Ravens (35 page)

Romeo
had gone back home. Back to Piqua, Ohio. He found himself in Hollow Park just as dusk was falling, crouching behind a stout
walnut tree, hiding from Hawks. But one caught sight of him and shouted, and flushed him out to the open field. Then more
Hawks came swooping in from all sides. In a second they’d have him. He was about to be changed, but he wasn’t afraid. In truth,
this particular moment in Hollow Park, hovering between one thing and another — he thought this was about the best moment
of his life. He liked everything about it. He liked the new rules that Shaw had added to the game. He liked the red bandanas,
the summer evening, the surprising warmth; he liked even the poison-ivy itchiness around his ankles. He thought everything
was perfect except that the dark was coming down too fast.

Thanks to the folks at the Brunswick Police: Betty McGregor, Captain Larry Bruce. Particular gratitude to the wise and patient
Detective Roy Blackstock, Jr., who took me along on endless counterclockwise rounds of the city.

Thanks to Wanda and Larry, my poker instructors at the Magnolia Sports Palace. Thanks to Pat Vinton, Theresa Martin, Bob,
Om, Margot, Mimi. Courtney Dyche and Vanessa Cunningham.

Thanks to radiant Ashley, her mother Rhonda, her grandmother Mary.

Thanks to my line editor Inez Green, who taught me how to write.

Thanks to my co-author Molly Friedrich. To Lucy Carson and Sheri Holman. To Jamie Raab who is as beautiful as Ozma.