“No,” I said. “They’re not.”
Maddox rose slowly.
His face had changed completely.
The staff sergeant was gone.
In his place stood a man remembering every rumor he had ever heard about Iron Ten and realizing the rumors had been edited for comfort.
“What do you need?” he asked.
“Lights out,” I said.
The bartender blinked.
“What?”
I looked at him.
“Kill the lights. Now.”
He moved.
Good man.
The bar dropped into dim neon and storm-gray window light.
The officers outside shifted.
The one on the right reached for the door.
Locked.
The bartender had locked it without being told.
Better man.
The officer knocked harder.
“Open up! Jacksonville Police!”
I moved behind the wall beside the door.
“Mason,” I said.
He looked at me with a face I had not seen since he was nine and hiding under the kitchen table during one of Dad’s bad nights.
