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Not if he was human.
A thick band of skin wrapped around the base of his wrist.
The officer wasn’t human. He was a Changeling.
I nudged the door open. My heart thudded so hard I could feel it in my toes. I peered up and down the hallway. Rubber soles screeched on the floor as someone approached. I ducked back in the interrogation room, leaving the door open an inch.
An officer crossed the hall a little way ahead. I waited a moment to see if he would come back out again. He didn’t.
I tiptoed out and passed the open plan office the man had entered. I glanced inside and focused on the officer’s wrists. Right where they joined his hand, there was a wrinkled band of skin.
Another Changeling.
I’d come back into town to clear up any loose ends, to prevent me from having to return to this place and keep me safe, and instead, I managed to find myself in a police station full of Changelings.
It didn’t make any sense. Why would there be Changelings here? Why would there be so many? Did they have anything to do with us being abducted? That was their business, wasn’t it? Forced enslavement?
And then something came to me. A flash of young women’s faces pinned to a noticeboard down a dark alley. Missing human females. They’d all gone missing in this place, disappeared without a trace.
And I bet none of them have ever been seen again…
Not on this planet, at least.
I had to escape the town, and maybe, just maybe, I would never have to see them ever again.
I turned to begin my hasty departure—
I slammed into someone, knocking me back on my ass.
It was the front desk officer who brought me coffee earlier. He juggled a bag of food he bought at the local sandwich shop. The drink almost slopped to the floor.
“Careful!” he said before looking up. “Oh. It’s you. I was just bringing you your chicken sandwich. Is barbeque okay?”
I lay on the floor, aghast. I willed myself to quit staring at that distinctive band of skin about his wrist and focused on his eyes. I didn’t blink.
“Yes,” I said. “That’s fine.”
“Where are you heading off to?” he said amiably.
“The, uh, bathroom,” I said. “I need to use the bathroom.”
“It’s down the hall on the left,” the officer said, still smiling. “I’ll put your meal in the interrogation room for you. Unless you prefer to eat somewhere more open?”
“No!” I blurted. “The interrogation room is fine.”
“Okay then. Don’t take too long. It tastes a whole lot better when it’s hot.”
He sauntered down the hall and disappeared inside the interrogation room. A moment later, he came out, clapping off his hands, and whistling as he headed back to the front desk.
I hurried down the hall and opened the bathroom door. I glanced inside and noticed there were bars over the windows. No way I could squeeze through them. I headed down the hallway where the duty officer had come from.
There had to be an exit down there somewhere.
The station had so many hallways it reminded me of a rat run. I had no idea where I was going, but if I kept going, I was certain I would find a way out of there eventually.
Bingo.
There it was. A back door that fed onto the station’s parking lot. A dozen patrol cars waited for the morning shift. I had to be long gone by then.
