Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17

JASON

" T hat's Poe's place?" I eyed the small, white, lace-curtained bungalow behind an actual picket fence, halfway down the block from where we stood. How odd that the man who'd given Alan nightmares had taken residence in a 1950s sitcom. I'd seen the house in street views and photos over the last three days, but the banality still seemed incongruous.

"Yep," Coal said from the bush beside me. "Had groceries delivered once. Hasn't been outside. No visitors. Most boring three days of my life." But his black eyes glittered. He'd volunteered for the surveillance.

"Everything's ready." Alan turned to Kevin, whose young eyes peered out of a middle-aged face— dull skin, dull hair, a little paunch, as dishwater-boring as magic could make him, in a postal service uniform. "Are you sure you're okay to do this?"

"I want to." Kevin nodded firmly. "I can."

"Right." I thumped him on the back in encouragement. "You're up. Make it good."

Kevin swung up into the postal delivery truck, checked his seatbelt, then drove off down the block. At the Poe lair, he pulled over, parked, and got out. Going round to the back, with a casual amble I admired, he lifted out a stack of three boxes and went up onto the porch of the small house. A lilac bush on one side screened a dark-suited figure scuttling along the foundation to flank him. Kevin rang the bell.

A voice came through the door. "Who is it?"

I felt Alan jolt at my side. "Poe," he muttered.

"Post office. Package delivery." Kevin managed a drawl that didn't sound much like him.

"Leave them on the porch."

"I got too many. I go to put 'em down, I'm gonna drop some."

"You incompetent fool." There was a pause, then the door opened and Captain Poe said, "Here, give me the top two?—"

"Freeze!" The FBI agent who'd been lurking behind the bush popped up, his gun aimed squarely at Poe's chest.

I couldn't see Poe's eyes, but he turned his head to one side as if poised for flight.

"Don't try it! Hands up!" The agent who'd waited around the opposite corner of the house sprinted forward and added her gun to the mix, aimed at Poe's head. A splintering crash from the back of the house marked two more agents coming in to block the escape route.

Poe froze.

Kevin took a careful step back off the porch slab, then another down the path, his attention fixed on Poe.

"Up, up, get 'em up!" the first agent snapped, moving around the bush to a better angle.

Poe slowly raised his hands. The female agent moved in, clipping handcuffs on one of Poe's wrists, then twisting his arms down to cuff the other one. The FBI guy began patting him down, coming up with a pistol from a holster at Poe's back, then another from down by his right ankle.

"Come on," Alan muttered to me. "I've got to see this." He took off running toward the scene and I dashed after him with Zahira, Erin, and Dale behind us. Our approach caught Poe's attention and I could tell the moment he recognized Alan. Poe's head jerked back and he glared.

"Hey, it's also me," Kevin said. Opening his arms, he let the boxes of Poe's belongings, which the FBI had collected from the post office for us, fall to the concrete path with a crash. He yanked off the spell bag around his neck that maintained his disguise. As Sorcerer Waidner's spell broke, Kevin's face reappeared above the uniform collar. "Surprise." His mouth was set in a flat line and he looked older than I'd ever seen him.

Poe sneered, his lip curling, but I was pretty sure that was worry in his eyes. "There's some kind of mistake," he said to the FBI guy. "I'm NSEP. The Homeland Security branch. My ID's in the house. These people are criminals."

"We know who you are," the woman said. "Captain Zethro Poe, you're under arrest for kidnapping, murder, arson, and a dozen other charges you will be informed of in great detail. You have the right to remain silent…" Poe said nothing as she recited the rest of the Miranda warning. "Do you understand these rights as I have explained them to you?"

"You have the wrong man. That one's the arsonist, a sorcerer, lit the fire with magic." He pointed his chin at Alan. "The kid with the boxes murdered his own father."

"You son of a bitch! You shot him in cold blood—" Kevin's lunge was jerked back short as Zahira grabbed his arm.

Dale, on his other side, said, "There's a ton of witnesses, Kev. Don't let him get to you. Keep away from him."

Poe laughed, then met Alan's glare. "You're making a big mistake. I have friends in very high places, and very low ones. All I have to do is tell them about you and suddenly there'll be a huge target on your back. You'll be looking over your shoulder every day. There's a black market in sorcerers, you know."

Alan turned to Waidner, who appeared at his shoulder, having left his car down the block to come join us. "Can we add making threats to his charges?"

Waidner looked Poe over. "What a shame, Captain. NSEP was supposed to be my sorcerers and your humans working together for the best of both worlds. Instead, here we are. Now that Underhill's dead, all the shit your branch of NSEP was doing lands on your head as second-in-command. And I fully intend to bury you in it."

"I have good lawyers. I'll be out by lunchtime." Poe turned to the FBI agents. "I want my lawyer."

"Eventually," Waidner said. "Maybe. I hear Underhill told the sorcerers he didn't need to follow the laws. Homeland Security, you know. We'll see how interested they are in following the rules with you. You and Underhill have embarrassed the hell out of them, and those boys hate being made to look stupid."

"I want my lawyer." Poe stared off into the middle distance.

The FBI man turned to Waidner. "We'll take him in, get processing started until Homeland comes for him."

"Watch him. The bastard's slippery. Strip search would be a smart move. Cavity search too." Waidner's eyes glittered.

I saw the muscles of Poe's jaw clench like he was grinding his teeth.

The agent nodded. "We'll do that. Come on, you." With the female agent behind, hand over her holster, he propelled Poe off the porch.

Kevin viciously kicked the boxes he'd dropped and moved out of the way. Alan went to flank him and I stuck close to Alan.

As Poe and his escort passed us, the bastard turned our way with a grimace that was perhaps meant to be a smile. Alan tapped two fingers rhythmically in his palm and smirked back. A flash of gold and green marked Sunny launching from the roof of the porch. With a shriek, he made a close pass over Poe's head and let go a stream of the foulest-smelling bird poop I'd ever encountered. The lumpy liquid landed in Poe's hair and slithered down his face. Sunny winged off, rising into the sky.

"Colorful pigeons they have around here," Alan noted blandly. "Crappy bowels, though."

"You did that!" Poe's composure broke and he lunged toward Alan. "You! I don't know how you got loose. I don't know how you stopped the magic-eater, how you charmed that bird. You ruined everything!" The agents grabbed both of his arms, kicked his feet out from under him, and wrestled him to his knees, forcing him to look up at Alan, bird shit running down his cheek and dripping off his chin.

"That's just gross," the male agent grumbled. "I gotta ride with that?"

"You want to know how I did it?" Alan asked Poe. "I did it all with a little help from my friends." He suddenly grinned, and despite everything, there was genuine humor in that look. With a glance at me, he broke into the classic Beatles tune. After a beat, Erin joined in, then Dale, and we all except Kevin finished off the chorus at Poe with enthusiasm, if not harmony.

Zahira snapped a cell phone picture of Poe in shit-face. "For your scrapbook, Erin."

Dale went to Kevin and rubbed his back comfortingly. Kevin leaned toward them, not away, and I filed that little tidbit under good reasons to help Kevin stay free . I was coming to like the kid despite his following-criminal-orders history, but I'd do a hell of a lot more if he mattered to Dale.

The female agent said, "Sadly, y'all better stay off America's Got Talent . If you need this perp for anything, we'll be booking him and scrubbing his head with bleach. Commander Waidner." She inclined her head to the sorcerer, then she and her fellow agent hauled Poe up again and propelled him down the walk to where a uniformed Missoula officer had pulled up with a squad car. I liked the way Poe stumbled over a crack in the sidewalk. I really liked Sunny's added décor. We stood quietly as Poe was ushered into the back of the car, buckled in, and the door slammed.

"No handles on the inside of a squad car," Alan muttered. "I hope he never gets out."

Waidner said, "I can promise you that. I don't know what facility he'll end up in, but I guarantee maximum security. Lieutenant Ivanova and her people are testifying he shot his superior officer in cold blood. He won't walk away from that."

"What about the rest of us?" Alan asked.

"We'll try to drop you out of the story as much as possible," Waidner told him. "Thornwood and Green were on my doorstep yesterday making a very persuasive case for burying as much of this story as we can and redacting your names. The Great Spell will help. The fact that the imprisoned sorcerers were all unregistered means they weren't using their powers publicly. Poe will plead guilty, whether he wants to or not. There will be no trial."

Alan wrinkled his nose. "I'm not crazy about overriding anyone's rights, even Poe's. How does that make us better than Underhill?"

I wanted to kiss him, right there. Every nine-year-old in Alan's class was lucky as hell to have him teaching them how to grow up good, and I was ten times as lucky to be marrying him.

"Don't worry," Waidner said. "Treason is a capital punishment charge. I have no doubt Poe will take a plea of life in prison to escape that option. All quite legal." He scanned our group. "It's been a pleasure meeting you all. I'm deeply sorry that my right-hand office missed what the left hand was doing."

Sunny glided in to land on Alan's shoulder. "You're not forgiven, and you have your work cut out to make up for it. Starting with all those captive sorcerers."

"What about Kevin?" Dale asked. "What happens to him?"

"I'm having him transferred to my division," Waidner said. "That gets him out of the human NSEP chain of command. Since he now knows things about magic that we do not share with hostile humans, that's essential. After that…" He turned to Kevin. "I'm not sure I can slot you into an existing post even at the lowest level."

"Can I quit?" Kevin scooped the broken spell bag up off the ground and held it out. "I appreciate you doing this disguise thing. I really needed to be part of bringing Poe down, but can I quit? Right now?"

"Let me put you on leave," Waidner said, slipping the bag into his pocket, "while the transfer goes through. And then, yes, you can resign."

"And he won't get arrested or anything?" Dale asked. "He won't go to jail for the first two sorcerers they killed?"

"Maybe I should," Kevin said. "I was there."

"No," Waidner told him. "We're making most of this disappear, and I can't see how it serves anyone to make you pay for what your father did."

"Okay." Kevin looked down at his boots. "Thanks."

"I'll be in touch." Waidner stepped back. "Thanks for letting me be part of taking that swine down. And Sunny, great touch with the bird shit."

Sunny bobbed his head. "Coal and I tossed a coin for it. But the fact that I know what to eat to reliably give myself the runs was the deciding factor."

Zahira snickered. Waidner gave us all a nod and strode off toward his car.

Dale reached out to Sunny. "Yeah, I can tell your intestinal system's all upset. Can I?" They hovered a finger over his back.

"Won't say no." Sunny hummed as Dale stroked his back, then his chest, a faint glow of their healing power visible. "Ah, yes, that feels better. Thanks."

"Wouldn't want you crapping all over the rental car," Dale murmured.

"I appreciate that," Zahira told him. "My insurance is too high already."

I thought about the shot-at SUV waiting out by the desert compound and winced. That one was on my insurance. We were headed there next to retrieve Zahira's truck and deal with that rental. I could only hope Underhill's men hadn't ripped the SUV apart looking for clues and that none of the bullets had actually hit it.

"And then home," Alan said. "I really want to go home. I have classes to teach tomorrow. This was the worst spring break I ever had. Well, except for getting engaged."

"Getting what?" Erin stared at him. "Wait. You and Jason? He finally asked you? When did that happen?"

Alan smirked. "I asked him. And I'm not sure when, because we were on some alien planet in another universe, where Earth time does not compute."

"Technically, you didn't ask me," I teased. "You told me we should get married to appall the ladies who run the PTA."

Erin shook her head sadly. "Alan, you didn't."

"I don't remember it quite like that," he said, a frown creasing his smooth forehead. "I'm pretty sure I was all romantic and stuff."

I relented, even if he was just teasing me back. "The proposal was perfect because it was us. Now you're my fiancé and I can brag on you everywhere. And someone who's not me can plan the wedding. Someone who's not my mother, either. What do you think about eloping?"

"Don't you dare," Erin said. "I want to go to the reception and say embarrassing things about Alan when he was young."

"He's still young," Sunny said, "but I'll tell you some good stories to include."

Alan nudged me. "Eloping is sounding better and better," he said out of the corner of his mouth.

Zahira said, "I'll make you some wedding rings. I don't usually do jewelry, but for you two, I'll make an exception."

Kevin frowned at us. "Won't your families be upset, I mean, that you're gay-marrying? Will they even come to a wedding?"

"It's not gay-marrying," Dale chided. "It's just marrying."

"Some won't be thrilled," I admitted. "I don't think we should count on a wedding present from Aunt May. But my brothers and sisters love Alan."

"Love might be a bit strong for Robert," Alan muttered.

"He likes you. My parents are coming around."

Alan nodded. "And my parents like Jason a lot. It helps that I have four older sibs already busy making grandchildren. They'll all be pleased I'm settling down."

Kevin scuffed his boot toe in the dirt. "Sometimes it's like I grew up in a whole different world."

"You're in our world now," Dale said. "We'll help you get used to it."

I hoped like hell those stars in their eyes would last. But either way, time was passing fast, and Chris was probably blowing up my phone again, asking when I'd be back to work. I'd put him off twice, but I was burning through my sick days. "Fascinating as the topic of our impending nuptials is, we need to get our asses in gear. One more stop back in the desert before we turn our heads to home. Unless anyone's changed their minds and wants to head straight to Shadecliff?" It wouldn't take all of us to deal with the vehicles out by the compound.

"My truck's there," Zahira said.

"And my car's at the motel." Erin stood next to her.

"I'm sticking with Erin," Dale said.

"And I'm sticking with Dale." Kevin squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, as if realizing how that sounded, but didn't retract the words.

"Since I'm sticking with you, I guess we're all going," Alan told me.

Sunny on his shoulder hunched a dramatic wing across his face. "And we poor familiars are dragged hither and yon by our sorcerers."

"Preach it," Coal said from the lilac bush.

I had no real objections. We'd all done amazing things together, and I wasn't ready to let go of anyone yet. "Right. Let's move out."

Roxi poked her head up from Erin's pocket. "Do we have time to stop for a few bugs first? I'm hungry."

"Drive-through," I said. "Hamburger, remember? We'll stop on our way out of town."

"Oh yes, that was good," Roxi agreed.

Inside the house, I heard a crash from the agents searching for evidence. I wished them well with their search, but our part in the process was done. I waved toward the SUV where we'd parked it down the block. "Onward, fellowship. Time to go rescue our trusty steeds and head back to the Shire."

Alan grinned and took my fingers in his, swinging our locked hands between us as we headed for the car.

Behind us, I heard Kevin ask Dale in a stage whisper, "They're weird, right? Most people aren't like that."

Dale replied, "There's all kinds of people in the world. Stick with us and you'll meet your share. Just you wait and see."

I pulled Alan to a stop long enough to kiss him, there on the open street. We'd paid enough for the privilege, and I wasn't hiding anymore. From Alan's shoulder, Sunny pecked the fingers I slipped into Alan's silky black hair. "I'm hungry too, and you promised takeout. Drive now, kiss your fiancé later."

That sounded like an excellent plan to me.