Chapter 27: Sheriff Colburn

I stepped out of Dr. Holzer's office. Chloe, Yvonne and Savannah all set down the magazines they were looking at as if on cue. There was also a female officer standing nearby. We nodded at one another as she stepped past me, into the Doctor's office, and closed the door. I had another one of those gut-wrenching surges of need. It didn't hurt as much as make me groan under my breath. I wasn't sure if it was just the closeness of so many females or possibly the officer.

A thought hit my just then. The girls had been fearful of me losing control and charming half the town into bed while I was away from them. What if that was what was happening? I needed to get back to the hotel room soon and grind out as much of my craving as possible before we started any search.

Yvonne asked, "Are we going to find your family now?"

"First we need to get a hotel room..." I glanced at Savannah. My need flared but I stood steadfast against it. " ... or two. We're going to need somewhere to sleep for the next few nights. I'm not giving up on my family until we find them. Then we can begin looking, though I would rather you three stay at the hotel."

Yvonne protested my last statement, Chloe looked shocked and Savannah just seemed indifferent. I held up my hands for silence. Before I could say anything, though, the door to Dr. Holzer's office opened and the officer stood there. She looked me over like she couldn't believe what she was seeing and then shook off her disbelief and said, "Mr. Setton, I need to speak with you."

I looked at her for a moment, then back at the girls. The officer didn't care for my hesitation or about what conversation I'd been having. She looked at the girls and said, "If you'll excuse us for a few minutes, ladies, I have some very important questions for Mr. Setton."

She looked back at me and held the door open, fully expecting me to go back into the doctor's office.

I started to protest, to explain that I had to go find my family, but the officer cut me off. "I already know about your missing family. My questions have to do with the fire and their disappearance. Now, please, Mr. Setton..." and she held her hand out to the office.

"I'll be right back, " I thought to my girls, and stepped through.

The officer was average height, maybe five-seven. However, the look in her brown eyes was stern, very cool. She had her hat off, her strawberry-blond hair pulled back in a tight, low bun. The uniform gave her a boyish figure but I could tell that was just due to the cut. There was a strong athletic woman wearing all that blue. My body understood that, too, and another burst of desire flooded through me.

Though there were two chairs the officer and I could use, neither of us sat down. I didn't expect to stay long and she remained standing, probably to look as intimidating as possible. After what I had seen the day before, in the burning house, there wasn't much that was going to intimidate me.

"Mr. Setton, I'm gone to be frank with you. What you did was both heroic and stupid. However, you were the only one to see what happened in there and we need to know what you saw," said the officer.

I'm sure the look on my face was just as confusing as I felt. What I had done was heroic and stupid? That must have meant going into the house to pull out Chloe and look for the others. But what did I see that she needed to know about? "What are you talking about?" I looked to Dr. Holzer who just watched us calmly.

I must have not healed myself as well as I thought. I could feel my Charm, the normal tight control over it, but it must have been leaking or something because the officer pulled off her coat and began unbuttoning her uniform.

Again, I looked at the doctor. He watched as if this happened everyday. Well, with him being a doctor, it probably did.

The officer opened her top, flashing me her bra-encased chest. Her skin looked soft and I could almost feel it on my tongue. She had good shape up top, but was smaller than I preferred. Then I noticed what she was really showing me. Above her left breast - hovering where she normally wore her badge - was a gold mark. Without closer inspection I wouldn't be able to discern the shape, but to me that didn't matter. She was another Mind Magi and an officer of the law too. If I could get into deeper trouble, I didn't see how.

Instincts were kicking in, telling me to run. My need for female flesh drained from me like someone had pulled a rather large plug. I glanced at the door. I could make it. She wasn't as fast as me, I was sure of that. But what about the doctor and my girls just outside? She could hold one of them hostage and force me to do what she wanted. So I remained still, forcing my heart to be quiet, forcing the shaking in my hands to stop. I calmed myself the way I did with my girls and I even held my breath.

The officer began closing her top and putting her uniform back on. The look on her face was still one of cool efficiency. I had the feeling this wasn't the first time she had flashed another Mind Magi, but she could have eased some of my tension and at least smiled.

"My name is Andrea Colburn. Michael found out about your house from your girls, and that you were hurt, and asked me to work your case. He's currently in France looking into records of the prophecy."

The memories Michael shared with me had included which House he belonged to. I knew that Officer Colburn was also a member, and asked, "Why would House Isaacs allow two of its members to allow me to continue to exist when the First Law..."

Officer Colburn held up her hand to interrupt me. "I'm an officer of mundane laws, and that first law calls for murder. I will not condone that. As far as I'm concerned, that law is so outdated it isn't funny. However, Michael seems to believe that some of the House Lords and Ladies will try to enforce it anyway and have the Dragons hunt you down. I made sure nothing suspicious leaked into the papers about the fire, like the fact that the girl suddenly appeared next to the fire truck and you were found in the basement. The details of how the fire started have to pass through my hands too. They will be altered because the preliminary report from the fire marshal is that there were no accelerants, no faulty wiring, no reason that fire should have started. It's unexplained. I'm going to add a couple of details giving it mundane reasons."