Chapter 29

            Luis pulled over without protest. Bayla was not sure why the constable’s blunted weapon filled everyone with such fear, but she tried to not draw attention to herself.

            “Hands up, Meyer,” he spat. “And stay where I can see you, Red. I don’t wanna use this, but I will.”

“Nora,” said Vince, struggling to keep his tone even. Bayla could make out the hitch in his voice. “Why does Murphy still have his gun? I thought he dropped that.”

            “I put it back in his holster. I was not sure what else to do, and I was worried about somebody finding it,” she replied, pressed against the van’s wall. Her wide eyes did not move an inch from the gun. “I’m sorry I didn’t notice him; I was preoccupied with the show.”

            “Not even the biggest mistake you made,” snapped Phil Murphy. “If you’re going to tie up a man, you put his arms behind his back, and you better be sure he doesn’t have a knife!”

            “I’ll try and remember for next time,” hissed Vince through his teeth. “How long have you been awake back there?”

            “Long enough to wish you weirdos liked sports radio,” he said, keeping an eye on all of the van’s occupants. “Hey, kid, don’t I know you?”

            “Fixed that clog at your place last year,” said Luis.

            He shook his head. “Not you, the redhead. She looks familiar.”

            “Nora works at the magic… at the book store,” replied Bayla.

            Murphy nodded. “That’s it. What’re you doing with these delinquents? And where’s that witch that knocked me out?”

            “C-can’t say, constable.” The poor woman was trembling so badly that she could hardly get a word out.

            Strange that she can be brave against monsters, but a Landman with a blunt weapon is such a terror. Bayla knew better than to underestimate the threat, though. Vince had long since proven his good instincts. Is it because she is without her magic? Perhaps because she has no summons left besides that drake? She seems so helpless. She sighed again. Not that I am much better off!

            “Perez,” snapped Murphy, “does your daddy know you’re hauling around kidnapped police officers in his van?”

            Luis gave no response besides taking his hands off the steering wheel and putting them behind his head.

            Bayla could see the contemptable constable’s smug grin. “Taking the fifth? Not a bad move. Now turn off that junk and call 911. You’re getting me backup.”

            “Sir, if you can please listen, we can explain everything,” said Vince. He had snuck his phone up his flannel shirtsleeve, leaving Luis’ on the dashboard as the only choice.

            “You can explain it to the FBI or whatever government spooks they send to look into this,” he snapped. “I seem to recall telling someone to hand me that phone.”

            Bayla could follow Murphy’s eyes through the rearview mirror, and her offense grew by the moment. He is not looking my way at all. He thinks I am no threat!

            Was he wrong? Without her orca strength, she was simply a petite Landmaiden, not even as imposing the more substantial form she had worn before. Vince kept assuring her she was winsome, but she doubted she could flirt her way out of this. That ‘gun’ was trained straight on Vince, and Champion or no, he did not seem willing to chance a fight. Bayla’s mind raced; by the Abyss, she was out of her depth again.

            Do not panic; think it through. Bayla had legitimately never seen the like of the weapon. She had heard rumors of a few Landman armies with ‘stonecasters’ that could tear down walls and ships alike, but those had sounded enormous. Then again, if the Landmen of Earth could record a perfect image on a flat screen, it was not impossible that they could shrink them down.

            Constable Murphy was no great fighter; she had seen that twice, and it sounded like Nanora had bested him as well. If she could get that weapon away from him, he would be no threat. What else did she have to work with?

            As Luis reached for his phone, Bayla remembered the ball of silty water resting in her hand. The Constable did not comment on it; it must be out of view. One advantage to being so short. She brought the ball of water next to her stomach. A mental command shifted enchanted water from her Aqua Armor clothing to the mass, exposing some of her belly as her black and white plaid shirt shortened. She was left with a mass that Vince would have described as being the size of a baseball.

            Luis gave her a sideways glance. Is he ogling me? This is hardly the time! She realized he had noticed the ball of water in her hand.

            They exchanged a silent look, and he nodded with understanding. The smartphone slipped from his grip.

            Nanora cried out in fear at the sudden noise.

            “Calm down,” said Vince in a soothing tone.

            “What are you doing?” snapped Murphy, his eyes fixed on Luis.

            “Sorry sir,” replied Luis. “Palms are clammy. I’ll get it.”

            “No you won’t! You, little girl. Get down there and grab that phone.”

            Bayla’s cheeks burned as she realized he meant her. She unclipped her seatbelt (without help this time) and bent down. Luis’ phone had bounced off the floor and under the triple seat. If that was intentional, that was a fine bounce.

            Vince looked down at her with obvious concern.

            “Well?” demanded Murphy.

            “It is almost in reach,” said Bayla. She thrust her hand under the seat, and immediately regretted it. Years of hard-to-reach dust and debris clung to her hand and fouled her water ball further. And Luisperez was worried I would ruin his seat with a little water!

            She could see Murphy’s feet, and Nanora’s in the corner. The van’s short roof forced them both to crouch down. She could not risk a direct attack; the miniature stonecaster’s grip was obviously some sort of mechanical magic, and a slip could doom Vince.

            Instead, she focused some of the water into a smaller version of the Aqua Darts she had used before, about the size of the cotton candy’s stick. It took on a metallic sheen similar to Vince’s own Aqua Armor as she commanded it to be hard as steel. The weapons were self-propelled, since a typical orca would not be able to throw them, and a mental command sent the befouled water shooting into the van’s floor at high velocity behind Murphy.

            As Bayla had hoped, the screech of shredding metal got Murphy’s attention, and he whirled about. “Who’s there?”

            The second spear did not miss its mark, piercing deep into his ankle. Bayla did not recognize the curses that echoed through the van’s aluminum interior a moment before they were drowned out by the loudest noise she had ever heard. She had never heard the like; it was like a concentrated peal of thunder.

            Nanora’s feet shifted as she tackled Murphy. Vince’s weight shifted directly over her. She could not hear the blow over the ringing in her ears, Murphy went limp. Bayla resurfaced to see Nanora struggling to keep the unconscious Murphy upright. Sunlight streamed through a new perforation in the van’s roof, as wide as a barnacle.

            It pierced through the van’s metal hide so easily? No wonder they feared that tiny stonecaster!

            “Ah man, I’m still making payments,” shouted Luis, the first words she could understand as her poor ears recovered.

            They shuffled out of the van and entered the back through the back door. This time, Vince set aside the stonecaster and Murphy’s pocketknife. “That was close,” he observed. His eyes settled on the unconscious constable as they properly bound his arms behind his back.

            Bayla was accustomed to seeing worry or fondness on Vince’s freckled face. The mask of hate Vince wore took her aback.

            “Bayla, heal him again.” His voice was cold, and Bayla was sure the constable would not enjoy the conversation.

            Which was fine by her; this man had threatened her with imprisonment thrice now.

            “You sure man?” asked Luis. “We might be better off…”

            “Drive!” snapped Vince, his expression softening a moment later. “Please. Every minute we waste, Marazza might be closing in.” That seemed more like the Vince that Bayla knew. “Nanora, ride up front and be ready in case you see any trouble coming our way.”

“I’m not sure what I can do without my summons,” she said.

“At least transform, in case you need to call on your last monster. There won’t be anybody around to see you north of here.”

            Bayla had busied herself with gathering up the remnants of her water spears to seal the hole in Murphy’s leg, as well as the swelling shiner Vince’s fist has left. She finished her work as Luis gunned the engine and they were threading their way back north.

            Vince gave her a curious look. “You look awfully happy with yourself.”

            “Should I not?” she replied. “Are you injured?”

            “No, thanks to you. That was way too damn close.” His hateful gaze turned back to Murphy. Her champion grabbed the constable by his lapel and shook him twice. “Hey, you! Wake up.”

            Bayla gulped, finding that her throat dry for some reason. There was something… oddly appealing about this forceful side of Vince. It was a heady mix of safety and danger that stirred her, reddening her cheeks again.

            Vince’s words gave her something more productive to focus on. “I said wake up!”

            Murphy cracked a single eye open, before sighing. “I was really hoping that was all a nightmare.”

            “It could be if you don’t stop threatening me and my friends,” growled Vince. “My ma, even.”

Murphy tilted his head. “Your ma? Oh, Ava. What’s the matter with her?”

“Nothing, thank God, but no thanks to you!” Vince’s shout echoed through the tight space.

“You’ve knocked me out twice, and that witch threatened me with an extinct critter. You think I’m going to just let you run around my island?”

“You should! Leave us alone and this’ll all blow over. But no, you keep going off half-cocked while there’s monster sharks and secret wizards running around. So you’re going to listen to us for once. Got it?”

            Murphy struggled against his electrical tape bonds, but they did not budge an inch. “Guess I don’t got anything better to do. ‘Sides, I’m not getting anywhere trying to fight you three.”

            “It does always seem to end badly for you,” said Nanora.

            “And you’re paying for my roof,” said Luis without taking his eyes off the road.

Bayla thought Nanora looked slightly ridiculous with her white witch’s hat bent against the roof of the van. She kept it to herself, though.

Instead, she turned back towards the constable. “Where should we start?”

“He knows of Avalas already,” said Nanora. “I tried to explain to him before.”

The color drained from Murphy’s face. “You! You’re that witch!”

Nanora smiled sheepishly. “Guilty, Constable Murphy.”

“Shit. Then everything you said was right.” He scanned the kneeling Bayla. “Does that mean you’re really a whale?”

“Indeed,” said Bayla.

He turned to Vince. “Then how did you and Perez get mixed up in this? You’re both just local boys, right? Unless you’re secretly a fairy king or something?”

Vince sighed. “Well, you see, I was hiking up by Greene Point…”

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