“Some of the side effects were worse than the disease in my opinion.”
“What side effects?” Bobby asked.
Olaf shook his head. “I had to sign a nondisclosure agreement to be considered for the program.”
This was all news to me. I fought not to show it or to glance at Edward and see if it was news to him. I knew that Olaf talked to Edward more than he talked to me. I’d ask later.
“Must have been some serious side effects for you to prefer being a monster,” Duke said.
Olaf looked at the other man as he said, “I always prefer to be the monster.”
Duke didn’t seem to know what to say to that. “Well, suit yourself.”
“In all things,” Olaf said.
“Spoken like a man who’s never been married,” Duke said.
“Or in a serious relationship,” Newman and Edward said together. Newman smiled at Edward, who smiled back automatically, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. If Newman noticed, he didn’t show it.
“I am learning that if one wants more from a woman than what I have had in the past, some compromise may be necessary.”
“You finally find someone that makes you willing to compromise, Jeffries?” Duke asked.
“I have,” Olaf said, and he looked at me. To me it felt like he was making it painfully obvious.
Duke looked from Olaf to me, and then he opened his mouth to say something, but Edward stepped in and spoke first.
“Is there a room where we could question the suspect in private? I think we’re all getting distracted,” Edward said.
His accent was a little less thick and more him. It used to be that he lost the accent only when emotions ran strong, but lately I’d begun to wonder if he was tired of always being in character. It had been one thing when Ted was his part-time persona, but now that he was doing more marshal work than anything else, he was Ted more than he was Edward. Maybe he was ready to be himself even with a badge.
“The only way he’s coming out of that cell is if a judge orders it or for Win to finally do his duty. We don’t have anywhere else that’s as secure as this,” Duke said.
“Then maybe we need more privacy here,” Edward said, and there was only the faintest hint of accent.
“You can’t kick me out of my own jail,” Duke said.
“We’re not saying that, Duke,” Newman said.
“It sure sounded like that was what Forrester was saying.”
“I’m just saying that we all need to narrow our focus and concentrate on the job at hand. We can talk about African lycanthropy and other things later,” Edward said.
“Agreed,” I said.
Olaf nodded. “Agreed.”
Edward looked at Newman and me. “Did anyone see a deer in a tree?”
Newman shook his head. “But we weren’t exactly looking for it either.”
“If you still have people on-site, call and have them check,” Edward said. The words were his, but he kept his Ted accent. His own accent was middle-of-America nowhere, as if he could have come from anywhere.
“Rico was still there when I left. I can ask him to check,” Deputy Frankie said from out in the offices.
Apparently, she’d been standing behind the sheriff the entire time. I was too short to see her there. Though since she’d just departed from the hallway in front of the cells because there wasn’t room for all of us, I should have known she hadn’t left completely. Once she’d realized that she had three of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in front of her, she’d started to sort of quietly vibrate. I’d thought she’d been excited to meet a senior female officer, but apparently that hadn’t been it. I was one of the horsemen!
“That’d be mighty fine, little lady—I’m sorry, Deputy Frankie.” Edward even wasted a Ted smile on her, which meant he was tall enough to see her past Leduc.