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picked up his gavel.
“Bail is set at fifteen thousand dollars. Cash.” He nodded to the
deputy Sheriff standing at one end of the bench. “Take him back to
the holding cell.”
    “ Your Honor,” a soft female voice said.
“I’ll be supplying Mr. Keller’s bail bond. But may I request that
the court change it to a secured bond rather than cash?”
    Keller looked around for the first time. She
was standing at the back of the courtroom, dressed in a floor
length black trench coat that contrasted starkly with her
white-blonde hair. Her jeans were black as well and she wore a
white blouse buttoned up to the neck, despite the outside heat. Her
hands were covered with black gloves. One hand rested on the silver
handle of a dark cherrywood cane.
    “ And you are...?” the judge
asked.
    She walked down the center aisle of the
courtroom with a pronounced limp, leaning on the cane for support.
“Angela Hager, your honor,” she said. “H & H Bail Bonds. I’m
Mister Keller’s employer.”
    The judge tapped his chin with his pencil.
“Hager, Hager...” he said thoughtfully. “You look familiar...”
    She arrived at the bar and looked up at the
judge. She brushed her hair from her eyes with her free hand. “My
husband was Jeffery Hager.”
    The judge dropped his pencil. “Yes, of
course,” he said. “I--I remember the case. You--ah--you seem to be
doing well.”
    “ Thank you,” she said. “Now, about the
bond. I can supply a cash bond, but it’s less paperwork if I don’t
have to transfer that much cash. The IRS, you know.” She smiled
slightly. “I assume H & H’s credit is still good with this
court?”
    The judge didn’t answer at first. He was
staring in fascination at the narrow band of puckered scar tissue
that peeked above the high collar of the blouse. She waited
patiently, still smiling. Finally the judge realized that he was
staring and his gaze broke away he began randomly shuffling papers
on the bench.
    “ Yes, yes,” he said. “Certainly.
Fifteen thousand,” he said to the clerk. “Secured by H &
H.”
    “ Thank you, your honor,” Angela said.
She approached the low desk to the side of the bench where the
court clerk was organizing the forms she would have to sign. She
didn’t look at Keller until she finished signing. Then she stood up
and smiled at him. “I’ve got to get back,” she said. “There’s no
one in the office. I had to lock up to come down here and get you.
Will you be okay?”
    “ Yeah,” Keller said. “I’ll pick up my
car from impound. I’ve got some more leads to run down. I’ll keep
in touch.”
    She patted his shoulder. “Back to work,
cowboy,” she said, then walked out.
    The judge picked up his gavel, prepared to
adjourn court “Your Honor,” Keller’s lawyer spoke up. “There is
still the matter of Mr. Keller’s vehicle and ah, its contents,
which were impounded.”
    The judge seemed to have recovered his
composure. “He can have the vehicle back,” he said. ”Not the
weapons or the restraints.”
    The lawyer tried again. “Those are the tools
Mister Keller needs to conduct his business, if your honor--”
    “ Well, that’s the problem, isn’t it?”
the judge snapped. He stood up. “Adjourn court, Mr. Bailiff,” he
ordered.
    “ This court stands adjourned,” the
bailiff called out. “God save the State and this honorable
court.”
     
    “ Mister Keller,” a voice
said.
    Keller turned. Officer Marie Jones was
sitting in a red Honda Accord in a parking space in front of the
courthouse. The driver’s side window was down. Her uniform blouse
had been replaced by a white T-shirt with a Gold’s Gym logo on it.
Her police cap was gone but her light-brown hair was still pinned
up. She still wore the mirrored shades.
    “ You need a ride?” she said.
    Keller approached the vehicle. “My car’s in
the impound lot,” he said.
    “ I know,” she said. She leaned over and
opened the passenger side door. “Get in. I’ll take you over