Page 19 of A Debut Unpaid

Then, King was in front of me, offering his hand. I gripped it, his palm warm and solid in my own. As I stood, I realized that we were closer than I had thought.

“You need another kiss for luck?” I expected King to smile, but his expression was serious.

“Are you going to go see one of the EMTs about that?” He gestured to my head, where one of McCallum’s cronies had hit me.

“I think I’m going to just head home,” I said.

King’s face went tight and then he was spinning me and pressing me up against the nearest wall, dragging both hands behind me as he began reading me my Miranda rights.

“What?” I sputtered “King, what are you doing?”

Finishing the spiel, King said, “I’m arresting you for breaking into McCallum’s house.”

“Are you kidding?” I asked. Glancing around us, I realized that there were at least two other cops who’d seen what he was doing, and were providing silent backup.

“He needs to get seen by a doctor before we book him,” King said. His hand was tight on my arm.

“I can’t believe this,” I muttered as King and the two uniformed cops talked logistics.

Twenty six hours later, I’d been seen by the hospital, released back into police custody and bailed out by my sister. Laurel was standing outside of the police station, talking to the lawyer she’d hired to go toe-to-toe with the DA.

In the end, all the charges had been dropped, since the paperwork filed was so bad that even I could see the gaping holes in it. How a guy as precise as King could be so bad at paperwork was beyond me.

“Hey,” Laurel said, offering me over a large paper coffee cup. I accepted it and drank. “Ted was just explaining that the DA dropped the charges.”

“Thanks,” I said, raising my cup to him. “I appreciate it.”

“Trust me, in my work for the coven, this is theleastodd thing I’ve had to do,” he said, moving towards the parking lot. “Laurel, I’ll talk to you soon.”

Laurel and I began meandering down the street, towards her car. My foster sister didn’t say anything at first. I knew that something was coming, but before she could figure out which lecture she was gearing up to give me, someone called my name from behind us.

King was jogging down the steps, looking exactly as tired as I felt. “Ferro.”

“You going to arrest me for jaywalking?” I said.

“Youdidbreak in—I just wanted to make sure you were okay to leave. The doctor cleared you?” He moved as though he was going to touch my head again, but Laurel moved in front of me.

“Detective King, is it?” Her voice was chilly. “If you’re going to harass my brother again, I’m going to call back our lawyer.”

“No, that’s not—” He nodded at me. “Just glad you’re okay.”

I shook my head and turned away, tugging Laurel with me. “C’mon. You can buy me breakfast.”

She followed behind me, glaring over her shoulder darkly.

“You know Icancall the coven lawyer. Is he going to be a problem?”

Glancing back, I saw King looking almost forlorn on the sidewalk. His expression was that of purewant. What he could possibly want from me, I had no idea.

“No,” I said, turning back to her. “I don’t think he will be.”