine.” He glared at her. “I don’t know
what you’re trying to pull, but I asked you to leave me alone. Go
away!”
    “But—.”
    “No.” He held up his hand. “Give me back my
key.”
    Silently, she fumbled in her pocket and then
tossed the key at him. He caught it neatly, closing his hand around
the plastic part of it.
    “Thank you. Now go away. Get out of here.” He
turned and made his way slowly back up the driveway. A second
later, the front door slammed.
    The instant he was gone, Dee’s shoulders
slumped. She ran her fingers through her already disheveled hair as
she turned and trudged her way back to where Cenrick waited.
    “I can’t believe the way he’s acting,” she
grumbled, speaking as if to herself. “We grew up together, for
Pete’s sake. Not only that, but we work with each other.” She cast
another look back at the house. “Or we did work together.”
    “What do you mean?”
    She looked at him like she’d forgotten he was
there. “It’s a long story.”
    “I’d like to hear it.”
    She swallowed. “Yeah, well…” She sighed.
“I’ve been put on leave as a precursor to being fired,” she
admitted. He could tell it cost her a lot to say the words.
    “Being a cop is all I ever wanted. I was good
too.” Her sharp look dared him to dispute her. “That’s why I don’t
understand how anyone could believe the charges against me. They
know me, respect me. Those charges are potently false. All the guys
know I wouldn’t do anything like that.”
    He studied her. “Is what they think important
to you?”
    “It’s not only that.” She bit her lip. “But,
yes. Losing their high opinion hurt most of all.”
    “What were you accused of?”
    As if he’d slapped her, she immediately
withdrew. “I’d rather not go into that now. After all, I barely
even know you.”
    Casting another look towards the house, she
winced. “The curtain twitched. They’re watching the front yard to
make sure I don’t come back.”
    Punching her key fob, she unlocked her car.
“I’m out of here. Nice to meet you and best of luck with your
investigation or whatever it is.” She took off, heading towards her
car.
    She was leaving?
    “Wait.”
    Glancing at him over her shoulder, she barely
hesitated. “Why?”
    How could he explain to her that some gut
instinct told him they could help each other. And, being Fae, he
always trusted his instinct
    “I need all the help I can get.” He gave her
a long look. “And you, I suspect, could use another friend.”
    Though she narrowed her eyes, she didn’t deny
it. He admired her for this.
    “Come on. Let’s go someplace where we can
talk.”
    “I don’t even know your name.”
    “I’m Cenrick. And you are?”
    “Dee. Dee Bishop.”
    “Please to meet you, Dee. Please, hear me out
before you make a decision.”
    Though she shot him a look laced with
skepticism, she finally nodded. “Fine. You can follow me and we’ll
go to that new coffee shop at the corner of Precinct Line and
Main.”
    Looking up and down the nearly deserted
street, she cocked her head. “Where’s your car?”
    “I don’t have a car.” He talked fast, hoping
he could convince her before she decided he was a total crackpot.
“We can take a walk. Talk. Decide if we want to work together.”
    Her frown deepened. “I don’t know…”
    “For Mick,” he added. “We both care about
him, both want to find out what’s going on. And,” he tacked on what
he hoped would be the coup de grace, “you have your revolver, after
all.”
    That convinced her. Locking her car, she went
with him.He’d noticed a park a block over. Once they reached this,
he took a seat on one of the stone benches. A nearby streetlight
provided ample illumination.
    Facing