Strange Brew by Charlaine Harris, Patricia Briggs, Jim Butcher, Karen Chance, P. N. Elrod, Rachel Caine, Faith Hunter, Caitlin Kittredge, Jenna Maclane, Jennifer van Dyck, Christian Rummel, Gayle Hendrix, Dina Pearlman, Marc Vietor, Therese Plummer, Karen Chapman Page A

arm, tugged him a little one way, a little the other, and using his own arm as a fulcrum, sent him flipping forward and down hard onto the floor. He landed hard enough to make the floorboards shake, and Murphy promptly shifted her grip, twisting one hand into a painful angle, holding his arm out straight, using her leg to pin it into position.
    “That would be assault,” Murphy said in a sweet voice. “And on a police officer in the course of an investigation, no less.”
    “Bitch,” Caine said. “I’m gonna break your—”
    We didn’t get to find out what he was going to break, because Murphy shifted her body weight maybe a couple of inches, and he screamed instead.
    “Whadda you want?” Caine demanded. “Lemme go! I didn’t do nothin’!”
    “Sure you did,” I said cheerfully. “You assaulted Sergeant Murphy, here. I saw it with my own eyes.”
    “You’re a two-time loser, Caine,” Murphy said. “This will make it number three. By the time you get out, the first thing you’ll need to buy will be a new set of teeth.”
    Caine said a lot of impolite words.
    “Wow,” I said, coming to stand over him. “That sucks. If only there was some way he could be of help to the community. You know, prove how he isn’t a waste of space some other person could be using.”
    “Screw you,” Caine said. “I ain’t helping you with nothing.”
    Murphy leaned into his arm a little again to shut him up. “What happened to the beer at McAnnally’s?” she asked in a polite tone.
    Caine said even more impolite words.
    “I’m pretty sure that wasn’t it,” Murphy said. “I’m pretty sure you can do better.”
    “Bite me, cop bitch,” Caine muttered.
    “Sergeant Bitch,” Murphy said. “Have it your way, bone-head. Bet you’ve got all kinds of fans back at Stateville.” But she was frowning when she said it. Thugs like Caine rolled over when they were facing hard time. They didn’t risk losing the rest of their adult lives out of simple contrariness—unless they were terrified of the alternative.
    Someone or, dare I say it, something had Caine scared.
    Well. That table could seat more than one player.
    The thug had a little blood coming from the corner of his mouth. He must have bitten his tongue when Murphy hit him.
    I pulled a white handkerchief out of my pocket, and in a single swooping motion, stooped down and smeared some blood from Caine’s mouth onto it.
    “What the hell,” he said, or something close to it. “What are you doing?”
    “Don’t worry about it, Caine,” I told him. “It isn’t going to be a long-term problem for you.”
    I took the cloth and walked a few feet away. Then I hunkered down and used a piece of chalk from another pocket to draw a circle around me on the floor.
    Caine struggled feebly against Murphy, but she put him down again. “Sit still,” she snapped. “I’ll pull your shoulder right out of its socket.”
    “Feel free,” I told Murphy. “He isn’t going to be around long enough to worry about it.” I squinted up at Caine and said, “Beefy, little bit of a gut. Bet you eat a lot of greasy food, huh, Caine?”
    “Wh-what?” he said. “What are you doing?”
    “Heart attack should look pretty natural,” I said. “Murph, get ready to back off once he starts thrashing.” I closed the circle and let it sparkle a little as I did. It was a waste of energy—special effects like that almost always are—but it made an impression on Caine.
    “Jesus Christ!” Caine said. “Wait!”
    “Can’t wait,” I told him. “Gotta make this go before the blood dries out. Quit being such a baby, Caine. She gave you a chance.” I raised my hand over the fresh blood on the cloth. “Let’s see now—”
    “I can’t talk!” Caine yelped. “If I talk, she’ll know!”
    Murphy gave his arm a little twist. “Who?” she demanded.
    “I can’t! Jesus, I swear! Dresden, don’t, it isn’t my fault, they needed bloodstone and I had the only stuff in town that