Fortunately, there was a men’s clothing store a few blocks away. We enjoyed the weather and I keep upwind of my stinky partner. “How did you know she was watching the Reliable Reliquary?” I asked from a safe distance.

“You remember our discussion about motive, I presume? Well, I have a few working theories and a majority of them involve Farfalla being interested in the results of her handiwork. It feels like an anthill kicking type of strategy. It wasn’t quite a leap to think she would keep an eye on the place.”

“So you walked us into an ambush?”

“Oh relax, she’s a thief, not a killer. Ah, here we are.”

We walked into the Men’s Storeroom. Teddy grabbed the clerk by the arm and walked him toward the suit section. I chuckled to myself as the clerk pinched his nose and Teddy started making demands.

I wandered off and started browsing the racks. I picked out a few new waistcoats, a pair of cowboy boots, and a natty denim jacket with a sherpa collar. I liked it so much I got another in khaki. I thought they looked appropriately “lawman-y” and I figured one would come in handy that evening. Might as well start spending that first paycheck before I cashed it. The American Way.

My thoughts turned to our midnight stakeout in the park. I wasn’t sure what we would uncover, but I had a strong sense that it was the correct course of action. I didn’t like having to work off the clock, we were making a perilous situation even more dangerous. But there didn’t seem to be an alternative, not if we wanted to get to the bottom of the Tattoo Mage case. And short of breaking into the not so abandoned warehouse, this was our only lead.

I rang up my purchases with the clerk and sat in one of the side chairs while Teddy ran the clerk ragged. I didn’t feel too bad for him, because I was sure he was going to have a big commission coming. Finally, Teddy checked out. He was wearing a new outfit that was very casual for him. It comprised a pair of riveted khaki slacks, a white dress shirt with its sleeves rolled up, and a dark beige open-front cardigan sweater with three-quarter length sleeves. The sweater was tightly fitted and only extended a few inches past his belt line. He completed the outfit with a dark red striped bow tie and leather loafers that probably cost a mortgage payment.

“Send the rest to this address via courier.” Teddy slid a card across the counter.

“What should I do with the outfit you came in with?” the clerk asked.

"Burn it," Teddy replied imperiously. He turned to me and raised his hands from his sides as if to say "what do you think?"

"Geez, Ted, you look like a million bucks. Color me impressed."

He straightened his bow tie. “Thank you, Cash, but I detest buying off the rack. Let’s go get something to eat, I’m famished. Spending money always makes me hungry”

We did sushi for lunch. Friends and co-workers had teased me in the past for enjoying it, but I reckoned there wasn’t anything more manly than taking a bite out of a fish right after you caught it. That was basically sashimi. If you weren't off carbs, then throw the fish on some rice and you had nigiri. The vegetables were only there for color. What's not to like?

We talked about both cases through lunch and on our way back to the office. We couldn’t come up with a solid motive for the burglary. We went through quite a few theories, but none of them really activated what I was now calling my “law sense”. We both agreed that the sushi was delicious and that we would hear from the Farfalla again. Probably soon.

Chief Northcutt was on us as soon as we got back to the office. “Did you catch her?”

I looked around at our office that was suspiciously absent one blond supermodel burglar and thought the answer was obvious. Teddy filled in the blanks. “No, but we saw her.” He filled Northcutt in on what happened. His retelling made having a dumpster dropped on you sound strangely heroic.

“Were you able to get the items she took?” the Chief asked when Teddy finished.

I again looked down at my empty hands, but Agent Ruthersford forged ahead undeterred. Chief Northcutt was the type that liked everything black and white. I supposed there was a certain kind of sense to that in a business where your best investigator was two hundred years old and the head of security at the local pawn shop was a Treasure Dragon. Eventually, he was satisfied that we were making progress and left us to it. We promised to give him an update as soon as we had one.

We spent the afternoon typing up the events of the morning and doing some admin work. I pulled out the Bowie knife that Ben had given me and held it up conspicuously to Teddy. “Did you have any more thoughts on this?” I asked. It had been bugging me.

Agent Ruthersford looked up at the knife and frowned. “I honestly had forgotten about it. Hmm.”

“A thought occurred to me while at the Reliable Reliquary. Would it square us if I gave him another relic?”

Teddy looked thoughtful. “Yes, that’s actually a good idea. But do you have any besides your father’s glasses? Those are worth far too much.”

I fingered the chain leading to the pocket on my waistcoat. I took the glasses out and put them on. “I don’t. But, I could be, as they say, ‘in the market’.”

Ted chuckled. “That’s a pricey market.”

I looked at the knife. It faintly glowed a dull blue color. The various runes on the haft were a much brighter blue, white and green. I ran it up against the grain of my arm hair. As the blade cut through each hair, there was a tiny flash. Was it the magic keeping the blade sharp? As much as I had wanted to get the knife back to the kid, now I kind of wanted to keep it and pay him back somehow. This thing was awesome.

I put the knife and glasses away and packed up for the night. Tina came by again and asked if I was free. I asked her for a rain check explaining that I had to work that night on a case. She seemed skeptical, but my partner actually backed me up in the social department for once and promised her that we had to work. She wished us luck and headed out herself.

Teddy and I agreed to meet in our personal vehicles at around 11 pm at a Walmart near the park. I headed home and stopped by Smoothie Dude again. I was still full from my sushi fest, but I knew I would need to put something in my stomach before tonight. I went for a long run to kill some time and then just paced around the house. I felt like I had before my college football games. Tom Petty had it right about which part was the hardest.

When nine-thirty finally rolled around I jumped in the shower. I put on a pair of dark jeans and a black long sleeve shirt. I was able to rig up one of the Rugers under my armpit. I filled it with the silver rounds as I figured we would be primarily going up against Weres of some sort. I was also able to sling the double-barrelled coach gun in a two-point mount. By positioning it opposite the Ruger, I could keep it pretty well concealed once I threw on my new jacket with the sherpa collar. I loaded up the shotgun ammo belt with shells and put a pair of the silver slug rounds into the shotgun. I fastened the ammo belt around my middle and put on an old pair of duty boots. They were black and well broken in. I wouldn’t have trouble running in them and they would protect my feet in the park.

I looked in my full-length mirror. With my jacket zipped up, I looked like a ranch hand on a Friday night. Unzipped, I looked ready to go to war. Perfect.

I fired up the Toyota and drove to meet Agent Ruthersford. He was already there, leaning up against an ice silver metallic Audi RS7. I let out a long whistle as I exited my reliable family stallion. “Nice ride, my man!”

Teddy smiled and gave me a wave. He was wearing the same outfit he had purchased this morning only with a dark-colored vest under the sweater and he was missing the bow tie. Thank God. I was sure he had his Rhino on him somewhere, but it was well-concealed. He took a sheaf of paper out of his sweater and spread it out over his hood. It was a map of Green Shoal Park. The park was on a natural island in the middle of the San Pecos river. Teddy indicated two separate parking lots where we would each park. He pointed to an area near the middle of the map for us to meet up on foot.

“Near the middle of the park is a small, tiered amphitheater. They would be concealed from normal view. If I was meeting there, that’s where I’d go.”

“And if they aren’t there?”

Teddy grinned. “It’s a small park and you’re a good detective. We’ll find them.”

“Are Faulkner and Santiago in the area?”

Teddy nodded. He pointed to a gas station about a quarter-mile from the northwest entrance to the park. “They are there. They will be ‘getting coffee’ there for the next couple of hours.” He folded up the map and walked to the hatchback of the RS7. He opened it, took out a satchel, and handed it to me. I opened the satchel. Inside was a futuristic-looking ray gun with a radar dish. There was also a set of headphones.

“Listening device?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

Teddy nodded. “And just so we are crystal clear, this is a listen and learn. We are not to take any action tonight, no matter what we hear.”

“You should never say never, Teddy.”

He pulled out an MP7 submachine gun with an Aimpoint optic, mounted light, and most impressively, a six-inch suppressor. “I never do.”

I clucked appreciatively. “Teddy, my man, you never disappoint. That thing is barely legal.”

“No, it’s all the way illegal. I borrowed it from the armory. It’s not available in .357, so I had my private armorer make me some 4.6x30 in silver.”

“I don’t even want to know how much that cost.”

“I’ve got one hundred and sixty rounds, so no, you really don’t.” He replaced the gun in his hatchback and closed it. “Questions?”

“Nope.”

“This is your last opportunity to back out Cash. What I am about to do is one hundred percent unsanctioned and I am a big enough man to admit that this is personal for me. You haven’t even finished your first week. There’s no shame in sitting this one out.”

I looked up at the moon. It was, of course, full. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and it was the first really chilly night in October. There was a sense of violent potential in the air. “Are you going into the Green Shoal park to conduct surveillance Agent Ruthersford?”

Teddy looked puzzled. “Yes.”

“Then, I am going with my partner. Let’s roll.”