Excerpt: The White Lady's Way

"How long is this going to take?" I asked. "I mean, can I just wait, or--"

"I'm just here to make sure no one gets through," he said. "I don't know whether it's gonna be five minutes or five hours, so why don't you--"

I didn't hear the rest of what he said because about twenty yards behind the wall of flares, a giant animal of some kind raised its head and roared.

"Shit," said the cop.

"What kind of training exercise is that?" I said.

"Shut. Up," said the cop. So I did. But I'm pretty sure my mouth was open.

The walkie-talkie clipped to his jacket started jabbering, but it didn't sound like any walkie-talkie I'd ever heard. There was no static, and the voice on the other end was strangely clear. The cop took a few steps away but I could still hear the conversation.

"Law," the voice said. "We might need you in here if Bo can't get the net over it. Is the perimeter secure?"

"Negative," the cop--named Law, ironically--replied. "Got a civ here who won't blow, and she's seen the target."

"Well get rid of her and get ready for my mark," the voice said. "We don't have time for shenanigans."

"She's being stubborn," the cop whined. He actually whined. I couldn't believe it. His voice hardly even sounded the same.

"Christ, Law, grow a fucking pair or buy a bra already," his walkie-talkie replied. Then, as if in response to someone else, "Don't give me that feminist shit now, Bo, I'm too fucking tired to--" A sudden shout cut him off, and then there was silence. The cop ambled back over to my car and I tried to pretend I hadn't heard any of the exchange.