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We stood staring at each other for a few frozen moments, then I put the Browning in the holster with the bullet ready to go, though I checked the safety twice. Didn’t usually go around with a live round in the chamber. Made me nervous. Made me more nervous that Maiden might be trying to warn me. Of course, he might just be yanking my chain. Some cops, especially small town ones, tended to give me grief. Being a vampire executioner made some of them want to trade macho shit with me, like getting me to carry a live round in the chamber.

“Have a nice day, Blake.”

“You, too, Maiden,” I said.

I had the door open, Jason at my back, when Maiden said, “Be careful out there.”

His eyes were guarded. There was nothing to read on his face. I am not a subtle person, big surprise. “You got something to say, Maiden?” I asked.

“I’m going to be taking my lunch break after you leave.”

I looked at him. “It’s ten o’clock in the morning. Little early for lunch, don’t you think?”

“Just thought you’d like to know I won’t be here.”

“I’ll try and squelch my disappointment,” I said.

He flashed a quick grin, then stood. “I gotta lock the door behind you, since I’m leaving the desk unattended.”

“Locking Belasarius in with Richard?”

“I won’t be gone that long,” he said. He opened the door for us, waiting for us to go outside.

“I don’t like games, Maiden. What the fuck is going on?”

He wasn’t smiling when he said, “If the fancy lawyer gets bail for your boyfriend, I’d leave town.”

“You’re not suggesting he jump bail, are you, Officer?”

“His family has been here almost from the first night he was taken into custody. Before that, it was the scientists that he’s been working with. A lot of nice, upstanding citizens standing around for witnesses. But the nice upstanding citizens won’t be here forever.”

Maiden and I looked at each other. I stood there for a minute, wondering if he’d stop hinting and just tell me what the hell was going on. He didn’t.

I nodded at him. “Thanks, Maiden.”

“Don’t thank me,” he said. He locked the door behind us.

My hand wasn’t on the butt of the Browning, but it was sort of close to it. It’d be silly to draw the gun on a nice August morning in a town with a population lower than most college dorms.

“What was that all about?” Jason asked.

“If we don’t get Richard out, he’s going to get hurt. The only reason he hasn’t been yet is that there have been too many witnesses. Too many people to ask questions.”

“If the cops are in on it,” Jason said, “why would Maiden warn us?”

“He’s not happy about being in on it, maybe. Oh, hell, I don’t know. But it means that someone wanted Richard in jail for a reason.”

A pickup truck pulled across the street in front of the little grey house that Shang-Da was camped out in. Four men jumped out of the back. There was at least one more in the cab. He slid out of sight, and they formed a semicircle at the base of the porch. One of them had a baseball bat.

“Well, well,” Jason said. “You think if we bang on the doors and yell for police help, we’ll get it?”

I shook my head. “Maiden did help us. He warned us.”

“I’m all warm and cozy with the effort,” Jason said.

“Yeah,” I said. I started walking across the street. Jason followed a couple of steps behind. I was thinking as hard as I could. I had a gun and they might not. But if I killed somebody, I’d be bunking with Richard. Myerton’s legal system didn’t seem to take to well to strangers.

Shang-Da stood on the porch, looking down at the men. He’d taken off the billed cap. His black hair was cut very short on the sides and longer on top. The hair was shiny with gel but squashed flat from the cap. He stood balanced on his bare feet, long arms loose at his sides. He wasn’t in a fighting stance yet, but I knew the signs.

His eyes flicked to us, and I knew he’d seen us. The thugs hadn’t yet. Amateur thugs. Didn’t mean they weren’t dangerous, but it meant you might be able to bluff them. Professional muscle tended to call a bluff.

A