Third Time Charmed

Charmed Again (Part 7)

Inspector Cortez's eyes were fixated on the translucent, slightly glowing bodies of Penny and Patty. There was no denying that he was looking at a pair of ghosts. He had caught the Halliwell sisters in the act. This was going to be the bust of a lifetime.

"Darryl, do something!" Piper exclaimed.

"He's a cop, Piper," Darryl reminded her. "And he's got a search warrant."

His eyes wide with a mixture of fear and fascination, Cortez said smugly, "And believe me, I've found what I've been searching for."

Thinking of how the last time the sisters were exposed had cost Phoebe her life, Cole made a reckless move toward the inspector.

Noticing this, Cortez aimed his gun at Cole. "Ah-ah-ah-ah! Don't move. I'll shoot," he warned.

"Then so will I," Cole countered menacingly, alluding to an Energy Ball, the potential danger of which naturally went over the inspector's head.

"Cole..." said Leo reproachfully.

"Inspector, if you would just lower the gun, we can talk this out," Prue told the man while mentally preparing herself to take action.

As if he didn't hear her, Cortez spoke to himself more than to anyone in the room, "My whole life, I suspected evil magic was real, that there was something more. I've seen too many horrible things on the job to suspect otherwise, not the least of which are the two murders that happened here."

"Wait. Are you accusing us?" asked Piper indignantly.

"I've just begun to accuse you, lady!" Cortez snapped.

Tired of the standoff, Penny mocked, "All right, fine. You caught us. Congratulations. So, what are you gonna do about it? Shoot us?"

"Not all of us are dead, Grams," Prue reminded her.

"All right, look, you can't arrest us, especially not them," reasoned Leo, indicating to the ghosts. "Nobody will ever believe you."

"Maybe not at first. I'm putting this whole place under constant surveillance. I'm taping your every move. Sooner or later, I'll catch you doing something uh, supernatural, and then—"

At that point, Cortez fell to the floor, knocked out by Darryl with the butt of his gun. "I think you've been through enough today, huh?" he said.

Piper thanked him, while Prue insisted, "Go home, Darryl. We'll fix this. You were never here, okay?"

Darryl nodded. "If you need me, you know where to find me, huh?" he said before departing.

"It doesn't solve your problem," said Cole, mindful of what happened last time the girls were exposed. "He's gonna wake up eventually. You've just bought yourself some time."

"Which is what you're gonna need," added Leo, "especially if you wanna save your..."

Prue shook her head at the unspoken word.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Just write a spell. Get rid of him," Grams encouraged.

"We're not getting rid of him, Grams," Prue rebuked.

"Well, you know what I mean. Dump him somewhere. Anywhere. With all the witches in this room, we oughta be able to do something with him. I mean, just start rhyming. Uh... Take him back, take him away. Remove him now. Don't let him stay.

Prue continued, taking the spell in a gentler direction, "It's time to rest, so slumber deep. Return to home, your sweet—"

"Scrapheap?" Piper snorted under her breath.