Page 60 of Hextreme Measures

“Were you in her house? Maybe she was trying to protect herself.”

“I will hurt you,” Ofelia warned. “Keep pushing me and see what happens.”

Defiance lit in the depths of Biff’s eyes. There was a great deal of fear there, too. “I don’t answer to you,” he growled. He squared his shoulders and took a purposeful step toward Ofelia. “You’re not my boss. In fact, you’re not anything to me.”

Ofelia smirked, prepared to start throwing magic at him in exchange for answers, but Jack inserted himself between them before she could. She had to give him credit — he looked terrified — but he was the one in charge of the paranormal division. If two members of his team were going to start ripping each other to shreds, he was the one who would try to stop it.

“Biff, I’m not sure I fully understand what’s going on here,” he started, casting a worried look toward Ofelia before pointing his “boss” face at Biff. “She appears to have questions, though. I think it would behoove you to answer them.”

Behoove. What a weird word, Ofelia mused.

“I don’t have anything to say to her,” Biff fired back. “I don’t even know what she’s talking about.”

“He’s lying,” Ofelia snapped. “His mother is a banshee. I’m not sure if she arranged for her husband to die or if the other banshees did it because she’s at war with them. I’m still figuring that part out.”

She watched Biff closely for a reaction, but he didn’t let her see anything but the muscle working in his jaw. Well, fine, if he wanted to play the game that way, so be it.

“Zach is missing,” she continued. “He was in that house with me and then he was suddenly gone. She took him.”

Jack dragged a hand through his hair, clearly agitated. “Ofelia, I don’t want to upset you further —”

“She must be on her period or something,” Biff interjected. “Does that make witches crazy? I’m guessing it does. That might explain all of … this.” He wrinkled his nose and waved his hand back and forth, gesturing toward Ofelia.

“I would be very careful right now,” Jack warned as Ofelia made a snarling noise that sounded like something Sully might make. “You’re not helping matters.”

“She came in here to attack me,” Biff fired back. “Why would I possibly want to help her?”

Anger the likes of which she’d never felt before coursed through Ofelia and it took everything she had not to launch herself over the table so she could wrap her hands around Biff’s neck.

“Tell me how you even started looking at Biff’s mother,” Jack prodded. It took Ofelia a moment to realize he was asking the question of her.

“She was on a list of people we were looking at,” Ofelia replied blandly. “We stopped to see her yesterday, not knowing she was Biff’s mother, but she wasn’t home. We went back to see her today.”

“And why was she on your list?” Jack asked.

“Because she was one of three people in the last few weeks who lost their husbands in attacks that left claw marks behind.”

Genuine puzzlement took over Jack’s features. “Why wouldn’t I know about that?”

Ofelia shrugged. “Zach assumed that the responding officers didn’t realize it could be paranormal and just chalked it up to a regular attack.”

“But … that stuff normally crosses my desk.”

“Perhaps Biff here has somebody in the department who keeps that stuff from crossing your desk if he doesn’t want you to see it,” she suggested.

“Don’t you ever suggest I’m a crooked cop!” Biff roared. “How dare you break into my mother’s house, without a warrant, and then suggest that I’m the one who did something wrong here.”

Ofelia rolled her eyes. “You’re ridiculous. You’re trying to go on the offensive to make it so Jack doesn’t look too closely at you. I’m not an idiot.”

“Obviously, you are if you came in here and admitted to breaking into my mother’s house.” Biff puffed himself out. “I want her arrested.”

“Don’t push it,” Jack warned. “I have some questions about your mother. I mean … is she really a banshee?”

“No, she is not,” Biff replied. He said it a little too soon, Ofelia noted. He sounded jittery. Would that pass muster with Jack? She had no idea. “She’s making that up. She was attacked by a banshee, as I said, but overcame the injury. She is not a banshee, no matter what this … witch … says.” He gestured at Ofelia again, this time with even more frustration. “She’s lost her mind.”

“I’m not making it up,” Ofelia said to Jack. “She’s a banshee.”

“She’s not,” Biff hissed. “Banshees don’t have families. Let’s say she was upset after my stepfather died a few weeks ago — and she was obviously upset — I would have noticed if she turned into a banshee.”