Miko could be seen on the cam pacing absently while still doing something on her phone. The other precinct cams were clear; Aaron still had enough time to work his hacker-mancy. Another test of the jack and his plug fit snuggly in the interface’s port. Satisfied, the dwarf flipped through a few screens on his Hacklet and got to work utilizing the legitimately cloned credentials of Officer McGrady.
While the release orders for Tommy, Swift, and Jackie were being compiled, Aaron flipped to another screen. He modified a daemon protocol that would delete all their recent criminal records and itself—this way, their digital footprint would be erased. Next, he needed to deactivate the magical nullification cells. This was a backup option in case the plan went awry. They would have an easier time getting out if the magic was not nullified.
Why do you remember this day?
Aaron jumped from his seat. That voice—he did not know where it came from, but it was clear and rang through his mind. Looking about, the room was empty and without windows; nothing could be in here talking with him. Taking an extra breath and straightening his trenchcoat, Aaron sat back down and scooted close to the desk. He brushed some beach sand away from the interface before getting back to work—
“What in the dark depths?” Aaron squeaked. He looked again and could not believe what he saw. There were traces of beach sand on the desk. Cursing, the dwarf turned to the interface monitor and paused. In the monitor’s reflection, someone was standing behind him. Aaron leaned in close, squinting at the reflection. “Molly?”
Recognition spurned Aaron to whip around and look at the wall behind him, nearly tearing the Hacklet’s cord from the interface. Just a blank wall was behind; Molly was not there. The dwarf frowned deeply at the tricks being played with his eyes. He had to wonder, what did Corey lace into that shrink potion? “Blazing slag heap!”
The daemon was planted, the credentials were set, the orders were in place, and Aaron was nearly done deactivating the nullification alarm when he glanced back at the monitor. The reflection was not there, but an evidence inventory icon was where it had been. Curious, the dwarf accessed the evidence inventory and scrolled through it, looking for the trio’s names. Tommy’s brass knuckles were in the inventory. Jackie had some monies and a pocketknife, but Swift shouldn’t have had anything because Aaron had the orc’s shoulder bag. In Swift’s evidence inventory was one item labeled drugs.
Gears turned in Aaron’s head as he leaned back in the chair and pondered over the evidence they had attributed to Swift. The dwarven investigator was pretty confident the orc did not have any drugs—if the orc had, they would have been in the shoulder bag, and Aaron would have already taken them as payment for saving the indigenous green skin’s hide. What drugs would they have considered to be the orc’s and not something belonging to the Alpha Numeros? Aaron patted his breast pocket and felt the vial of dust Corey had given him. The dwarf was rather surprised he hadn’t finished it off already.
Memories quickly rushed back to the dwarf’s mind. Memories of the Yakuza, the library, the strange masked princess. The Yakuza princess had given Aaron a vial of refined Tuber arcanatum dust as a pre-payment consideration for working with her. It was dust from the same fungi he had been cultivating for years in the secret locker in his office. It was the only thing he had left that could possibly get him back to Molly. The indigenous orc tribes were mysterious to the ignorant, and seeing the purple glowing vial of dust, the cops probably thought the strange thing belonged to a strange orc. Typical cop logic.
Background processes were nearly complete for deactivating the nullification, but he was already devising a new plan. Aaron was going to break into the evidence locker and get his arcanatum dust back.
Schematics provided Aaron a means to get to the evidence locker. However, the dwarf did not know how he would get back into the ceiling air vents. Even at his full height, he could not jump high enough to reach the vents, let alone hold onto the thin slats of the vent. He scanned the room for other options to help him get to the locker.
Aaron – Investigation skill 2 vs. Normal DT – FAILURE
“Stinking shale!” The only way out of the security control room visible to Aaron was the only door in the room—the door that led to the heart of the precinct.
Drumming his fingers on the desk, Aaron considered his chances and decided there wasn’t much of a choice. While in the military, Aaron had learned that when you carry a folder of papers and walk with an intense look on your face, people tended to leave you alone, assuming you were busy going from one place to the next (even if you were not busy and were just walking with papers because you had nothing better to do). The dwarf easily got around without being bothered or noticed when he walked with a folder of papers. He hoped that strategy would work in a police precinct.
Grabbing random papers from a desk drawer, along with a professional-looking, cream-colored folder, Aaron placed everything in his hand. Then he straightened his trenchcoat and shoulder bag and did his best to slick back his hair. His beard was hopeless, but the dwarf still pulled at it a little in the vain hope that a difference could be made. He looked over his Hacklet one more time and hoped it was enough to get him to the evidence locker. With a deep breath, the dwarf loosened his Hacklet enough to slide the trenchcoat sleeve out from underneath, then slid his sleeve over the Hacklet to keep it covered up. One more deep breath with a hand on the door handle.
Aaron opened the door.
The dwarf did not waste time and started walking smartly in a forward direction. The short hallway was empty, but it quickly led to a wide open area full of people and cops of all races bustling about, phones ringing and being answered, a few criminals in cuffs yelling obstinately, and the general chaos you would expect to find in a metropolitan precinct. Aaron quickly walked, maneuvering around others who were walking intently to their respective goals. He kept to the edge of the open area, looking for signs and things to indicate where he should go.
There were no signs that pointed to where Aaron should go. However, he did listen and overheard different conversations of people going to interrogation rooms, filing documents, and someone who needed to put something into evidence. He casually turned about and followed the last person. Naturally, they did not go directly to the evidence locker, yet even as they deterred down a different direction, Aaron could tell the evidence room was just down this new hall.
A large, dim-lit caged window greeted Aaron. Behind the bullet-proof glass sat a cop with legs up on the desk, playing on his phone. A strong, reinforced door was next to the window. Aaron stopped and opened his folder, pretending to look at the papers inside. No dusty green aura appeared to be present, so it did not seem that magic was neutralized in this area. Magic neutralization was expensive, so the dwarf assumed only a particular part of the evidence locker was neutralized—he just hoped his dust was not in that part. Aaron closed the folder and did an about-face before the cop could stop playing with his phone and ask questions. Knowing there was a chance at using magic to get in the evidence locker, Aaron walked quickly to his next destination—the jail cells.
Aaron – Investigation skill 5 vs. Normal DT – SUCCESS
Aaron was coming to the limits of his memory and needed to use a skill to help him know where to go from the evidence locker. He was grateful the Investigation skill provided the means for him to see the clues needed to get to the jail cells. Fewer people were walking this way, and a couple were leaving—an angry prisoner could be heard yelling down a hall. The dwarf continued moving forward, returning a friendly nod to a passing cop.
There were more jail cells than Aaron remembered being on the schematic—perhaps this is why the ventilation shafts did not align with the actual layout. Aaron kept walking until he located the only two magic neutralization cells in the precinct. The short hall with the neutralization cells only had cells along one wall, and the hall dead-ended with Tommy’s cell. The dwarf was nonplussed to see his large bronze elf friend still talking with the officer.
Aaron paused at the corner of the hall’s entry to review the papers in his folder. He glanced up at Tommy, who casually smiled and nodded without breaking stride in the conversation. Then, the elf opened his leather vest and pointed to a large tattoo on his chest, encouraging the officer to take a closer look at his impressive ink. As the officer leaned in, the dwarf tucked the closed folder under his arm, rolled back his sleeve, and used his Hacklet to mimic McGrady’s credentials on Jackie’s cell door. The near-field communication link accepted McGrady’s credentials, and Jackie’s cell door unlocked. Aaron quickly stepped inside before the officer talking to Tommy could turn around.
Aaron was suddenly falling—the floor was gone. He nearly yelped aloud as his top half struggled to grab the flat concrete floor just ahead of the hole. Looking up, the dwarf felt his head spin as he saw his bottom half hanging from a hole in the ceiling, kicking and struggling not to fall.
“Oh, it’s you!” Jackie said from somewhere in the room.
Aaron – Strength (No skill) 2 vs. Normal DT – FAILURE
Unable to find perch, Aaron's desperate grasps at the smooth floor were futile. He fell through the hole in the floor, which was also the hole in the ceiling and crashed into the floor in the center of the cell. The dwarf coughed and gasped as the collision with the floor knocked the wind from his lungs.
Jackie came to the dwarf’s side, shushing him loudly. “Don’t make so much noise! The blue boys out there will hear you.”
“What the depths!” Aaron coughed while rolling over and trying to regain his breath.
“I saw the neutralizer stopped, so I waited for you, just like you asked. But you took so long, and I thought someone would notice as soon as they came in. Didn’t want the neutralizer to get turned back on.” Jackie touched Aaron’s shoulder, “Sorry about the fall.”
Rising to all fours, then pushing up to his knees, Aaron took a couple more breaths before addressing Jackie. “I need you to get me into the evidence locker.”
“What?”
“I need you to get me into—”
“Oh, shut up! I heard that part. I didn’t hear the part you aren’t telling me.”
Aaron looked curiously at Jackie.
“You said you’re here to break me out, right?” Jackie’s voice was sharp as a fresh paring knife.
“Yes.”
“How’s you getting into some evidence locker going to break me out.”
Aaron rolled his eyes. “It’s not. But it’s something I need to do.”
“Why?”
“There’s stuff in there I need to get.”
“What stuff?”
“Look, I don’t have time for all your questions—we don’t have time. Can you get me in the evidence locker room?”
Jackie twisted her face in contemplation and stepped a few paces over to her cot. “Portals are dangerous when you don’t know where you’re putting them.”
“Yeah, I know. I’ve worked with a couple portal mages back when I was in the service. What are the four P’s of portal magic? Something like, ‘Poorly placed portals put lives in peril?’”
Jackie chuckled. “Yeah, something like that. You worked with portal mages during the wars?”
“Well,” Aaron shrugged. “Not exactly ‘with’ them. Technically, it was more like around them. I was hacking and observing from a distance while they would infiltrate with their spec-ops team on some mission.”
“You are an interesting dwarf…” Jackie tapped a finger on her chin.
“You can call me Aaron. Now, will you help me?”
“You know I need more than your verbal request. You got a picture or something I can work with?”
“Yeah,” Aaron rolled his sleeve back, opened his Hacklet, and pulled up the precinct schematics. “This is where we are… and this is the locker.”
“You got anything else?”
“There are some bronze knuckles that have old enchantment magic, and magic mushroom dust in a vial or sorts.”
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Jackie snorted a laugh. “Magic mushroom dust?”
“Laugh it up,” Aaron scowled as he closed the Hacklet. “Can you get me there?”
“I can try,” Jackie said, trying to stifle a chuckle. “You’re not giving me much to work with, but I’ll see what I can do.”
Aaron checked the precinct cameras while Jackie stretched and flexed her fingers. She popped several knuckles and swung her arms in wide circles, then shook out her hands to warm up for the magic she was about to perform. Portal mages are some of the most sought-after magic users in both legal and illegal corners, and it was extremely difficult for them to remain undetected and unregistered. The dwarf’s tight lips frowned when he could not find Miko on any of the cameras. With Miko gone, that meant Corey was on his way to the precinct—which also meant Aaron was nearly out of time.
“I’m going to start with small holes because they’re easier to hide, okay?” Jackie said as she looked through a small portal on the wall. “And since your map-thingy is for the A/C, which is mostly in the ceiling, I’ll be looking down from the ceiling—which is also a good place to hide portals because people don’t usually look up.”
Aaron grunted an acknowledgment as he made a few more cursory checks on his Hacklet. Something forgotten was gnawing at the back of his mind, and he could not figure out what it was.
Jackie hummed quietly as she spun her fingers in different patterns. She stared through the portal she had placed in the wall while her hands made small movements, waving, opening, and closing, carefully manipulating the other portal’s location.
“Did they confiscate any of your stuff?” Aaron asked in a hushed voice.
Jackie shrugged as she stared through her peephole portal. “Nothing I really care about.”
“I should probably grab it, too, since I am trying to clear all records of you guys being here.”
“It’s an invisible stick,” Jackie paused, staring through the small portal. “And it’s a pain in the ass to keep track of. Here; come see if this is the place you want to jump into.”
Jackie stepped back for Aaron to look through the hole, but the street elf was taller than the dwarf. Aaron grunted about the height difference, and Jackie silently apologized as she moved the portal down to Aaron’s height.
The view was disorienting. Even though Aaron was standing upright, the view was looking down, which made the dwarf feel like he was lying down while looking through the hole. The dark room he stared at had large, orderly-looking shelves lined along different aisles that would make locating things relatively simple. Due to the size of the portal, he couldn’t see much else, but he had no reason not to believe this was the evidence locker. “Looks like our best bet.”
Jackie smiled and motioned for Aaron to step away from the portal. She then opened the portal wider, stretching the opening until it was big enough for Aaron to go through. Her voice was like a stretched rubber band when she spoke, “These aren’t easy to hold open. So move quickly.”
“That’s exactly what I intend to do.” Aaron poked his head through the portal to ensure the coast was clear. With confirmation that the room was empty, he slid onto one of the large shelves and carefully climbed down.
The room was dark, except for the light shining down from Jackie’s portal. Looking up, Aaron saw the elf with feet planted firmly and hands holding back an invisible force. It looked like she should be falling, but she stood, looking straight ahead/down at the dwarf, giving him a curt nod to get moving. Aaron nodded back and began searching the shelves for the evidence he needed to un-confiscate.
Boxes lined the shelves, all with different number-letter identifiers. A successful Investigation check led Aaron to believe these boxes were organized by case number, and a quick check of the Hacklet gave the dwarf the case identifier he was looking for. The box with the matching case number was a few shelves down from his location.
As Aaron quietly removed the case box from its shelf, he heard a noise from somewhere across the room. The noise was followed by people talking; their voices were too muffled to understand what was being said, but it was enough to keep Aaron moving at a fast pace. The dwarf quickly searched through all the baggies in the box and found Tommy’s knuckles. He stuffed those in a trenchcoat pocket and continued digging through the box. Nothing else belonging to his crew was in the box.
Glancing up, Aaron noticed a second box with the case number and quickly searched through that one as well. Still nothing.
Reflexes kicked in, causing Aaron’s head to snap up when a sudden noise came from the front of the room. Muffled, indistinct talking could be heard, followed by the sound of a large lock turning. The dwarf hurriedly placed the box back on its shelf and scrambled to the corner of the aisle, carefully peeking to see what was ahead.
A thick, heavy vault door was at the front of the evidence room. Aaron guessed a vault lock wheel on the other side needed oiling, which had caused the loud noise. The muffled voices could still be heard, but the door did not move. As the dwarf tried to devise a response strategy to the door opening, a dim green light caught his eye.
The green light was coming from a locker tucked away in a corner of the room. The green light shimmered with dust and had the same hue as the magic-neutralizing rooms and cuffs. After giving the vault door a second glance, Aaron rushed over to the neutralized locker.
“Bonanza!” Aaron exclaimed as he opened the locker. Surprisingly, the locker did not have a lock—a detail Aaron was most grateful for. Inside the green-lit locker were clear plastic bags of various magical items, each with an identifiable case number. Searching for his case, the dwarf located a stick in a baggie labeled “Stick.” Aaron carefully grabbed the bag, opened it, and withdrew the stick. With the stick out of the locker, it had gone entirely invisible. It was strange to feel the stick in his hand without seeing it. He pocketed the stick and turned back to the locker.
His vial of refined arcanatum dust was in its own bag that was labeled “Drugs.” Despite the neutralization, the vial still held a purple tint, as if it were fighting back the green suppression. Looking at the bag’s label prompted Aaron to feel his breast pocket. Sure enough, the vial of Corey’s street dust was still there. With a sly grin, the dwarf carefully took Corey’s dust out of his pocket and switched it with his dust in the bag. Placing the purple glowing dust safely in his pocket, Aaron felt a calmness wash over him.
Another loud noise erupted from the front of the room, and then the slow creak and whine of a heavy metal door being pushed open. The voices were no longer muffled. “I’m telling you, Ragon Spigatto is the best ball player around. Ain’t no way the Golden Arrows lose tonight.”
“Spig is good, but he’s not the best,” said another voice.
Aaron quietly closed the locker and rushed across the room as the lights flickered on in the evidence room.
“Oh, yeah?” the first voice sounded like he was still outside the door. “Name someone better than Rag the King Flag.”
Footsteps sounded as someone walked past the aisles. “Gordon Truefeather.”
Aaron hid behind the opposite side of the shelving, barely breathing and waiting for the steps to pass. As soon as they walked by, the dwarf successfully scrambled up the shelves and lay down once on top.
“Seriously?” The first voice cried out. “Gordon the Featherduster?”
The second one snorted. “You wouldn’t call him Feathduster if you didn’t know I was right.”
As the first voice began to rattle off statistics that compared the two debated athletes, Aaron steadily slid on his back across the top of the shelving. He tried to stay as flat and inconspicuous as possible. He spotted a small hole in the ceiling and continued to slide until he was directly under the hole. A shimmering green eye stared back at him through the hole.
Open the portal. Aaron silently mouthed the words.
“And you want to know another reason why Rag is better than Featherduster?” The first voice shouted out.
“No!” The second voice was closer than Aaron realized. The dwarf’s eyes were wide and locked with Jackie’s one green eye staring at him through the hole. The second voice continued, “I want to find my damn evidence box. Where the hell is it?”
“What’s your case number?”
“Seriously? You think I memorize that stuff?”
The two idiot cops felt like they were taking far too long in the evidence room, and Aaron struggled as he futilely tried to meld with the shelving.
“I can’t help you if you don’t have a case number.”
“Dammit!” the second voice walked quickly back to the front of the room. “This new program sucks.”
“Yes, it does. But not bad as Featherduster.”
Laughing and exclamatory remarks could be heard outside the door as the two cops left. Jackie quickly opened the portal wide and waved Aaron to get in. The dwarf promptly stood and jumped up, only to find himself falling sideways onto a cold, concrete floor. It was disorienting and painful, but Jackie patted the dwarf excitedly on his shoulder as he rolled over to get his bearings.
“You did it!” the elf clapped happily. “You actually did it!”
“Yeah,” Aaron held his head to keep the jail cell from spinning too much. “But I only did part of it. The other part—”
Keys jangled from outside Jackie’s cell door, followed by the sound of someone trying to fit a key into the cell door’s lock.
The dwarf jumped to his feet, looking for a place to hide—there was no place to hide. Jackie moved instinctively to the wall, opened a portal with the wave of her hands, and shoved Aaron hard into the next cell before closing the portal.
Aaron stumbled into the next cell with arms flailing as he tried not to fall. With balance regained, the dwarf looked about the new cell and saw Swift standing on his bed, ready to attack and defend himself from the intruder that was Aaron.
“Hi, Swift.” Aaron waved with a cheesy grin.
Questions adorned the orc’s face as he gave a half-hearted wave.
Keys jangled outside Swift’s cell door, and Aaron began to panic. “I need to hide!”
Swift pointed to the vent in the ceiling of his cell, then to Aaron, making a gesture about something being small.
Aaron smiled as he figured out what the orc was saying. The dwarf pulled the shrink potion from his pocket and upended it over his head. The last drop fell and splashed atop the dwarf’s white hair.
The cell door started opening, and Aaron rushed forward, slamming it closed. The cop on the other side cursed in surprise, then pushed back to open the door.
Swift made some hand gestures; questions were still covering his face.
“It takes a moment,” Aaron whispered tightly as he struggled to keep the door closed. “Just hold on.”
The officer on the outside of the cell banged on the door. “Get out of the way, you damn orc. You’re getting released from here.”
The panic was real as Aaron struggled against the officer’s attempts to enter the jail cell. The longer he held the door closed, the more suspicious the situation would be—but he could be found by the cops, or the whole operation could be ruined.
Swift stepped beside the door and helped Aaron keep it shut. The orc nodded to the dwarf with a smile. Then, the world grew large, and Aaron fell with his feet on the ground. The shrink potion finally kicked in.
The orc scooped up mini-Aaron and dove for his bunk. The door burst open, with the police officer nearly falling inside the cell with the lack of resistance. The cop straightened himself and glared at the orc, but Swift just yawned and stretched as if he had woken from a long nap.
“You're getting transferred, orc.” The officer spoke slowly and with exaggerated hand movements as if this would help Swift better understand what he was saying. “No funny business. These cuffs go on your wrists, see?”
Swift stood from his bunk and stretched his back, carefully hiding Aaron in his hands. Then he looked quizically at the cop while scratching his head.
“You,” The officer said more loudly and with more exaggeration. “Follow me. These cuffs go here, on your wrists. Don’t move.”
Swift rubbed his chin in contemplation while keeping Aaron behind his back with his other hand. Then, he made some gestures in his sign language and extended his free hand to the officer.
The cop looked puzzled, unsure what the gestures meant and if the hand offered was meant to be shaken. Hesitantly, the officer accepted Swift’s hand and carefully shook it. Swift gripped tight and shook vigorously while slapping Aaron onto the officer’s shoulder with his other hand.
Aaron flew out of Swift’s grip but narrowly grabbed one of the loops on the officer’s body armor. The officer shook Swift’s hand off his shoulder and pulled out the magic neutralization cuffs, which Swift complied with wearing. While the cop placed the cuffs on Swift, Aaron haphazardly made his way down the body armor and into an empty pocket on the police officer’s utility belt. Grateful for the success of not being seen, he pulled the cover over his head but kept enough of an opening to see outside without revealing his position.
“Hey, hurry it up in there!” Came a voice of another cop from outside Swift’s cell. “These guys' welcoming committee is already here waiting to take them. Let’s get moving, alright?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Grumbled the cop with Swift. He unceremoniously ushered Swift out of the cell where Jackie and Tommy stood with their respective escorts. Jackie had neutralization cuffs like Swift, but Tommy’s were regular cuffs.
“Let’s go,” Jackie’s officer commanded from the front of the hall.
From the utility belt, Aaron watched as the officers guided the trio through the precinct. His view was mostly obscured, but from the noise and bustle, the dwarf was confident they were walking through the central area of the precinct now.
“Hey, is that Castor?” It was Tommy’s voice from the rear of the procession.
“Keep moving,” Tommy’s escort replied. “Don’t worry about the jack-offs you see here.”
They turned down a hallway with plenty of traffic, much like the central area, but Aaron couldn’t get a clear view of where they were. He leaned closer to the opening and strained his ears for clues regarding what was happening.
“Alright, we got the prisoners ready and prepped for transportation.” This was the voice of Jackie’s officer. “Please verify these are the prisoners you are receiving for transport and finish filling out the transferal paperwork.”
“Yu’s gots a right lovely bunch ‘o pris’na’s there, mate.” Corey’s voice starkly contrasted with the professional voices of all the cops around the precinct. While it was good to hear that the street elf made it this far, Aaron was really wishing that Corey had made more of an effort to blend in.
Jackie’s officer sighed loudly. “Are these the prisoners you intend to transport?”
“Right, mate. These the blokes Imma getting’.”
“Excuse me,” This was a new voice. It had that professional tinge that was not common with street-speak. “You haven’t finished filling out the proper paperwork, sir.”
“Just fill out those detes for me, will yu’s desk-mate? We’s gots to get movin'.”
“Sir,” The voice at the desk pressed. “Clearly, your precinct has a degraded sense of professionalism and duty, as is apparent in your uniform and decorum.”
“Oi! No need to go about bein’ insultin’!”
“Regardless, we here at precinct 47 maintain our pride and professionalism and demand that standard be met with those who come here.” Aaron heard the rustling of papers. “The prisoner transferal will not occur without proper documentation.”
“A’right, mate, a’right. Cood yu’s ‘and me yu’s pen, again?”
Paranoia crept into Aaron’s hiding spot and settled in beside him like a cat intent on clawing at his confidence like a scratching post. They were taking too long and needed to keep moving. The longer they waited, the more likely something bad could happen, something like—
“Hey, did you see McGrady’s name is attached to this?” It was the voice of the desk officer.
“McGrady?” Responded Jackie’s officer. “That noob? What the hell is he got to do with this?”
“You guys know McGrady?” This was the voice of Swift’s officer, the one Aaron was riding with.
“Hells, mate. All ‘o us boys in blue look the same. Am I right?” Corey laughed.
Corey was the only one laughing.
“Is McGrady around?” Asked Jackie’s officer.
“Yeah, actually, he should be in the back. Give me a minute, and I’ll get him,” answered the desk officer.
“Oi, these papa’s ‘ere are done, mate. Ain’t no time for chattin’ and chittin’. We’s gots this lot to transport.”
Corey was ignored. Aaron heard the desk officer yell, “McGrady, get over here!”
Silence followed. Aaron’s mind raced through a thousand different scenarios that could occur, but he felt helpless as he was still miniaturized in the cop’s utility pocket. The plan was falling apart; however, jumping out now would only destroy what fragments were still hanging.
“McGrady,” the desk officer interrupted the silence. “You know these guys?”
Another pause. When McGrady spoke, Aaron could hear the astonishment and rage melding together in the young police officer’s voice, “You!”
“Me, mate?”
“You! You were that other elf on the street when I was working with Officer Gundar earlier today. You’re supposed to be under arrest!”
Aaron cursed his terrible luck—of course, McGrady would be in the precinct at this moment. That’s just how the forces of the earth were working. As Aaron felt the last few pieces of the plan blow away, he heard Corey speak cunningly and confidently.
“Well, Boomas, looks like we’s doin’ plan B on the blue boys.”
Aaron popped open the utility pocket and saw Corey’s crew in disheveled police uniforms. Corey was upfront, officer cap cocked to the side, and uniform shirt partly tucked in his pants. He took a toothpick out of his mouth and flicked it at McGrady. Then he reared back his fist, glowing with a heated internal red.