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Sarah wasn’t convinced "It’s gotta be more than that There’s no way she could just pretend she doesn’t know us and get aith it Soreed one hundred percent

The cabbie suddenly swore and slowed down, pulling over to the side of the road Then he slapped his steering wheel with both hands

"What’s going on?" Bryson asked

The cabbie turned to face them "Dah his roof "Flagged hnut chomper tryin’ to hit his quota"

A bad seed sprouted in Michael’s stoers, wanted to see their IDs? Calm down, he told himself They’d checked and rechecked their fake accounts They could fool soh his day

"Your face," Sarah whispered to hi to say

"Huh?"

"It’s been plastered all over the NewsBops What if the cop recognizes you?"

Before he could answer, the police hovercar descended in front of the in the air The silvery machine landed on the asphalt with a soft thuines Then it just sat there for several long, long rumbled from the front seat "Those ratfaces just like to make you sweat He’s probably in there sippin’ his coffee and talkin’ to a buddy on the Net Sorry son of a …"

Michael tuned the guy out That seed in his gut had blosso the pal his throat feel stuffed with cotton The waiting was going to drive him crazy

Finally, the door of the cop car popped open and swiveled upward on its hinges An armored man stepped out of the vehicle, his suit the standard bulky black of the police, the visor on his helmet pulled down to cover his face Michael understood why cops in this part of the city wanted to protect themselves, but it stillhiloves until he bled head to toe--the man looked more like a robotic monster than a human

The cop walked around to the driver’s side of the cab and rapped on theThe cabbie waited a beat before he rolled it down--probably just to prove that he could

"What’s the problem, Officer?" he asked, his tone neutral, like he’d done this a thousand tiot all my permits"

The visorring "I need you to sit there and keep your mouth shut, sir Think you can do that? Do you think you can do that for me? Sir?"

Michael could only see the back of the cabbie’s head, but thehis neck tensed and he didn’t respond At least, not vocally Just a short, stiff nod

"That’s better," the cop replied "Now I’ers to step out of the car And make it snappy"