Meant to Be Immortal (Argeneau #32) - Lynsay Sands Page 0,23

Right. Good,” Captain Dupree muttered. “Thank you. I appreciate your help.”

“No problem, Captain,” CJ said magnanimously, and then since she felt he would feel he owed her, she asked, “Why are you and Jefferson at the hospital? Was he hurt? Are you?”

There was a moment of silence, and then Captain Dupree said, “Oh, here’s the doctor. I have to go.”

The words were followed by the dial tone, telling her he’d hung up.

Four

CJ set the receiver down with a shake of the head. She was good at her job, and the captain’s reluctance to answer her questions just made her more determined to find out what had happened tonight. She wouldn’t bother except that it involved Jefferson and he was who she was here to investigate. The captain’s avoiding her questions just made her suspicious and annoyed. But she’d find out what had happened. Eventually. It was hard to keep secrets in a small town.

Sliding off the corner of the desk, she walked out of the office to find Mrs. Dupree had freed Mac and was trying to urge him into a desk chair again.

“Time to go,” CJ announced, bringing a halt to Mrs. Dupree’s nattering.

“Go?” the woman echoed with dismay. “Go where?”

Even as she did, Mac was sprinting to CJ’s side, asking cheerfully, “Where are we off to now?”

CJ hesitated, but then ignored his question in favor of asking Mrs. Dupree, “Is there a spare coat and hat here to disguise Mr. Argeneau for the walk to my car? Just in case the arsonist is out there watching for him to leave,” she added when the captain’s wife continued to simply glare at her.

The last comment worked. Mrs. Dupree’s eyes widened, the glare dropping away at once, and she whirled and rushed into the captain’s office.

“Surely a disguise isn’t necessary,” Mac muttered as they watched the lady bustle out of sight.

“Better safe than sorry,” CJ said simply, and was relieved to see the captain’s wife return quickly. She was carrying an officer’s dress coat and cap—probably the captain’s, was CJ’s guess, but she didn’t ask and simply waited for Mac to don them both. Once he’d finished, they both looked him over. He looked ridiculous, of course. The jacket was tight across the shoulders, but far too large at the waist, and his checkered, flannel pajama bottoms just did not go well with the fancy dress jacket and cap.

“Just let me get the pants,” Mrs. Dupree said suddenly as she rushed away again.

Mac shifted his shoulders in the jacket and made a dissatisfied face, but neither of them spoke as they waited for Mrs. Dupree. She returned a moment later, carrying the outfit’s matching dress pants still on a hanger.

“They’ll be a bit large for you, but at least they’ll fit over your pajama bottoms,” Mrs. Dupree said as she reached Mac’s side and tugged the pants off the hanger. “You might have to hold them up though.”

Mac sighed, but accepted the pants and pulled them on over his own clothes.

“Do you have twist ties?” CJ asked Mrs. Dupree as she watched Mac clutch the pants in hand to keep them from falling down once they were up.

The captain’s wife nodded and hustled off again, this time disappearing through the door that led to the hallway to the kitchenette and cells. When she returned, she had several large green twist ties, probably from a package of garbage bags.

CJ murmured, “Thank you,” took one, and moved to Mac’s side to quickly slide the tie through three belt loops of the dress pants, then twisted it closed and stepped back to survey her handiwork. When Mac released them and the pants were still loose and nearly fell, she accepted another twist tie from the lady and walked around to Mac’s other side to gather two more loops with it. This time when she stepped back and he released his hold on the pants, they stayed in place.

“I look ridiculous,” Mac said, scowling down at the bunched-up pants.

“The coat will cover it,” CJ assured him, before adding, “And it’s dark out. It’ll be fine.”

Mac grunted, but let the coat drop to cover the top of the pants, and then surveyed himself briefly, before nodding and holding one arm out to her in a courtly gesture. “Shall we?”

CJ stared blankly at the offered arm, but didn’t take it. Instead, she snorted and swung on her heel to lead the way out of the bullpen.

Mac followed silently until they were crossing the front reception room,