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“The Order would have to have a reason for removing him,” I thought out loud. “One can’t just pull a knight-protector out of his chapter. Is performance down?”

“No. Our ratio of completed petitions is at an all-time high.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“He has been direct in expressing his frustration with their noninvolvement in the claiming of Atlanta and the general situation with your father.”

Oh great. I could imagine the reports filed with Wolf Trap. Are you aware that an abomination named Kate Lennart has claimed the city of Atlanta? Why are you not doing anything about the claiming of Atlanta? Are you planning on doing something about this matter in the near future? Could we have a time frame in which this issue might be resolved? When something got under his skin, Nick was un-shut-up-able, and the Order at large desperately wanted to ignore my existence. They didn’t have the power to do anything about me. I was pretty sure they hoped I would just somehow go away, and here was Nick, shining a big searchlight on the problem they were pretending to not see.

“They don’t believe he possesses the diplomatic flexibility necessary for the post,” Maxine said.

“How do you know that?”

“I scanned their minds.”

Whoa. For Maxine, that was a massive breach of ethics.

“I had no choice,” Maxine said quietly. “I’ve given twenty-five years to the Order. I’ve felt an entire chapter die one by one. I can’t do this again.”

She sounded at the end of her rope. “Let me guess, they are going to remove him because he isn’t diplomatic enough to work with me?”

“Yes.” Anxiety vibrated in Maxine’s voice. “He was invited to a lunch. He went armed. Before he left, he had a particular mind-set. You must understand, this chapter is all he has.”

Oh, I understood perfectly. Nick would go down swinging. They didn’t summon him to Wolf Trap, because he wouldn’t go, and they didn’t want to do this within the chapter’s walls, in front of the other knights, where he was at his strongest.

“You must understand, when I said that the knights are devoted to him, I meant that they are deeply committed to his goals.”

If Nick went down, the chapter would revolt. They’d picked a hell of a time for this.

Conlan balanced on the edge of the truck.

If I didn’t handle this right now, the chapter would collapse on itself. Nick would likely die, and that was the last thing I wanted.

“Where is this lunch?”

“At the Amber Badger.”

It would take me twenty minutes. It would take him at least thirty to get there from the chapter. These knights from Wolf Trap really wanted to put some distance between him and his people.

“When did he leave?”

“About five minutes ago.”

“I’m on it. Keep everyone calm, please.”

I hung up and lunged forward just as Conlan jumped off the truck. He landed in my arms and giggled. My son, the daredevil. It’s good that I have a short reaction time.

I hugged him and smooched his forehead. “Let’s go get dressed. We’ve got to save Uncle Nick Stupidhead from himself.”

* * *

I WALKED INTO the Amber Badger carrying Conlan. He hadn’t wanted to put on clothes. I’d successfully wrestled him into a T-shirt and a pair of shorts, but it took me ten minutes longer than planned to get to the restaurant. Here’s hoping I wasn’t too late.

The hostess smiled at me. “Can I help you?”

“I’m looking for a party of the Order’s knights. Armed, scary, probably scowling.”

“This way.”

The inside of the Amber Badger resembled a medieval tavern, with stone walls, scrubbed wooden floors, pendants on the walls, and sturdy wooden tables. It was half-empty, and I had no trouble spotting Nick and three knights at a table near the far wall. Nick’s face had that detached cold look he got just before his sword came out of its sheath. The other three, two men, one dark-skinned in his forties, one white and slightly younger, and a Hispanic woman about my age, held themselves with the ease of seasoned fighters. Not relaxed but not tense either. A half-full platter of pretzels with cheese and beer sauce rested on the table. Oh good, they were still on appetizers. They wouldn’t fire him until the main course.

I marched straight to the table.

Nick raised his head and saw me. His eyes widened.

I came to a stop by the table. “Knight-protector.”

“Yes?”

The three other knights stared at me.

“Can I steal a moment of your time?”

Nick appeared to waver.

Say yes. Say yes, you moron. I am trying to demonstrate rapport here.

“Sure,” he said.

“Oh good. Let me grab a chair.” I handed Conlan to Nick.

He took the baby and held him very carefully. Perhaps he was worried Conlan would explode.

“Can this wait?” the female knight asked.

“No,” Nick told her.

“Baddaa!” Conlan told him.

Nick picked up a pretzel and offered it to my son. Conlan grabbed it and stuck it in his mouth. I pulled up a chair and sat down.

“What is it?” Nick asked.

“Am I interrupting something important?”

“Yes.”

“Good. If you returned my phone calls, I wouldn’t have to hunt you down all over the city. A bit of professionalism, Nick. That’s all I’m asking.”

He leaned forward. “Oh, professionalism.”

“Mm-hm.”

“I’m supposed to offer a professional response to ‘Call me, you stubborn dickhead.’”

“Nick! Earmuffs.”

Nick clamped his hands over Conlan’s ears. “Sorry.”

“You are a dickhead. You know I wouldn’t call unless it was urgent.” At least I knew he checked his messages.

Conlan squirmed.

“What is this about?” Nick growled.

“Someone cleared out Serenbe. They went through, shot all of the dogs with sniper precision, rounded up approximately two hundred people, boiled them to extract the bones, and dumped the remains by the old Walmart distribution center.”

The table suddenly went quiet. Nick dropped his hands from Conlan’s ears.

“When?”

“The disappearance was discovered last Sunday. I found out yesterday, when we found the mass grave.”

“Who’s on it?”

“Biohazard and Teddy Jo. One of his faithful died and is now in that sludge.”

“Is it Roland?”

I shook my head. “It didn’t feel like him.”

Conlan must’ve decided that Nick needed cheering up, because he took his soggy pretzel out of his mouth and tried to feed it to the knight-protector. Nick gently guided the pretzel away from his lips.

“It was done with skill and precision. No survivors. Almost no evidence.”

“You think there will be a repeat performance.”

“It’s a safe bet.”

“Okay,” he said. “Who’s got it at Biohazard?”

“Luther. I called it in.”

“Something of this magnitude, he’ll bring in the GBI. He’ll probably go to Garcia. She owes me a favor. I’ll call her, see if they’ll bring us in on it.”

“It would help.” I took Conlan from him. “Say bye to Uncle Stupidhead.”

Conlan waved his hand. “Bye-bye.”

“Bye-bye!” Nick waved back.

I got up to leave. “Thank you for letting me interrupt your important lunch. You’re not planning on taking off somewhere with your friends, are you?”

“No,” Nick said, his face made of stone.

“Good, because the city needs you, and you don’t have a costume, so sending bat signals with floodlights is right out.”