The Crossover by Larry Kollar

interested in their reaction.” He and Lodrán crouched behind a car.
    Freddy nodded and turned. “Sam! BJ! Terry! Hey, guys!” He gave them a big grin and a wild wave.
    The four men stopped and turned toward Freddy, looking uncertain. Several police beyond turned as well. Freddy walked toward them.
    “Hey, what are you guys doing here?” he asked. “Me, I got an excuse. Uncle Johnny don’t pay near enough, and one of the vendors needed some help—”
    “Who is this?” Hunter asked his companions.
    “He works at the bar we went to,” said BJ. “You saw him there. He ain’t nothin’ to worry about.”
    Chelinn’s voice came to Freddy, although he could not see him: If I were you, I would keep a car, perhaps two, between them and yourself. I sense some hostile intent .
    Freddy slipped a hand behind his back long enough to display a thumbs-up. “I saw you guys and just thought I’d say hey,” he said. “I gotta pack this crap up, some assclowns started a fire in the basement and phoned in a bomb threat, so they ran us all out.”
    “Would you like some help?” Hunter asked him, then started walking toward Freddy without waiting for an answer. “I don’t guess you want to be anywhere near here if there’s a bomb threat.”
    Freddy waved and turned, hoping it looked natural. “Nah, I only have two more boxes to load. Besides, we’re all hopin’ it’s a hoax, and we’ll be able to get back to it in a couple hours.”
    “No problem at all.” The four followed Freddy, who saw the pistol in Hunter’s hand. “BJ can help you finish up, then we’re going to take a little walk.”
    Freddy felt the adrenaline rush at the sight of the gun, but remembered one of Lodrán’s late-night lessons: You cannot outwit an adversary if you panic . “Sure,” he fought down the shake in his voice. “But just to let you know, there’s two of our security goons around here. I’ve seen ‘em in action. If something happens to me, they’ll open up a fifty-five gallon drum of whoop-ass on you.”
    “Sure, kid,” said Hunter.
    “Hey, Hunter,” said Sam. “We don’t need to drag him into this.”
    “Just shut up and get moving. Those cops are gonna be on us if we don’t leave now.” Hunter glared at Freddy. “If anyone comes around, you wave that badge at ‘em if you know what’s good for you. Let’s go. We’re parked at one of the offices down there.”
    • • •
    “What’s that?” Terry Lewis asked, pointing at something sticking out of the sidewalk ahead.
    “Looks like some kind of knife,” said BJ, jogging ahead. He pulled a bronze dagger out of the crack between two slabs. “Wow. Hell of a nice pig-sticker. Not too smart, leavin’ it here.” He ran his thumb over the edge, then jerked it back. “Damn, that’s sharp !” He ran the blade over the back of his beefy arm. “You can shave with this.”
    Freddy smiled. “That’s—it belongs to one of the security guys. He’s just letting us know he’s waiting for us, somewhere up ahead.”
    “Then he’s stupid,” said Hunter. “Now we’ll be ready for him.”
    “You haven’t seen these guys work. I know you won’t believe me, and you won’t even when you’re dying in whatever way they’ve got planned for you.”
    “Shut up, or you’ll be the first one dead.” Hunter jabbed the pistol at Freddy, then looked at his companions. “What are you looking at? He’s bluffing. Keep moving.”

    Lodrán, a shadow among shadows, watched as the thug marveled at his knife. If I had that crossbow , he thought, I could turn their Hunter into prey. The others would likely run . But no matter; Chelinn was about to make things uncomfortable for them. The two of them could carry out Freddy’s threat, but Chelinn’s way was the bloodless rout or surrender. Lodrán long knew how Chelinn preferred to minimize bloodshed.
    Chelinn was magically cloaked, but the enemy was looking everywhere but where he was. Ground wasps—or what Chuck and