Page 159 of Cheap Heat

Bryce and Heather

Dan

The officer behind the front desk at the police station finally tore his eyes away from his magazine to look up at me with a blank expression through the glass.

When he didn’t say a word, I tried to fix my charming smile on my face. I was still tense though, so I was pretty sure it wasn’t all that charming. More like I was just baring my teeth at him.

“Hey there. I’m here to see Officers Banner and Hopkins.”

He heaved a huge sigh, like I was really inconveniencing him, and dragged the desk phone closer. “Name?”

“Dan Ewen.”

“Reason?”

“I got flashed in the park by a clown,” I told him smoothly. “They asked me to come in and talk to the sketch artist.”

It was the secret code used by supernaturals in this town when we wanted to talk to the cops about something humans couldn’t know. Officers Banner and Hopkins were both supernaturals—an incubus and a succubus—so they’d know what it really meant.

Plus, they were regulars at Goliaths. Big fans, actually.

The officer’s bushy brows slowly rose as he eyed me. “You got flashed by a clown.”

“Yep.”

“So what’ll you be describing to the sketch artist?” His mouth twitched into a little smirk. He clearly thought he was hilarious. “His big red nose, or…”

I forced out a terse laugh. “Good one.”

He finally lifted the phone to his ear and dialled. I glanced around, drumming my fingers impatiently on the counter as he spoke in a low, bored voice.

“Take a seat,” he said flatly as he hung up. “They’ll be down in a minute.”

“Thanks.” I wandered over to the seating area and perched on the edge of a chair, still tense.

I wondered how Rafe was feeling and if he’d had to deal with many people seeing his eye and asking what had happened.

I stiffened and my knee started bouncing when a thought suddenly popped into my head. What if Frank and Beans had been waiting for him in the parking lot at work to mug him again? Or threaten him?

My heart giving a mighty thud, I yanked my phone out of my pocket and hurriedly sent him a text.

Are you okay?

I stared down at my phone until he replied thirty seconds later.

Yep, fine. Seriously. I promise.

“Mr. Ewen?”

My head snapped up and I saw Officers Banner and Hopkins walking toward me. They were in their human skins, obviously, but I still recognised them.

“Thanks for coming in.” Banner shook my hand when I stood up, while Hopkins shot me a tiny grin from behind him. “If you’d like to come with us…”

“Let’s catch that clown bastard,” Hopkins added, slapping me on the back as I followed Banner to the door.

None of us spoke as they led me through the station to an interview room. While Hopkins closed the door, Banner turned off the cameras. Then they both turned to look at me.

“Dullahan Daaan!” Banner whooped, stepping forward to slap my palm and pull me into a bro hug. “How’s it going, buddy?”