ASH Ivy seemed to be dancing just for him tonight. There she was on stage bathed in the flashes, gyrating like a goddess in a ritual. She grinded the pole to the pulsing bass like a heart beat. Ash liked her taste in raw music–like tempered fire. “Here’s your drink, sir.” The cute Asian cocktail waitress dropped off his glass of red wine. Ash gave her a ten-dollar bill and made a mental note to assess their funds when he got back. His fistful of petty cash was getting dangerously light, but it was worth getting away from his problems. A pair of nearby college-age kids with polo shirts and…

RION Rion opened his eyes. Everything was bathed in orange sunset. He lay on a low green couch against the yellow wall. A scattering of small picture frames with photos and certificates hung above it. There was a desktop computer on a card table in the middle of the living room. No coffee table, no TV. He was in an apartment, but couldn’t recall getting here, so at first he thought he had lost his memory again. Then he saw Tuesday tip-tapping at the computer, a mug of coffee beside her. “Morning, sunshine,” she said. “Where am I? Is this your apartment?” Rion asked. Tuesday nodded. “You fell asleep like…

ASH The second day of the new White Knights went as well as the first. There was little they did wrong, because there was little to get wrong. In the morning Ash briefed his men on how to cover the second half of downtown. There was more complaining today. Jamal said his feet hurt. Squirrel said he was tired because he had bad dreams. It was clear no one wanted to repeat the dull and prolonged walking of yesterday. Ash wanted to chew them out for being so lazy, but he explained that some things weren’t going to change. If they were going to be the eyes and ears of…

DAY 6 RION “Captain?” Captain Gould, hands still on his hips, turned to Lt. Chalmers. “Yes?” “Sir, all units are in position. We’ve set up a four-block perimeter around the area, like you said. But, there are gaps–alleys, buildings cut off from our line of sight. We don’t have enough manpower for a perimeter that big.” “I know, Jim. That’s what I told the chief, too.” “If we know where the suspect is, why don’t we close in on him? Why are we spreading our men so thin?” “I don’t know. These aren’t my orders. They’re coming from the state, and it sounds like they’re getting them from the private…

RION “It’s a notepad.” “It’s a prescription pad.” “Oh, it is? I just picked it up because I thought, well, everyone could use something to write on. I thought it would be useful.” “Damn right, it’s useful. You could forge any prescription you wanted on it. This thing’s worth a fortune to a drug addict.” “I’m not a drug addict.” “Then where did you get this?” Rion bit his lip. “Well, I guess I can tell you. I went with Scooter last night to find some stuff to sell you.” “Sell me?” “Yeah, we were looking for things you could use for the pharmy. He said you’d pay us for…

ASH “Welcome to Poncho’s. How many today?” the hostess said. “Two,” Ash said. The hostess yanked two menus from the podium and glanced at Ivy’s outfit–a leather bodice showcasing her canyon cleavage–before she turned around. “Did you see that? Did you see the way she looked at me?” Ivy whispered. “Yeah, well, you dress that way, you’re going to get looks. It’s not like we’re at Beefy Queen.” “That doesn’t give her permission to give me a look. You should say something to her.” “What am I going to say? Stop looking at us? Avert your eyes, ye peasants?” “You should have said something, that’s all.” She crossed her arms…

RION Bit by bit, Rion identified each object and moved it to a better location. He couldn’t help smiling. The idea of cleaning up a mess, putting things in their proper place, appealed to him. He felt so good that, occasionally, when he found an orphaned pack of gelcaps, he used his power to find its corresponding box. Around noon, with a third of the work done, the doctor came to check on him. “Wow, this place has never looked so clean,” he said. “You’re discovering stuff I thought I’d lost.” Rion smiled. “I’m just happy to help out.” “Between you and me, I’ve never had anyone so industrious. I…

ASH Patrol started easily enough. Anfernee was no great conversationalist–all he talked about was football and stupid stuff he did when he was drunk. He also had a tendency to get distracted by shop windows, and by the end, Ash was sick of calling out his garbled name. In the afternoon, they congregated under a big office building. “Anything to report?” Ash asked. Squirrel and Jamal shook their heads. “That’s fine. It’s a good thing when we don’t need to do our job. I don’t want to bust anyone who doesn’t deserve busting. Switch up and continue. Take breaks when you want. Stay fresh. If you have trouble, don’t hesitate…

RION Rion awoke staring at the blue and white sky. His cheeks felt dry and leathery, probably from crying himself to sleep. He stood up, shook out his stiff joints and looked out over the rooftop’s edge. He had climbed up here after they dropped him off. Where else was he going to go? The roof of the warehouse was the only place he knew that could be safe. Last night had not ended well. Rion could not stop asking questions about the building, but Vian was weaving in and out of streets to elude the cops, and Scooter and Skyler were yelling frantically, giving unneeded advice and updates on…

DAY 5 ASH Ash woke before dawn had broke. His back screamed at him for sleeping in the desk chair all night. He dry-swallowed some of the painkiller he’d taken from Squirrel, and chased it with some caffeine tablets. He pushed himself off the desk to a stand, trying to remember why he felt so tired. Last night, he had let Anfernee, Jamal, and Squirrel go. “You trust them not to say anything?” Ivy had asked. “I wouldn’t have done what I did if I didn’t.” “You sure they’re not gonna say anything? I bet if there was money in it, they’d-“ “No one even knows he’s gone. No one…