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I stuffed the trash into the garbage sack I keep on the passenger-side floorboards and tried to think of what I wanted to do with the rest of my day I wasn’t due to see Dawna for hours yet I really didn’t feel up to looking at office space again, but I wasn’t ready to go home either Bruno was at work at the university and probably way too busy for me to stop by

So I locked the doors, cranked up the air conditioner and the stereo, and went for a drive along Oceanvieished I could have the top down, but that would have to wait until the sun set For now, it was enough to just drive Eventually, I even felt up to singing along with the stereo I’m not in the least bitattention, butme in until it was too late

My doors were locked, butspells in place, it’d been awhile since I renewed them Stupid and careless Not my usual style, but everyone makes mistakes I just had to hope this one didn’t cost me my life

I hit the button tointo nal The tow truck in front ofAll I needed was a tiny opening for the Miata to get through, but they weren’t givingmy psychic ability to reach out to Bruno--to anyone--for help Aiven hts rashell but hard as titaniuave ht tears to my eyes Water streamed, unheeded, down my cheeks as I tried to come up with some plan for escape

Oceanview is a beautiful stretch of road, but it is not an easy drive It twists and turns, and there are many areas where the drop-off is steep and rocky Lots of folks have died going off this road--I didn’t want to be one of the vehicles was bigger and more powerful than my little roadster They could’ve crushed h But they didn’t They were just very deliberately forcing me to stop on the shoulder

That was pretty damned scary, because I knew full well that there are worse things than dying--maybe not as permanent but definitely worse

I pulled onto the shoulder and stopped, putting the car in neutral but leaving the engine running I got un out and laid it in my lap, then set a couple of spell disks on the dashboard as backup

I was about to be attacked by three nal was still blocked But hey, ood camera So I snapped quick shots of the three of them and the license plates of their vehicles, then shoved the phone under my seat

Ready as I would ever be, I waited The tent to the passenger side of , braith attitude and prison tats One was black, the other white, but other than that they were interchangeable, both wearing jeans and battered band T-shirts that had seen better days The white guy held a classic Louisville Slugger in his left hand, its tip resting gently against the rough gravel of the road’s shoulder

The man on my side was cut from a different cloth He wore a hand-tailored suit that was obviously expensive The fit was as good as Isaac’s, but the spell asn’t--I could see a slight bulge where he wore his weapons He stopped about a yard fro overtly threatening

He was of average height and not particularly built, but that h You could see it in how he held himself, the thin veneer of polish over the hard reality of violence There were old scars on his face near those icy blue eyes, and his nose had been broken more than once But his reddish hair was perfectly styled and his face had been shaved as smooth as a baby’s botto ht But he siently onto the ground between us, then rose to his full height, and with one stomp of his well-shod foot, he broke the disk

A fine e of the head and bare shoulders of a uy in the suit He was clearly a relative--probably his father, and despite the fact that he wasn’t actually present, I would’ve sworn he was looking right at h the car

"Hello, Ms Graves" He didn’t give his name, which was no surprise, but otherwise he spoke quite civilly I could live with civil Maybe literally So I played along

"Hi What’s up?"

"I have a proble ail Andrews had done the other day