Adam took a step back when Heart offered a hand to his cameraman, and his foot crunched on something.
Adam knelt, a graceful movement, over in a moment.
When he stood up, he was holding the camera.
"I'm afraid this didn't survive the fall." The cameraman made a moaning sound as if someone had hit him.
He snatched the camera and tucked it against his belly as if that could somehow make it better.
Adam looked at the cameraman, then beyond him to the van, where Heart's people were frantically conferring.
He glanced at Ben.
When he had the other werewolf's attention, he motioned toward the van with his chin.
As simply as that, he let Ben know that he wanted him to go keep tabs on Heart's crew.
Adam didn't leave things to chance, and he wouldn't ignore possible hostiles on the other side of the parking lot.
"I am sorry for scaring you," Kelly told me, sincerely.
This time he was lying.
"And for upsetting the children." He wasn't worried about that either.
I wondered how many people actually believed that sincere act.
A pair of police cars, followed by Tony's truck, pulled into the parking lot.
"No sirens," said Adam.
"Probably Tony didn't tell them about the gun." Sam stepped around me, making me bump into the door.
I dropped one hand and wrapped it in the ruff of his neck--no way was I stupid enough to grab his collar.
My touch was a request, not an order .
.
.
but Sam had already stopped beside me.
He surveyed the approaching police from the top of the steps, a position that was higher than theirs.
Sam, Heart paid attention to.
He glanced longingly at Zee-- because the gun was out of sight--and took a step away from the werewolf.
"This is a misunderstanding," he said in a voice designed to carry to the approaching police.
"My fault." I saw the moment the first officer on the scene recognized him because his eyes rounded, and his voice was a little awed as he told the older patrolmen who followed him, "It's all right, Holbrook, Monty.
It's Kelly Heart, the bounty hunter from TV." Monty was probably Tony, whose last name was Montenegro.
That would make the older cop Holbrook.
"Green," said the older man quietly--I don't think any of us were supposed to hear him.