“I just witnessed you trying to disarm both officers and take their guns into your hands.”

“Hail nah. That’s never gonna fly.”

I would assume that Jackson racially profiled Nehemiah, except he was black as well.

“Let me see what you wrote these vagrants up for.” He approached Yates and Walton, put his gun away, and took the tickets and citations away from Yates. “About time you boys hit the road and continued patrolling, eh?”

Dazed and confused, they obeyed. They drove off but not without giving Nehemiah and I clueless stares.

Only after they left did Jackson’s demeanor break. “Nehemiah Lewis Jr. Did I catch you wiping the memory of my officers again?”

“Again?” asked Nehemiah. “What’chu mean again? And why you pointing a piece at me?”

“I never pointed it at you. Plus, safety’s on. And don’t give me that crap, Lewis. Less than two months ago Yates and Walton came back to my office looking as green as fresh produce. They couldn’t remember a single thing about their patrol that night, let alone you. They didn’t even know why they returned back to the station.”

“It’s not my fault that they completely emptied their minds and dumped their brains into the flame. I only told them to forget what they saw at the laundromat.”

I was flabbergasted. “Wait? You know about Nehemiah’s powers? Are you a wizard cop?”

Officer Jackson cracked a smile. “Naw, I’m no wizard. I don’t mess with that black magic stuff.”

“Hey, why it gotta be black though?” asked Nehemiah.

Jackson laughed. “Me and Lewis go way back. I used to be a skeptic but then he saved me from that neck-vegan monster thing.”

“It’s called a Nuckelavee, not a neck vegan.”

“Yeah, that’s the one.”

“You’re lucky it was only a baby Nuckelavee too.”

They both had a chuckle.

“So what you up to tonight, Lewis?”

He sighed and gestured to me.

I filled in Jackson with the details about Tain and whatnot.

“Werewolves? Vampires? What is in this Vallejo air?” He tore my ticket and citations in half, then pocketed the scrap. “I didn’t sign up for this.”

“That’s why we take care of this stuff for you,” said Nehemiah.

Officer Jackson looked at me. “I don’t get paid enough for that. That’s why I let your type of people handle it.”

“We don’t get paid for this at all,” said the wizard.

Jackson changed the subject. “I thought I’d seen some weird homicides lately. About a month back I came across a victim with bite wounds. Teeth marks. Of course that didn’t make it into the paperwork. That would’ve been the same night my boys lost their memory.” He looked to Nehemiah for some sort of explanation.

Nehemiah shrugged. “I may have fought a Japanese vampire that night. I can’t remember. It’s not too clear.”

“What? Have you been memory wiping yourself as well?” Jackson laughed.

Nehemiah gave a nervous chuckle. I thought it odd, but I didn’t have time to think much more on it.

“Hey,” said Jackson. “I just remembered. You know anything about all them people that turned up on Skaggs Island? When was that? Man was that over a month ago now?”

“You mean, did I rescue all of those people and save them from certain death? I mighta had something to do with that.”

“Mighta,” grunted Jackson. “I called you numerous times. You couldn’t return my calls once? I know your wife was relaying those messages to you.”

“I’ve been busy,” said Nehemiah, tilting his head towards me.

“Things ain’t getting worse are they?” asked Jackson.

“Meh,” said Nehemiah. “Depends on your definition of worse.”

I tuned out of the conversation and my thoughts drifted back to my dog. Tain was long gone now. While I was glad that we were getting off scot-free and all my tickets were taken care of, it didn’t get me closer to Tain.

Nehemiah noticed my scowl and said, “Well Jackson, nice seeing you again. And good looking out.”

“As long as you boys stay out of civilian trouble and stick to monsters, I’m fine with that. But don’t get yourselves pulled over anymore. I can’t always bail you out.”

Nehemiah and I shook his hand and then we got back in my car.

“That was a close call,” said Charice. “How did we get out of that one?”

“I know that guy,” said the wizard. “Saved him from a monster once.”

I took off, driving the direction Tain last went. But after fifteen minutes of aimless cruising I conceded that we had lost the trail.

I smacked my steering wheel. “Great. Now he’s completely lost.”

The wizard looked thoughtful. “He can’t stay a werewolf forever. And if he doesn’t catch up with the vampires, chances are he’ll return home.”

I hoped so.