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They exchanged another look and went for the door. The taller one asked, “How long you think this phone call should take?”

“A while, and knock before you come back in.”

The uniforms left, and it was just Edward, Ramirez, Nicky, and me. Nicky was staring up at Ramirez. “You’re a good cop, Ramirez. I’ve never heard any dirt on you. You won’t let her hurt me. You’re a good guy. You won’t let her hurt me.” His voice was high and frantic, but each time he said it, he seemed more sure of himself, more certain that Ramirez’s goodness would be his shield.

He was probably right on one thing. Ramirez wouldn’t let me hurt him, but I was willing to bet that Ramirez would let me scare him.

I reached out like I’d stroke Nicky’s face. He jerked back, out of reach.

“Ramirez, shit, please, don’t let her touch me.”

“I’ll be over there if you need me, Anita.” He walked away from the bed and went to sit in a chair at the end of the room near Edward.

Nicky screamed after him, “Ramirez, please, please!”

I touched his mouth with fingertips, and he froze under that gentle touch. His eyes moved slowly, so slowly until he was looking up into mine. “Shhh,” I said and lowered my face towards his, as if I’d kiss his forehead.

He opened his mouth, drew a breath, and shrieked. I grabbed his face between my hands the way I’d seen Pinotl do, but I knew that it didn’t have to be the hands. I could suck him dry with a kiss. “Shut up, Nicky, shut up!”

He started to cry. “Please, oh, god, please don’t.”

“Did the werewolves beg like this?” I asked. “Did they, Nicky?” I pressed my hands into his face until the skin puckered.

“Yes,” he said, voice squeezed by how tight I was holding his face. I had to force myself to release his face, or I was going to leave red marks. Couldn’t mark him up. Couldn’t give Marks a reason to punish Ramirez.

I leaned my arms on the bed rail that he was chained to. He pulled his hand to the length of the chain, but didn’t struggle. He watched me the way mice watch cats when they know there’s no way out. I leaned towards him. It was a very casual movement, but it put my face close to his, not close enough to touch but close enough that he got an up close look at the eyes.

“You see, Nicky, there are worse things.”

“You need me to bring the others back. You do me, and I can’t give them back their lives.”

“You see, Nicky. I don’t need you anymore. I know how to bring them back all by myself.” I leaned over, balancing on tiptoe and my arms on the rail, leaning in, as if to whisper in his ear. “Your services are no longer needed.”

“Please,” he whispered.

I spoke with my mouth so close to his face that I could feel my breath coming back from his skin in a warm pulse. “The doctors will certify you dead, Nicky. They’ll bury you in a box somewhere, and you’ll hear every shovel full of dirt as it hits the coffin lid. You’ll lie there in the dark and scream in your head, and no one will hear you. Maybe we’ll have to put a jade bead in your mouth and sew it shut to make you lie still.”

Tears trailed from his eyes, but his face was blank, as if he didn’t know he was crying.

“Tell them where your master is, Nicky, or I swear I will do worse than kill you.” I kissed him on the forehead, very gently.

He whimpered.

I kissed the tip of his nose, the way you do with children. I hovered over his mouth. “Tell them, Nicky.” I lowered my mouth over his, our lips brushed, and he turned his head.

“I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

I moved away from the bed and let Ramirez move up to take his turn.

A phone rang, and Edward pulled his cell phone from his back pocket. He opened the door and went into the hall to take the call.

Ramirez’s voice was not happy. “What do you mean you can’t tell me how to get there?” He had his notebook open, his pen poised, and nothing written down.

I started to walk back towards the bed.

Nicky held his hands up as if to ward me off. “I swear to you that I can take you to it, but I can’t give you directions and be sure you’ll find it. I don’t want to send you out into