Page 3

“You’re a bunch of spoiled goons,” Maddy says.

One of the men fakes a combination of sincerity and seduction, saying, “Oh, maybe if that grumpy little girl joined our table she might have a little fun. How about it, babe?”

I have a front-row seat to this clown show, and I’ve just about had enough.

Only Margo notices the glint in my eyes, and a smile pulls at the side of her mouth.

Then we hear Finance Guy One gesture to Finance Guy Two and say, “Hey, Andrew, pass some of that Strip House special steak sauce this way, bro.”

Andrew does what he’s asked to do. But not exactly. He turns the pitcher of hot brown sauce over the head of Finance Guy One.

“What the f…?” The man jumps to his feet, brushing sauce off his clearly expensive suit coat. “That’s not funny, dude.”

Maybe not to him, but Margo and I laugh hard. Jessica and Maddy turn to see what’s happening.

Finance Guy Three is on his cell phone. He gestures to his pals and says, “Keep it down, guys. I’m on an important…” But he’s not being important for long. His super-duper, newer-than-new cell phone bursts into flames, and Number Three has no choice but to drop the flaming phone into his drink special: a ninety-dollar-a-glass tumbler of Macallan Scotch. The smell of melting plastic mixed with high-end liquor fills the room as other patrons leap to their feet.

But their gaze isn’t being drawn to the action inside the restaurant; they’re all looking at the sidewalk outside, where three teenagers are arguing.

I can sense that the sidewalk confrontation is about to become dangerous, very dangerous. Sure enough, one of the teens pulls out a switchblade and plunges it into the throat of another. The young victim falls to his knees, bleeding, hands clutching at the blade.

I’m on my feet and through the door, jumping over the body oozing blood onto the sidewalk. Meanwhile the two perps are running like crazy down Sixth Avenue.

CHAPTER 4

TWO OTHER MEN—older, dressed in jeans and black windbreakers—appear next to me on the scene.

“Get help fast,” I yell at them, motioning toward the bleeding body on the sidewalk. One guy presses a button on his handheld. The other turns to me, extending a hand.

“I’m Daniel Goyette, NYPD Narc and Drug Investigation. This is my partner, Ron. We were hoping to catch these young dealers in the act, but it looks like their little exchange went wrong somehow.”

“Great work you guys are doing!” I say angrily. “Mind if I step in and actually do something?”

I use my powers to subdue the escaping perps. I grab one and am about to get a stranglehold on the other, the one with the knife, when I hear a woman’s voice. Loud. Clear. It’s Maddy.

“I got him,” she yells as she forces the killer to the ground. I watch her twist the killer’s arms behind his back. The guy is struggling. He’s strong. Maddy is working hard.

“I can take over,” I say, jogging to join Maddy while maintaining a mental hold on the dealer I’ve already subdued, planning to put a heavy mental foot on her catch.

But suddenly the guy breaks free.

“I’ll get him,” I yell, but Maddy doesn’t hear me or she doesn’twantto hear me. She’s determined to use her developing mind-control powers to smash the killer against a double-parked car on Fifth Avenue and 12th Street.

But she makes a terrible miscalculation. Instead of smashing the runner against the car, she smashes the vehicle against two nearby parked cars. The impact is so great that all three cars collapse into one another like an accordion. Even worse, an innocent young woman who’d been crossing the street is now caught between the cars.

I release the perps I’m holding, then kneel down to help the innocent bystander. But it’s a feat even the Shadow can’t execute. The woman is dead, a mass of blood and skin and bones.

Maddy is horrified, hands covering her face. I’m angry and sad; angry that Maddy took such a huge leap before she was ready, and sad for this young woman whose life was just beginning.

“I was hoping that I could help, Lamont,” Maddy says. She’s in tears. “I wanted you to see that I was learning.”

“Damnit, Maddy. You’re ready to work with me when Dache and I say you’re ready. That’s clearly not now.” I know that Maddy is heartbroken, but an innocent person is dead, and a terrible killer escaped. Crime and death and horror and sorrow. They’re everything the Shadow fights against.

CHAPTER 5

BACK AT HOME we try to relax, but it’s impossible. After the tragedy of Jericho’s destruction, the wild, unusual graduation speech, and the terrible catastrophe of the drug bust gone wrong, it feels as if nothing will ever be the same. Peace and comfort will never show up.

Maddy and Jessica go to their bedrooms. Margo is brewing tea.