Page 113 of Oh No! There's an Incubus in my Hot Spring
How do I fix this?
Everyone in town already suspects something, or possibly even knows depending on what Mark has spread around. If Apollo is discovered, what could happen to him?
If he’s discovered by unfriendly agencies without the public knowledge, he could easily be disappeared overnight and no one would care. If people knew about him, though…
Agatha opens the door and nods her head out to the hall. “He’s in the waiting room.”
I jump to my feet, anxious to get to him. Poor Apollo, he’s probably never been in a situation like this before. I follow Agatha down a hall adorned with photos of officers doing great deeds, and ‘Save the Puppies’ calendars with half-nude officers from 2011. The sun is just coloring the sky orange as we come into the front room.
Apollo is sitting near the door, ramrod straight. He stands when he sees me, his eyes full of concern. I smile to let him know I’m okay despite my stomach being a bundle of nerves. I rush the last few steps to him, and he pulls me into an embrace.
“I’m so sorry,” he whispers into my hair, but it doesn’t matter. He doesn’t need to be sorry. I’m just so glad he’s holding me.
I melt into the embrace. “We’re going to figure everything out.”
“You’re not being charged, despite Mr. Lowell throwing a massive bitch-fit,” Officer Rosa says behind me. I turn to look at her. She’s holding out our personal items that were taken when we got here. I grab my purse and jacket.
“Though,Mr. Paul Spring,” the officer says, raising an eyebrow at Apollo. He wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me back into his side protectively. “You will be seeing a fine for not having your state-issued identification card on you. Make sure you get one of those and keep it on your person at all times.”
“Yes, officer. I will,” Apollo says.
Officer Rosa nods. “Good.” She turns for the door, then stops and looks back at us. “Well, do you need a ride to your car, or not?”
“You want a ride?” Agatha grips my arm and gives it a squeeze.
“You need to get some rest,” I say. “Officer Rosa can take us.”
“Okay. I’ll be staying in town for a few days, so I’ll start that paperwork and help you with that problem. Maybe I’ll come up and take a dip and we can talk about it more?”
“You should. It’s on the house, of course,” I say.
“Perfect. I’ll call you later tonight.”
“Tonight.” I groan to myself as I realize it is in fact Monday and we’ll need to open the hot spring at ten for the first scheduled appointment. Sleep will be a later thing, I guess.
Apollo keeps his hand tight on my side as we follow Officer Rosa to her squad car. We get in the back and she takes off. Her radio bleats out random information from the station and I squeeze Apollo’s hand tighter in the quiet. After a few turns I realize we’re not headed back toward Main Street.
I sit forward in the back seat. “Hey, where are you taking us?”
“I figured you’d be smarter than to get in a corrupt cop’s car after being freed.” She shrugs. “It’s really not my fault.”
Oh. Holy. Shit.
She going to fucking murder us.
thirty
Familial Ties
“Officer Rosa, please stop and let us out,” I say.
“Sorry, no can do. Mark pays me a lot to be his eyes, ears, and sometimes chauffeur. And I need that money.” She sighs, then mumbles, “No way to get out of this damn town otherwise. Fuckin’ trap.”
We stop at a red light, and I pull on the handle, but of course it’s locked. We’re in the back.
“You should let us out,” Apollo says, the menace thick in his tone.
Officer Rosa straightens in her seat. “Y’all will be fine. He just wants to talk.”
