Mariah tapped her fingernails on the wooden bench, the only sound in the lobby other than the occasional typing from the junior officer sitting at the counter across from her. Every so often he glanced over at the two of them, offering a smile or asking if they needed anything. Every time she said no.
She’d refused the hospital, telling the cops that her ankle was sprained, but she’d be fine. She didn’t mention her arm, which the hoodie covered. That would be difficult to explain. At this point, all she wanted was to see Ollie locked up for a few days so she could go on her way. But they’d kept him in that interrogation room for a while. And then, when Andy left, hurrying out of the building as he did, the other retreated to the office bullpen, leaving her and the hogboon sitting on opposite ends of a waiting room bench.
She stood and walked up to the counter. The officer, a kid named Johnston, looked up at her with wide eyes.
“Is this going to take much longer?”
“Umm,” Johnston glanced through the opening that led to the bullpen, uncertainty clear on his face. “They’ll be with you when they’re ready, ma’am.”
“Of course.” She smiled. “It’s just late, is all.”
“I understand, ma’am.” He gave her a folksy grin. “We’ll get this taken care of as soon as we can.”
She spun on her heel and walked back to the bench, rolling her eyes. She was about to lose valuable nighttime hours in this place. Hours that could be used hunting. She glanced at the hogboon, who kept his head down, bouncing his heel on the ground. She wasn’t the only one ready to get out of here. She squeezed her arm, wincing at the pain. She’d have to do something about that soon.
Detective Townsend appeared, holding a clipboard and a pencil.
“Are you doing okay, Mrs. Best?”
“I’m fine, Detective. Other than the trauma of earlier today, of course. At this point I’m ready to get home so I can get some rest.”
“I can definitely understand that.” He reached over and grabbed the chair next to the counter. He dragged it over to the bench and sat down, facing the two of them. “We don’t want to keep you up here for too long. Either of you.” He turned to the hogboon, who did his best to keep his head down. “But this kind of thing can take a little time, so I’d appreciate your help in knocking this out ASAP.”
“Whatever it takes,” she said.
“First, I’d like to get a quick recap of events, if you don’t mind.”
“Certainly.”
Townsend flipped through the papers on the clipboard.
“You say Mr. Hauk followed you from Miss Blanco’s home and then apprehended you in the woods behind the cemetery?”
“Yes.”
“You were taking a nature walk?”
She nodded.
“By yourself?”
“My husband decided to spend the day out at the beach. So, I went by myself, yes.”
“And Mr. Ogbert was taken when he stumbled upon the two of you in the woods?”
“That’s correct.”
He turned to the hogboon. “Mr. Ogbert, what brought you to those woods?”
The hogboon froze at the sudden attention.
“Uhmm, noises,” it said, its voice shrill. “Strange noises.”
“He probably heard us struggling,” Mariah offered. No need to expose Mr. Ogbert just yet. She could still find a use for him.
“I see.” Townsend frowned at the paper in his hands. “From all the way over at the cemetery?”
Mariah saw panic in the hogboon’s eyes. Stupid little creature. How did it ever get by on its own?
“I do have quite a voice on me,” she said, trying to be helpful. “I’m surprised they couldn’t hear me all the way in Redding.” She laughed, and Townsend smiled.
“So, when Mr. Ogbert showed up, that’s when Mr. Hauk used his gun to apprehend him, and tie him up?”
Mariah nodded. “Exactly. Sounds like you have it all written down correctly, nice and neat.”
Townsend slid the pencil into the clipboard binding. “Do either of you have your ID on you?”
Mariah made a show of patting her pockets. “It’s probably in my purse, back in my car.”
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“Mmmhmmm.” He nodded and checked the file in his hand. “And can you confirm your address? 3275 Little Elm Road in Columbus, Ohio?”
“That’s right.” She spoke confidently, despite knowing that any halfway competent background check would show several inconsistencies in her story. But all she had to do was get out of this building without a stir and she’d be fine. Tell them whatever they want to hear, and then make any excuse to leave.
“Well, the problem I have is that I called the Bureau of Motor Vehicles for the Ohio Department of Public Safety, and they’re giving me different information as to who lives at that address.”
“There has to be a mistake,” she said as innocently as possible, though she wanted to scream. Ollie had somehow thrown attention on her. Well, she could do some misdirection, too. “What about him?” She motioned to the hogboon, whose eyes narrowed under his wrinkly forehead. “Are you having trouble getting his information, too? Maybe there’s a problem with the whole system?”
Townsend chuckled. “Actually, Mr. Ogbert, there don’t seem to be any records on file for you. Anywhere. Nothing online, and nothing on paper.”
“That’s,” the hogboon sputtered, keeping his voice low, “impossible.”
“Mmmhmm,” Townsend nodded, looking back and forth at the two of them. “Impossible. That’s a good word for it.”
Mariah sensed a dangerous downhill slide in her fortunes. She forced a sugary smile onto her face. “Officer Townsend, I’m sure you’re frustrated by the clerical issues you’re running into regarding myself and Mr. Ogbert. Papers go missing, and computers can be fickle, but what about the danger Mr. Hauk presents to this community? Surely you have enough to hold him, at least long enough for the two of us to get to someplace safe?”
“He’s not going anywhere for a while. I can promise you that. But the problem we have here,” he tapped the clipboard, “is that neither one of you appears to be who they claim to be. Until we can verify your identity, we have a real problem making a case against him.”
“Maybe you can keep him locked up here for a few days? Until I can get my stuff together and get out of town? I’d feel much safer that way.”
“Mrs. Best, let me be frank with you. A lot of these details don’t add up. In fact, they’re downright strange. Based on where Officer Allsome said he found you, I find it hard to believe that Mr. Ogbert heard your scream, and then ran half a mile through the woods to find you. I’m also a little curious about where the rope came from. Did Mr. Hauk bring it with him? You were discovered exiting the woods. Why did he follow you deep into the woods just to bring you all the way back to his vehicle?”
Mariah shook her head. “Who can understand the mind of a madman?”
Townsend frowned. “Not to mention we still haven’t heard back from your husband. With all of that being said, you probably shouldn’t leave right away. And if you really want to put a dangerous man behind bars, then what you’ve told me so far won’t make that happen. Now,” he looked at her over the top of his glasses, “do you want to change any part of your story?”
Mariah struggled to keep her composure. She didn’t want Ollie in prison for twenty years. Only a few days. Why was this so hard?
She smiled weakly. “I could really use a glass of water.”
Townsend continued to stare at her before nodding. “Of course.”
He stood and walked over to the lobby counter where he whispered something to Johnston, who nodded. Townsend left to get her a drink and Mariah eyed the rookie, who was busy pretending to look at his computer screen. She searched the room for something she could use to get out of this mess. She didn’t care about the kidnapping charge, she only needed to buy time.
She caught sight of the fire sprinklers. Her fingers tapped the bench.
“You won’t drag me down with you,” the hogboon snarled quietly, his voice rising an octave. “The boss will find out about this, and he’ll kill you. All of you.”
“Please,” Mariah scoffed. “Your boss is a pretender. As soon as I get out of here, I’ll have his head in a stew. Yours too, if you aren’t careful.”
The hogboon scowled at her, but still slid a bit farther away from her on the long bench. Mariah heard footsteps coming down the hallway. Townsend returning. She was running out of time.
Townsend walked into the lobby, holding a Styrofoam cup of water.
“As promised.” He handed it to her.
“Thank you, dear. You’re sweet for doing this.” She took it and reached into her pocket, pulling out a container with a label that said Vitamin C powder. “Have to take my vitamins.” She twisted open the cap, suppressing the pain from her arm, and poured a dash of the powder into her water cup. She could feel the hogboon’s eyes boring into her as she did. He knew what the powder really was.
She took a drink and almost immediately felt a surge of magic radiate out to her limbs. Her eyes closed, soaking in the ecstasy, savoring the power that only goblin magic could provide. The throbbing pain in her arm disappeared. She opened her eyes to see Townsend watching her skeptically.
She smiled. “Much better.”
Townsend furrowed his brow. “Now, we were talking about your identification. Or lack thereof.”
“Of course.” She stuck her hands in the front pocket of her hoodie, then made a few subtle hand motions. Magic would be hard to summon in here, but if she could do enough to cause a distraction… “I actually think I have what you need right in here.”
An alarm kicked off. Townsend looked around in surprise, right as the water sprinklers turned on, drenching the lobby in a spray of water. “What in the…?” He reached down and helped Mariah to her feet, beckoning the hogboon to follow as he led them through a side door and into the main office area.
“Sorry about that.” He grabbed some stray napkins from a nearby desk, wiping the water from his face. He handed a few to Mariah, who took them. “I don’t know what happened back in there–” Another alarm kicked off, followed by a second drenching from the sprinklers in the bullpen area. “Son of a…!” Townsend ran to the back door. “Outside!” He waved the two of them frantically through the door leading out into the side parking lot. Another officer followed them out, shaking his arms and head.
“What in the world?” he asked. “Is there a fire?”
Townsend shook his head. “I didn’t see one. Or any smoke. Did you?”
The other officer shook his head. “Stupid fire alarms must be on the fritz.”
Mariah saw the hogboon back away from the small crowd and slink off into the shadows of the parking lot. Once he was out of sight, she made a show of looking all around the lot.
“The groundskeeper!” she shouted. “He’s gone!”
Townsend looked left and right. He motioned the other officer to the back of the building. “Check that way!” He ran to the front. Mariah used the distraction to invoke one more spell. A large flame burst from the roof of the building.
All three of them jumped backward. Townsend grabbed Mariah and pulled her behind one of the cars, then moved in front of her, hurriedly dialing a number on his cell phone. She slowly backed away, aiming for the back of the church next door. Once she was sure their attention was completely on the building, she ran into the darkness. She had a lot to do, and she’d have to do it all tonight.