Page 130 of Dream Weaver

“This is the ADMSA. Everyone freeze!” one of the men ordered.

“This again?” I sighed.

“Again?” Cooper muttered.

Oops. Someday, I would have a lot of explaining to do.

“I said, hands up!” another agent boomed.

“Captain Edwards. What a pleasure,” Erin said without a hint of enthusiasm.

“Miss Sattler. Miss Martin. Miss Carson,” he grumbled.

You knew life had taken a wrong turn when the leader of a top-secret law enforcement agency knew your name by heart.

“Hello, Todd,” Pippa quipped, borrowing a page from our mother’s playbook.

“Captain Edwards. CaptainTomEdwards,” he grumbled, not at all pleased.

Pippa made a gesture that mimicked our mother’s — the one that said,Whatever.

Ingo and Mike jogged over, leaving Harlon in the custody of Captain Edwards’s troops.

“Oh, Captain Edwards. You came personally,” Ingo said, not at all pleased.

“You bet I did. How is it that this family always manages to attract trouble?”

“How is it that you always arrive a little too late to be of any real help?” Erin shot back.

Edwards glared, but he didn’t answer the question.

Hmpf. Didn’t think so, Erin muttered in my mind.

Several tension-packed moments ticked by, before Ted — er, Tom — spoke.

“What exactly happened here?” he demanded.

I looked at my sisters, wondering the same thing.

“Ask Harlon,” Mike growled, pointing.

Edwards’s eyebrows jumped up. “Harlon Greene?”

Pippa nodded. “Yes, Harlon. The warlock you put away after his last attack.” After pausing for effect, she added, “Or did you?”

The captain’s face went dark with fury. “He was under a restraining spell cast by a panel of class-one warlocks.”

Mike crossed his thick arms. “Not any more, apparently.”

“But…but…how?” Edwards fumed at his men, who looked at their feet.

The bravest pulled out a phone. “Shall I call in to ask, sir?”

“Yes, goddammit!”

“I beg your pardon!” I bristled, covering Claire’s ears.

In truth, she’d heard far worse from us. But the sooner we got a leg up on the blustery captain, the better.

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