Hidden Magic by Wynter Daniels

of double glass doors bearing the words, Gulf County Sheriff’s Office.
    Uncomfortable heat spread through her but she forced down her fears.
    “Want to meet the sheriff?” Zander asked as they passed a reception desk.
    “No.”
    “No?” His puzzled expression reminded her she had to attempt to make him trust her.
    She tried for a self-deprecating smile. “I need to use the facilities. Can you point me toward the nearest ladies’ room?”
    “Oh, sure. We just passed one. Back down the hall on your left.”
    “Great. I’ll meet you back here after your meeting.” Without waiting for his reply, she spun around and headed to the bathroom. She had half a mind to keep going right out of the building. Yeah, that’d work. Talk about raising suspicion.
    No, she had to stay. She was in this for Hannah and she had to see it through.
    After taking her time in the restroom then exploring the administration building, she returned to the reception area of the sheriff’s office and took a seat. She pretended to check her messages on her phone, anything to look busy in case Zander poked his head out of the office and asked her to come inside.
    She was being paranoid. Just because she was there didn’t mean he’d subject her to being fingerprinted or anything like that.
    Zander emerged from his meeting carrying a Styrofoam cup of coffee. “Ready to go?”
    She said a silent thank you to the Goddess. “Sure.”
    “Want some coffee before we leave?”
    “No thanks.” She would have loved some but the sooner they left, the better.
    He led her out of the building.
    “Detective Parsons, have you made any progress in the Hannah Saxon case?” The voice was female but it took Jilly a moment to register that it was a reporter. She hurried toward them from a white van marked with the local news affiliate’s logo. “Hannah’s been missing for almost three weeks now, Detective. Don’t you have any leads?”
    The blonde shoved a microphone in Zander’s face as a cameraman circled around him, blocking their path.
    Zander took Jilly’s hand and pulled her around the crew toward his car. “The investigation is ongoing, Ms. Templeton. As soon as we have news you’ll be the first to know.”
    But the woman wouldn’t be put off. “Do you have any suspects in her disappearance?”
    He yanked open his car door and practically shoved Jilly into the passenger seat. She immediately turned away from the window. Last thing she needed was her face on television. Thank the Goddess it would only be broadcast locally if at all.
    Zander got in and shut his door harder than necessary. Angry vibes rolled off him.
    Jilly buckled herself in. “I don’t think I like her.”
    “That makes two of us. Feel free to put a hex on her. She’d love to see me fail even though succeeding could mean bringing Hannah home.”
    “I don’t do hexes, sorry. Why would she want you to fail?”
    He pulled out of the lot, squealing his tires as he turned. “Because I’m the mayor’s grandson and Carla Templeton would do just about anything for a juicy story whether it’s true or not. She’ll dig and dig until she finds something even if she has to make that something out of nothing. A couple years ago she did a story on a case I was working and made me sound incompetent. Of course she had to bring up my relation to the mayor. Her implication was that my promotion from patrolman to detective was merely nepotism.”
    “Oh.” She glanced back at the news van and a shiver raced up her spine. “Will she put what they just filmed on the news?”
    He shrugged. “I guess that’s up to the producers.”
    “Just locally, right?”
    “Probably. Hannah’s case was picked up by one of the wire services. I think they ran the story on the CNN website. Why?”
    All the blood seemed to drain from her face. “I-I was wondering if I was going to be on television, that’s all.” She could barely manage to get a breath in. But she was being ridiculous. Why would