"Sean ..."

He left Maggie by the statue, tearing across the street, drawing his police .38 special, which remained his weapon of choice.

The man was almost atop the shrieking girl. By now, another fellow, staggering-an unbroken whiskey bottle in his casual grasp-had followed the first one out.

"Cut her, cut her, cut the b.i.t.c.h!" yelled the second fellow. He was skinny, and had rotten teeth. "Cut her, Ray, come on, she called us both c.o.c.ksuckers, cut her up, let her see ... hey, Ray, come on, my man, you done got the power!"

Pa.s.sersby around them came to a halt, rooted to the ground with horror and fear as they watched the husky one called Ray as he quickened his pace, staring at the terror-stricken girl, laughing at her as he moved like a bird of prey ready to pounce upon a quivering mouse.

"Stop!" Sean commanded.

Old Ray ignored him.

"Mind your own business, eh, sucker?" the skinny fellow with the bad teeth yelled.

"She's my woman, been doing a lot of wrong. Ray here's gonna carve her up-just a few words of description on her face-and her cheatin' t.i.ts, maybe, too!"

Tears streaked down the girl's face. She had been pretty once; Sean noted she was now far too thin and frazzled. He noted the veins in her arms. Drugs. A lot of drugs. Drugs cost money. Maybe she belonged to old rotten-teeth with the skinny b.u.t.t over there-egging the big man on-but she was probably working the streets for the money to keep up her habit.

She stared at Sean, fear in her huge blue eyes. She didn't trust anyone. Poor little creature. She wasn't a mouse. Just a sad little street-rat.

"Come on. It's all right!" Sean said quietly to the girl.

She was so terrified, she still didn't seem to hear him.

Ray was closing the distance between them.

Sean caught her arm, drawing her slightly behind him. He stared at Ray, who returned his stare. Ray's eyes didn't look crazed, but his laughter continued to ring with chilling effect.

"Shoot me-you're going to shoot me? I'll kill you deader than a door nail, copper!"

the man cried.

"Copper, copper, he's a freakin' copper?" the skinny one cried.

"Shut up, Rutger!" Ray snapped. "Well, well, a copper!" he continued, his eyes on Sean.

"Chop, chop, chop up the cop, eh?"

"Another foot and I shoot you-a.s.shole!" Sean said with a polite smile. His gun was aimed dead on Ray's heart.

To Sean's amazement, Ray kept coming forward. Sean fired a warning shot.

"Halt! Stand still and drop that bottle!"

"Little man, little man, get out of my way!" the man bellowed, casting his head back.

"Tell him who you are, Ray, tell him what you told me- then cut up that c.u.n.t!" Rutger called to him.

Ray grinned.

Just like the devil.

"So good, Ray. Go on, tell me who you are," Sean encouraged.

"Don't you know me? I am G.o.d, I am Satan, I am invincible."

"Oh, yeah, well, I'm Lieutenant Canady. And what you are is dead if you don't do what I say!"

"Tough boy, tough boy, eh?" Ray said, and his voice was deep and husky, somehow getting beneath Sean's skin. "I want the girl, copper. Just get out of my way. I want the precious little dove, want to play ..." He made a strangely obscene gesture with his tongue.

"Drink her all up, all up." He made a licking motion. "Carve her ... like a little roast piglet!"

The girl remained behind Sean, clinging to his arm, shaking like a leaf blown in winter.

"It's all right," he said quietly to her.

"But-"

The man let out a roaring sound. "I want the girl!" He started forward.

"Get her, Ray!" Rutger cheered.

No more warning shots. Sean was tempted to go for the heart. He aimed for the leg.

His shot was true, striking the kneecap. The man should have fallen in almost unendurable pain. He jolted, but kept coming forward. Near, nearer.

"d.a.m.n you, last chance. Halt!" Sean shouted himself.

The streets came alive with the man's startling laughter again. No choice. Sean fired directly into the man's chest.

The fellow fell against him, clawing to reach the girl, who began to shriek again. Sean was amazed by the tremendous force with which the man grappled with him. They went crashing down to the sidewalk together. The man still held his broken beer bottle. Dark eyes malevolent, he tried to slash at Sean's neck. Sean rolled, dragging the man with him, at last pinioning the fellow to the ground.

The dark eyes looked up at him. Rolled so that the whites were all that eerily remained visible.

Ray's eyes closed.

Sean put his fingers to the man's throat. No pulse. He was cold. Cold as ice.

Listening to the sound of police sirens, Sean eased back, exhausted, amazed. Where the h.e.l.l had the fellow come up with such strength?

He staggered to his feet, faltering. Ray had taken a toll on him. He tried to shake it off, and somewhat succeeded. The girl stood behind him, sobbing softly, stuttering out words.

"Ray's gone, but Rutger's going to kill me now, oh, G.o.d, I don't stand a chance, I don't stand a chance. You'd think he couldn't hurt me 'cause he's so skinny and scrawny ... he's nearly choked me before!" she ended on a whimper.

Sean turned around and looked at her. She was so sad; such a young, pathetic wreck of humanity.

"You've got to get off the stuff," he told her quietly, "or else it will be a mercy for you if he strangles you."

Her eyes were huge and blue and filling with tears. "I want to ... he won't let me. Oh, G.o.d, he's already coming for me!"

She shrank back against Sean, clinging to his arm. He could see that Rutger stood about ten feet away, on the edge of the crowd. He was looking from Ray on the ground to the girl. Admittedly, he looked as if he was already planning her murder. For a moment, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. Instinctively, Sean stepped forward.

Rutger held still. Sean could see the tension knotting his neck, the veins bulging against his skinny throat. Then Rutger eased back, giving Sean a thumbs-up sign and a mocking smile.

By then, several uniformed men were running up around him. "The one on the ground isn't going to give you much more trouble-but haul that son-of-a-b.i.t.c.h over there down to the lock up!" Sean commanded, pointing at Rutger, who was now looking for a place to run.

"Arrest me for what, free speech?" Rutger taunted.

"Inciting a riot," Sean snapped. "h.e.l.l, I'll give you any additional paperwork you need- just read him his rights and arrest him!"

Luckily, the first uniforms on the scene were toughly muscled guys, two of whom were quickly on either side of Rutger. While a crew-cut, six-footer in his prime recited Rutger's rights, Rutger shouted out explicit instructions as to what Sean should be doing with himself. Sean ignored Rutger, glad to see that Heidi Branson, a capable young policewoman, had arrived on the scene and was taking the girl in hand.

Blood still dripped from the young woman's hand. Heidi was calmly asking her just how she'd been cut, and a.s.suring her that the medics would be arriving any second. The girl quietly insisted she was all right, then burst into tears.

Sean felt hands on his shoulders. He swirled around. Maggie. Sweet Jesus. Maggie.

Eyes dark and worried, flesh pale.

She was staring at the corpse. With a strange dread. Finally, her eyes touched his.

"Are you all right?" "I'm fine. I'll have to go to the office for a bit."

"I'll tag along."

"Thanks. You're a good kid."

She smiled, moistened her lips, looked at the corpse again.

"What about him?"

"He's dead."

"You're certain."

"Maggie, of course I'm certain."

"Where will they take him?"

He frowned. "To the morgue, of course."

"Oh." She hesitated. "Autopsy?"

"Naturally. He died an unnatural death."

"But everyone on the street saw-"

"Maggie, honey, you know that there's always an autopsy."

She nodded.

He tugged lightly on her arm, wanting to draw her away from the man he'd been forced to kill. But she resisted, looking at the girl now. "Is she going to be all right?"

"Heidi is great with battered women."

"Is she a junkie?"

"Yes."

"Give me a minute. Just a minute."

Maggie eluded his hold upon her arm, stepping past Heidi, touching the girl lightly on the cheek. The girl looked at her. "Don't be afraid," Maggie told her. "This is your chance, your real chance to break away."

The girl stared at her. Tears welled in her eyes again. "I can't help it. I'm scared to death!"

Maggie shook her head, smiling. "The cops won't let that sc.u.m near you now. It's your chance. Get clean. Get to another city if you have to. This is it. Don't be afraid, take your chance, run with it."

To Sean's amazement, the blonde offered Maggie a tenuous smile and inhaled on a ragged breath. "I'm going to try."

"You'll make it."

"I always wanted to believe that we had angels. You know, like guardian angels. Maybe mine will watch out for me now."

"Believe in yourself. That's more important."

"Are you a cop? Will I see you later?" the girl asked anxiously.

Maggie shook her head. "No, I'm not a cop, but I'm friends with some great cops. And I'm sure we'll see each other again."

She left the girl to Heidi then, joining Sean once again.

"We'll get my car," he told her. "Sorry, but I do have to do a report on this one."

"How long can you hold Rutger? All he did was egg on the other guy."

"I'm going to have to get the girl to file charges. I can hold him long enough to give her a break, at any rate."

Maggie nodded. She frowned, looking at a streak of blood on her finger. "Must have jabbed it on something," she murmured, staring at it. She shuddered suddenly, bringing her finger toward her lips.

"No!" he cried, grabbing her hand.

Startled, she stared at him.

"Honey, I don't think that's your blood. And," he added softly, "Blondie there is definitely a junkie. We're talking serious communicative diseases here."

"Oh ..."

"Come on."