Page 50 of Magic and Mayhem

I wasn’t holding my breath for that one.

“I’ll be a good boy, Daddy.” Kenzie’s careful response said he wasn’t going to hold his breath either.

Telling myself that I’d swing by later as long as more raccoons didn’t go on a junk food rampage, I headed into town. Making a quick detour by my place to finish getting ready for the day didn’t take as long as I’d expected, so I had time for a quick stop as I made my way toward the station.

Yep.

I wasn’t smart at all but I was supposed to keep the crazy people in my odd town safe, so that was what I was going to do.

Fingers crossed the crazy alien didn’t zap me with her ray gun or crystals or whatever the fuck she was using on poor Lorne.

I walked through several worst-case scenarios as I parked in front of Dollar Paradise, the ridiculously named local dollar store that priced everything five dollars and under. The whole situation had gotten out of hand and it looked like I was the only one who was willing to put a stop to it.

Fucking aliens.

It took me a second to remember the owner’s name, but it hit me as I headed up to the door. Macy. I remembered thinking it was a bit ironic the first time we’d been introduced but she’d been doing her best to avoid me since then.

She was smart.

But she was also going to melt Lorne’s brain, so it was time to stop her shenanigans.

“Deputy.” An older man with a sparkle in his eyes nodded as I held the door open for him. He glanced back into the store and chuckled as I stepped back to give him enough space to exit. “You’re starting your day early.”

I wasn’t sure what he was implying, but I stuck with the facts to keep it simple.

“Got to nip a few things in the bud.” Like whammies and brain damage. “Some people need to remember there are limits on the shenanigans they can get up to.”

He just gave a creaky laugh and nodded as he headed down the street, clearly approving of my decision to step in to end whatever ridiculousness was going on.

It was nice to have the alien leadership’s approval to fix shit, but I really wished I knew what I should be fussing at her about.

Keeping my displeasure vague would be my best bet, so I aimed to look stern and almost bored as I headed inside, making sure to look every bit the frustrated Dom that I was.

Aliens responded best to whoever had the most strength and that was going to be me.

“Macy, it’s good to see you.” Pinning the nervous-looking alien in place with a smile, I headed toward the register where she was fiddling with papers, trying her best to look busy.

“Deputy.” Nodding, she picked up a stack of what looked to be receipts. “I just have to—”

Interrupting her, I shook my head as I came up to the counter where more fucking watches seemed to have sprung up. “I won’t take but a minute of your time.”

I gave her my bestdon’t fuck with mesmile as I laid the latest stolen watch on the counter. “I have something to return to you.”

She sighed, clearly frustrated at seeing the watch back instead of the money she’d been expecting. “Thank you.”

Oh, we weren’t done yet.

“I thought this might be a better way to handle the situation.” The crazy woman nearly pouted, but I ignored it because she’d been causing chaos for months. “Lorne’s been given strict instructions not to come in here without an escort until we can figure out exactly what’s making his control so questionable.”

And the pout came out.

I just ignored it and gave another fake smile that made her sigh. “I’m sure you’ll appreciate not having to worry about that anymore. If he needs something, I’m sure he’ll just drive over to the Walmart. For whatever reason, he’s got more control over there.”

Giving her a stern look as she half-heartedly nodded, I did my best to make my feelings on the matter clear. “I just can’t have any of our fascinating citizens put in situations like this. I’m sure you understand.”

Letting out another dramatic sigh as she hunched over, she nodded more decisively that time. “I agree, Deputy. I’m sure he’ll be fine going forward.”

“I hope so.” Because brains were fucking important.

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