They’d called a grand jury. It was going to take weeks. In the meantime, Mike was on paid suspension. It was a situation absolutely none of us liked.

I furnished my apartment, made sure the door and windows locked properly, and bought some cookbooks – I knew I wasn’t the best, unless it was making brownies from mix.

A knock on the door surprised me while I was making a shopping list.

I looked through the peephole, then opened it. “Hey, dad.”

Loki made a face. “Dad.”

“Father. Whatever. Come in.”

He did and glanced around. “All those models you hang out with have improved your taste,” he quipped.

Not that I had much to have taste for. Given I knew I wasn’t staying here all that long and would have to move anything I bought, I’d kept it simple. “I don’t have any brownies yet.”

“I’d give you a traditional gift, but…”

“But it’s alcohol, isn’t it.” I flickered him a grin. “I’d say nobody’d have to know, but let’s not risk it.”

“…so I brought this instead.” he offered me a large bar of chocolate.

With salty bacon bits in it. I laughed and took it. “That works.” Given it was spring, I moved to put the chocolate in the fridge so it wouldn’t melt.

“I also am working on getting Mike off. But it might take some work even for me.”

“Tyz’vel stitched him up good, although I talked to the lawyer and got him some protection.”

“Good work. I’m really getting quite tired of him.”

“You are?”

“He was amusing to start with.”

“Some people say the same thing about you.” A bit of a low blow.

Loki laughed. “No, I’m just amusing to everyone but my current victim.”
Which was mostly true. Mostly. I pushed the entire thing with Baldur out of my mind.

“Tyz’vel might be amusing to people who aren’t his current victim too.” I let out a sigh. “Look…”

“People’s memories are notoriously faulty. Give them something more like what they think they saw.”

“They saw a cop kill a black kid. Another cop kill another black kid.”

“You might be surprised what could be done.”

I let it lie. He had centuries of experience on me, after all. And I trusted him. When he wasn’t pranking me personally.

Amusing, as he’d said, to everyone but his current victim.