An Encounter in Atlanta | Page 7

her that if her ears could be pierced, she
wouldn't have to wear those damned clip-ons that never seemed to stay clipped on.
Stockings? No, she decided. Bare legs also make a kind of statement and they usually got
more looks. After adding a touch of lip gloss, she scooped up her purse and key card and
headed for the elevators.



Chapter Three
The extra cops from the roof arrived. Avery sent two down to the sidewalk and had the
other two continue gathering info from the people in the cafe.
One started to approach Cade, so he opened his field jacket to show the Glock in its
holster. The cop conferred with Avery for a moment, then headed toward someone else as
Cade got a coffee refill and returned to his table.
The image of the leggy blonde hopping over the taxi and launching into the sky with it
replayed in Cade's mind.
Everything he had ever read about flying blondes had appeared either in comic books or
the same tabloids that reported things like Elvis and Jesus sightings, and not one of those
rags had ever printed a picture of a flying blonde that hadn't been fairly obviously altered.

In one case the original picture had been from a fashion shoot in the late fifties and the
model -- now in her eighties -- had sued and won a few thousand bucks in court.
Cade decided that he now found the subject of flying blondes considerably more
interesting and resolved to look into the matter as time permitted.
Lt. Bain arrived, checked in with Avery, and headed for Cade's table. Cade stood up as
she approached and waved at Manuel as he asked Bain how she liked her coffee.
Smoothing her skirt and hitching the back of her jacket clear as she sat down, she
responded instantly, "Two sugars, please. How do you feel about what happened, Mr.
Cade? About... about what you had to do, I mean?"
'About what he'd had to do'? Couldn't she say the words 'about shooting people'?
"Next question, please," said Cade. "Manuel, put two sugars in hers, okay?" Manuel
nodded.
"Mr. Cade," said Bain, "I have no doubt the shooting was justified, if that's your concern.
I'm asking because..."
Interrupting her, Cade said, "I'm just an inter-agency loaner. You don't have to be
concerned about my feelings."
Her gaze narrowed as she set her purse on the table and firmly said, "But it happened
while you were on loan tous , Mr. Cade, so if you should feel a need for counseling, we
have several good people available."
Counseling, huh? That would be a first. Cade kept a straight face to avoid offending her
as he glanced up to see how far along Manuel was with her coffee.
Getting up to save Manuel a trip, Cade served Bain her coffee and said, "Like I said,
milady; next question."
Bain said nothing until Cade had handed her the coffee and sat back down. She sipped for
a moment, then set the coffee down on the table and regarded Cade quietly for a time.
"Okay, then," she said, "The next question is, how many rounds did you fire?"
"Four. Avery fired twice."
"You're sure about that?"
"I'm sure. I hit him twice up here and twice on the sidewalk when he aimed up at us.
Avery fired at him on the sidewalk."
She nodded and said, "If any rounds went astray, we'll have to account for them. May I
see your weapon?"

Cade unholstered his Glock, dropped the clip and handed it to her, then turned the gun
slightly to the left and jacked the slide to eject the round in the chamber, which he caught
with his left hand and set upright on the table.
Leaving the Glock's slide open, he set the gun on the table, as well, and picked up his
coffee. Bain had watched the casual emptying of the gun with one eyebrow raised, then
she gave Cade a wry look.
"I'll bet that trick impresses the hell out of some women."
Shrugging, Cade said, "The only women who've ever seen me do that could probably do
it, too, LT, so I kind of doubt it. Are you through counting my bullets?"
Nodding, she handed him the magazine and asked, "Did you have one in the chamber as
well as a full magazine?"
As he thumbed the loose round into the top of the magazine, Cade said, "Yup. One up the
spout."
He put the magazine back in the Glock and thumbed the slide release to close it, then put
the gun back in its holster.
Bain said, "Thank you," and sipped her coffee again before sighingly saying, "I'm sorry,
Mr. Cade, but you and your people were dropped