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“Why don’t you sit, and we can finish our breakfast?” she said lightly. “We might as well be comfortable, because this is going to take a while.”
* * *
A few hours later, they were the last remaining passengers.
Rafe and Jade had taken turns feeding and pacing with Gus during his waking times, but Rafe was personally feeling grateful that the whelp was not as active as a dragonet his age would have been. The wallpaper would be charred by now if they’d had a frustrated dragon whelp to manage.
He was also grateful that the sheriff had dealt with the children and their teacher right away, and gotten them out of the dining car as quickly as possible. It was hard not to get claustrophobic with that number of bodies in one space. Especially when so many of them were small and sticky.
At 1200 standard time, a bot had brought out cold sandwiches for them. With questioning still happening in the kitchen, Rafe figured they were lucky to be fed at all.
“Go on,” the Sheriff said to the small woman with the big glasses as they emerged from the kitchen car.
The bot by the door opened it for her and she darted out, stealing a last glance over her shoulder at Rafe as she went.
“Well, it’s just you now,” the sheriff said as the bot sealed the door again. “Think I’ll take a load off.”
He seated himself across the table from the three of them and looked down at the platter of sandwiches.
“Please, help yourself,” Jade told him. “You must be exhausted.”
“Waiter,” Rafe called.
A service bot slid over immediately.
“Order a drink, man,” Rafe told the sheriff.
“Good thinking,” the sheriff said. “Pitcher of honey lemon iced tea, please.”
Rafe’s eyebrows went up inadvertently.
“I’m at work,” the sheriff said.
They watched as he devoured two sandwiches and drained his glass in record time.
The bot slid over to refill it from the pitcher.
“So, what are you two doing on this train?” the sheriff asked, nodding to Jade. “You start.”
So, this was why the sheriff was questioning them together. Smart.
D’arxx would know that Rafe had been trained in advanced interrogation techniques. If Rafe was questioned first, he would give away nothing.
But Jade was untrained, and feeling understandably anxious in what was almost certainly her first interaction with a law enforcement officer. She was likely to go off the rails, answering questions he didn’t ask, offering up information he didn’t need. And her nerves would make her accuracy erratic.
When Rafe was questioned after her, he would have to keep her answers in mind, so as not to trip them up. It was enough of an obstacle to potentially eat away at his training advantage just a bit. And a bit was all it would take.
Not that there was anything to be tripped up over. He knew for a fact that neither had done anything wrong.
But he also knew that innocent men went down for crimes they didn’t commit all the time. As strangers on a frontier moon, they had to be careful.
Rafe sipped his drink, pretending to relax while the sheriff questioned his mate.
He was surprised to see that she handled herself calmly, and didn’t offer up more than simple answers to the questions. Even when the sheriff asked her about their run-in with Gaxx, she kept her responses factual and succinct.
His dragon purred in his chest, proud of their clever mate.
Soon enough, it was Rafe’s turn. He gave the sheriff the facts without breaking a sweat. But he didn’t like the way the sheriff narrowed his eyes at the part about Rafe confronting the man over his insult to Jade.
