He blinked then his face fell. He was cute and probably not accustomed to being shot down.

I felt sorry for him but I needed to flirt with a bartender like I needed a hole in the head. Firstly, Eddie and Hank were watching, they were friends of Vance’s and even though I was not with Vance, everyone including Vance thought I was. Secondly, I wasn’t into the bartender, I wasn’t into anyone including Vance (okay, that last part was a lie but I wasn’t adverse to lying to myself in extreme situations).

“A buck fifty,” the bartender cut into my Romantic Denial Reverie.

I dug in my purse, got out my wallet, gave him two dollars and he wandered away.

“Crash and burn,” Eddie muttered under his breath as I threw my wallet back in my purse.

“Sorry?” I asked even though I heard him.

Eddie moved away from the bar to stand beside me and Hank moved forward, both of them effectively fencing me in.

“Word of advice?” Eddie said, ignoring my earlier question.

I took a sip and glanced at him over the rim of my glass. Then I put the drink on the bar.

I did not want a word of advice from Eddie Chavez.

Instead, so as not to be rude, I said, “Sure.”

“Whatever Darius offers, take it, save face and get off the street.”

Hmm.

I was thinking these boys weren’t big fans of The Law.

I decided not to answer.

“You have a good reputation for the work you do. People respect you and have for a long time. Until this,” Hank said, standing in front of me. “It’s understandable. You work hard to keep these kids clean, when one of them goes down you want to do something. But Jules, you’re goin’ about it the wrong way.”

Okay, so even though Hank was being nice, I figured it was time to be rude.

“Thanks for the advice but you don’t know what the f**k you’re talking about,” I said to Hank.

“We’re both Vice,” Eddie told me.

“I know what you are,” I replied.

“That means we do know what we’re talkin’ about,” Hank said.

“I know what Vice is,” I turned back to Hank.

“It’s about the kids,” Eddie murmured to Hank.

“Yeah,” I said to Eddie, my voice was low and serious and not to be mistaken, “it’s about the kids.”

Eddie just looked at me, unaffected by my-word-is-law tone.

“Maybe you should know Lee’s on his own with this one. Darius wants you off the streets and so do I,” Eddie said. “I don’t agree with Lee and if I see you on the streets, f**kin’ around where you shouldn’t be, I’ll take you down.”

The way he said it made me think this wasn’t an idle threat. Now I had the dealers and the cops actively against me. This wasn’t surprising but it was annoying.

I didn’t respond.

“You get caught, taken in, it could mean you lose your job,” Hank told me.

“I’ll take my chances,” I returned.

“We bring you down, we’ll go after Zip, Heavy and Frank next. They should know better than encourage you to put your ass out there,” Hank went on.

Damn, Vance had been talking.

Now I was beginning to get mad. “Zip, Heavy and Frank don’t want me out there. They can’t control me any more than Crowe can. They’re just giving me the knowledge to keep me from getting hurt.”

“They don’t have that much knowledge,” Hank returned, his voice and eyes hard.

Before I could reply, Eddie leaned in. “Something else, Law. You get Jet involved in any of this shit, she, or any of them, gets caught up or put in danger –”

“Back off, Chavez,” my patience was waning, “they came to me. I’m not recruiting. This is a one woman deal.”

“This shit spreads,” Eddie warned.

“I’d sooner gnaw off my own goddamned arm than see Jet or Indy or Roxie or any of them, get hurt,” I told the boys.

And to my surprise, I meant it and the looks on their faces told me they believed me.

Finally.

“They’re planning a birthday party not a vigilante drug war,” I continued.

This was met with silence.

“Though, Tex did offer me tear gas and grenades,” I shared.

“Jesus Christ,” Hank muttered under his breath.

“Don’t take him up on it,” Eddie said straight out.

I stared. “I thought he was joking,” I murmured.

“Fuck.” It was Eddie’s turn to mutter under his breath.

Before anyone could say anything else, Indy walked up to us, burrowing in between Eddie and Hank.

“Hey guys.” She smiled then she looked between the three of us, felt the tension and her smile faded. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” I said immediately. “So, is it cashews or macadamia nuts?”

She looked at me. “Cashews. It’s always cashews and you aren’t fooling anyone.” Her eyes flashed between Eddie and Hank. “You two, back off.”

“Stay out of it Indy,” Eddie said.

“You stay out of it. This is Jules’s deal,” Indy returned.

“Indy –” Hank started but Indy cut him off.

“Excuse me but wasn’t it you that went ballistic when Roxie was kidnapped? Lee nearly had to lock you into the safe room.”

Hank’s eyes remained hard but he didn’t respond.

Indy’s gaze cut to Eddie. “As for you, you think you wouldn’t go maverick if something happened to Hector?” Indy asked Eddie.

“Hector?” I cut in.

“Eddie’s younger brother,” Indy told me.

“I’m a cop,” Eddie reminded Indy.

“You’re a cop who already doesn’t follow the rules. You’d lose your f**king mind if something happened to Hector and it could and we both know it.”

“Hector’s my brother, this kid Jules is avenging –” Eddie started.

“He meant something to her,” Indy interrupted him.

“God dammit, Indy –” Eddie carried on and Indy leaned in.

“He meant something to her,” she said quietly. “You know how it is. You already lost Darius, Eddie, and what happened to him turned you into a cop. You know.”

I watched, fascinated, as Indy and Eddie squared off.

Neither spoke. Neither moved.

I was beginning to think Indy was a bit of a head-crackin’ mamma jamma too.

I realized this could go on all night. “Oh, for goodness sakes,” I cut in, “it’s cool, we’re cool, the world is cool. Indy, do you want a drink?”