Chapter 4

Lawson and I stood there staring at one another. He looked smug. Things were going his way. I honestly didn’t care if anything went his way or not. What I couldn’t afford – and neither could Jordan – was for me to be detained on some trumped-up charge.

I glanced at the others behind Lawson. One was a tall blond man with the build of a pro-wrestler. Another was a Hispanic man who seemed to be distracted by Linda. The third was a small pale-skinned man who was the only one in the group wearing a ball cap. The fourth was a woman with red hair cut in a bob and intense green eyes.

I realized that this must be the tactical team Dalton called for. I knew they were supposed to show up here, but I didn’t realize Lawson would be included. If he was leading the team, he wouldn’t settle for anything less than my hide regarding the Lockdown, if only to prove Dalton was incompetent. I remembered what he told her when they had me in custody: “Maybe we should keep him in custody until we find out who’s really behind this.”

I shook my head. I was not about to be someone’s scapegoat or political trophy. “I don’t have time for this,” I said and reached for the door.

As if they used Magic, each of them had drawn and aimed their handguns at me.

“Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!” Linda shouted and waved her hands. “No one has offered you any violence. This is not called for.”

I knew why they had reacted this way. I didn’t like it, but I understood. “They can’t use Magic, Linda,” I said softly.

She caught on quickly. “Shit!”

I didn’t want another fire fight in my apartment. First, neither Linda nor I was wearing a vest, and second, I needed their help to resolve the Lockdown, especially if Valory ran interference. I took several steps back.

Lawson stepped in first, aiming past Linda and mostly ignoring her, like furniture.

I didn’t believe Linda would give any of them a reason to shoot, after all, she had been shot before. I knew because it was the set of memories I got from her when we forged our bond. However, she wasn’t the problem.

I had wondered why the alarm I cast on my apartment hadn’t gone off when Neil showed up. I wasn’t sure whether I had cast it right, someone else had dispelled it, or Neil had something that nullified it. Now, I find out that I had cast it correctly and that it had never been dispelled.

The instant Lawson stepped past the threshold of my home, all of the lights went from off or on to strobe-like flashing, in unison no less making the effect that much more dramatic. At the same time, everything with speakers emitted a klaxon-like signal that would have put most rock concerts to shame.

Lawson, Linda, and the tac-team responded by shielding their eyes or covering their ears. Fortunately, no guns went off by accident. They were better trained than that.

I took advantage of the split-second distraction and used the TK spell Dalton taught me to make sure the safeties of all weapons were on. Beyond that, I didn’t move a muscle other than to breath.

The instant I was ready again, everything reset – the lights went back to their previous states and all claxons went silent.

Just as quickly, the team moved into the apartment and surrounded me.

Once he and I knew that I had nowhere to go, Lawson put away his weapon and pulled out his cuffs. He didn’t say anything. He simply walked up to me, spun me around and put them on me.

I didn’t fight him, not until after the cuffs were on. Then I kicked him in the shin and stepped away from him. “Are you happy now?” I asked him. “I’m as helpless as you are. I’m as USELESS as you are.”

The guy wearing the ball cap put away his weapon and grabbed one of my arms. He was an inch or two shorter than me, but he treated me like the most dangerous thing in the room. I supposed, in a way, I was.

I looked at him. He met my eyes. His were cold blue. There was no sign of emotion to him. It wouldn’t bother him any more to shoot me than haul me away.

“Wait a minute,” Linda said, walking closer and pointing at ball cap. “What are the charges?”

Lawson straightened up from nursing his leg. “This is none of your business, ma’am. So, I would suggest you let us do our job.”

“And I am doing mine,” she said, meeting his eyes with her own steely stare. “I’m his defense attorney, and you’ll answer my question or I’ll have you brought up on charges of false arrest.”

“It doesn’t work that way with Deputy Lawson,” I said. “He likes to ignore perfectly logical bits of evidence like alibis to get ahead politically.”

Lawson spun on me. “Why are you telling her any of this? You know the Law.”

I nodded and gave him a small grin. “I do, and she’s one of my Fonti.”

He groaned and then looked at her. “All I can tell you is that Mr. Connors is wanted for issues that have nothing to do with mundane laws.” He turned to the team and thumbed back at the door. “We’ve got him. Let’s go.”

“The hell with that!” I said as ball cap tried to half-lift me to make me follow Lawson. I twisted away from him and spun on the others. “Lawson has not told any of you that I wasn’t even in the state when the Lockdown was cast, has he?”

They jumped me anyway. If they were dealing with anyone else, I wouldn’t blame them, but I knew what the truth was and I had to break through Lawson’s web of half-truths to make the rest of them understand that they were making a mistake.