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this Shareem had broken the law, that Patroller First Class Deanna Surrell hadn’t been wrong to arrest him. She needed to keep her job, or things could get very bad.
    Justin was up to something, that was certain. Sticking with him would eventually lead her to what.
    She looked Justin straight in his Shareem-blue eyes. “All right. Let’s go. Where to next?”
    Justin looked briefly surprised, as though he hadn’t expected her to agree. Then his smile flashed again. “You have guts, Deanna. I’ll give you that.”
    His tone was so admiring that Deanna found herself flushing with pleasure. She had no business flushing with pleasure, but she couldn’t help it. His smile was so warm, his gaze all for her.
    He held out his hand. “Come on then.”
    Deanna looked at his callused palm then back up at him in amazement. “I’m a patroller. I can’t go walking around holding hands with a Shareem.”
    “Aw, poor thing.” Justin wriggled his fingers then he lowered his hand to his side. “You’ll just have to keep up then.”
    He turned abruptly and strode away, his long legs taking him swiftly into the Pas City crowd.
    Deanna jogged after him. The man moved fast .
    Justin ducked into a shaded alley full of vendors selling all kinds of cloth and inexpensive jewelry. Silk and gauze of all shades spilled from boxes and carts, semiprecious stones and silver glimmered from others. The woman in Deanna wanted to slow down and browse. The patroller in her needed to keep her quarry in sight.
    Justin stopped in front of a vendor selling veils similar to those that highborn women wore—fabric that could merely frame the face or be pulled across eyes, nose, and mouth to keep out dust.
    Justin was lifting a crimson veil from the table when Deanna panted up to him. “Wait,” she said breathlessly.
    “This would look nice on you,” Justin said.
    Before Deanna could protest, he draped the silk over her head and crossed the ends over her chest.
    The silk brushed Deanna’s face, the fabric touching her like a whisper. The vendor motioned to a mirror propped up on his table, and she couldn’t resist taking a look.
    Deanna, used to the drab gray of her patroller’s uniform—which she wore with pride—was surprised at what she saw. The red of the veil brought color to her cheeks and made her eyes look darker. Her black hair, though drawn back tightly as usual, looked soft where it peeped out from under the veil. The silk complemented her hair rather than hid it, rendering it a brush of darkness beneath the cloth.
    “This is lovely.” The words came out before she could stop them.
    “How much?” Justin asked the vendor.
    “Twenty.”
    Deanne reluctantly slid off the veil and shook her head. “No, I can’t afford . . .”
    She faltered as Justin took a credit strip from his pocket and handed it to the vendor. The vendor zipped it through his handheld and made the transaction before Deanna could complete her sentence.
    “Justin, you can’t do that.”
    “I just did.” Justin took his credit strip back, plucked the veil from Deanna’s hands, and set it back over her head, laying the crossed ends over her shoulders.
    “I can’t accept this,” Deanna said. “You can’t bribe me.”
    The vendor glanced at Justin and Deanna then turned quickly around to talk to a customer on the other side of his booth. He didn’t want to know.
    “Not a bribe,” Justin said, perfectly serious. “A gift. What would I be bribing you for anyway? I already got out of jail.”
    “For me to look the other way at whatever else you’re up to.”
    Justin straightened the edge of the veil against Deanna’s cheek, his fingers warm on her skin. “I’m giving you the veil because it looks pretty on you.”
    It did look nice. Too nice. Deanna shook off his touch and pulled the fabric from her head again, but she balled the silk in her hand and didn’t return it to the vendor.
    Justin had already started to walk away. Deanna hastened after him,