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“No,” Duke said. “No, he’s supposed to be dead by now, and dead men don’t get to call fancy lawyers to gum up the works.” He was up in Newman’s face, trying to put the brim of his Smokey Bear hat into his face the way he had with Deputy Rico.
Newman stepped to the side so that Duke almost stumbled, as if he’d been using the hat brim as support. He walked farther into the room past the sheriff, and I followed in his wake. Leduc was so angry with Newman that he didn’t notice me. I got to see the rest of the room. Livingston was sitting in the client chair by Leduc’s desk, and Olaf was in the chair at the deputies’ shared desk. Kaitlin was leaning against the corner of the desk near Olaf. She had that friendly, relaxed look that some people get when they think their flirting is going well. Olaf was looking up at her. His expression must have been pleasant, or she wouldn’t have looked so pleased.
Newman stayed near the door, talking to the sheriff. Since Olaf and Kaitlin seemed safe enough, I stayed near Newman in case he needed backup.
“I’m sorry you’re upset, Duke, but it felt like the right thing to do.”
“Doing your damn job is the right thing to do, Win!”
“I was a cop before I joined the preternatural branch. I’m trying to still be a cop.”
“You never stopped being a cop, Win,” Duke said.
“I still have a badge, but that’s about the only thing that feels the same.”
“Boy, you think too much.”
Newman smiled, but not like he was happy with himself. “I know. My dad says I always have.”
“If you know something’s a weakness, then you need to work on fixing it,” Duke said.
“I don’t think it is a weakness. It’s just part of who I am.”
“A lawman that overthinks will hesitate when it’s time for action.”
“I’ve been in the field with Newman. He’s just fine when the shit hits the fan,” I said.
Olaf stood, leaving Kaitlin in midflirtation. “Newman does not hesitate in the middle of a hunt.”
“High praise from the two of you,” Livingston said.
“Praise where it’s earned,” I said.
“Many of the newer marshals think and weigh their morals more than is good for them on this job, but Newman will fight when it is time,” Olaf said.
Kaitlin said, “Aren’t we all supposed to use our moral judgment on the job?”
“On your job, perhaps, but on ours it is better not to have them.”
“Not to have what? You mean morals?”
“Yes,” Olaf said.
“But you can’t help having a conscience,” she said.
Olaf smiled at her and didn’t try to push it up into the black emptiness of his eyes. She looked at him for a second and then shivered. His smile widened, but his eyes stayed the same: black and empty like the eyes of a shark.
“You’re just playing with me, right?” Kaitlin asked.
“I do not know what you mean.”
“You’re pretending, right? Giving me the dead eyes like some kind of psycho.”
Olaf smiled at her, and this time it was one of his real smiles, not the one he’d been using to pretend to flirt with her. It was one of the smiles he’d given me over the years—the one that said not only was he thinking about you without your clothes, but what you’d look like after your skin came off, or maybe after he took a real bite out of you. That wasn’t his inner werelion talking. He’d thought shit like that long before he caught lycanthropy.
Kaitlin’s eyes widened, her breath coming faster. I could feel her fear like something touchable that I could have dragged out of the air around her. I stepped between them, breaking their eye contact and taking her out of the game, because now Olaf was playing with her.
“We’ll head back to the crime scene at the house. I need to check in with everyone,” Livingston said.
