Half an hour later, Martin pulled up in front of the stairs to the No Mirrors Lounge. Jan was sitting on the lowest step.

"Hi," Martin said. "Why the hell did you get such a damn big motorcycle?"

"This is America. You have wide open spaces and purple mountains. The terrain is more diverse than that of home. I wanted something that could handle everything."

"It will that, and it certainly does go like a dream."

"I'm suspended," Jan blurted.

"I'm not surprised. Is Ann still here?"

"No. She said she had to be somewhere at midnight and teleported away. I think she's a witch or a pumpkin."

"Or she could just need to get a video back to the store." Martin spoke lightly, but he was disappointed. There were a number of things he wanted to ask Ann.

"Listen, she uh, she…"

"What?"

"She yelled at me."

"OK."

"No, it wasn't. Listen…"

"Still listening."

"Have you ever heard the expression `16 will get you 20'?"

"Sure."

"Oh. OK, what do you say it means?"

"The numbers refer to years: Sex with a 16-year old will get you 20 years in prison. Haven't you seen the signs: Sex with a minor is a crime?"

"I thought that was about girls and getting them pregnant so they go on public assistance. I mean, I don't have to worry about that."

"No, it's everybody under eighteen."

"So why isn't it `17 will get you 20'?"

"I don't know, it's always been sixteen. It's a saying, a slogan; like `Use a gun, go to jail'."

"This country is so crazy. I didn't believe her. I thought she was making all this up."

"No, and it's worse if the adult is more than five years older than the minor," Martin said, realizing what, or rather who, this was about. "She told you all this?"

"And some other stuff. I'm going home. I'm not to come back for two weeks."

"Fine. Did she touch on the stupidity of going off without leaving any indication where we might start looking for you when you ran into trouble?"

"Yes. At length. So did Edward. So did Karelle. I didn't see Galley, or he might have done, too." Jan scowled at Martin, took the helmet the vampire held out to him and rode off.

***

"And as we left, I'm pretty sure I saw a fantod, but I couldn't stop to get a good look," Martin said. "I came straight back and met Jan on the steps."

"What she said was that the two of you walked in, there was some fighting, some talk, and the three of you left."

"Basically, yes."

"She knew the proprietor?" Edward asked.

"Apparently, possibly not recently; but she never commented on that, and I didn't have a chance to ask."

"You believe her."

"Every word. I don't know what she is, I don't know what she intends, but so far, she has been absolutely straight with us."

Edward nodded. "Oh, she said you could leave the tag with Karelle, if you didn't want to carry it around or leave it at your place. What tag?"

"This," the vampire said, taking the clear marble out of his pocket. "She says she can find it."

"And therefore you? I wish she'd put one on Jan."

"It would have been useful," Martin agreed and said nothing more.

This is the end of Chapter One. We hope you have enjoyed it. Please visit us regularly.

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