Living by the Sword
* * *

It worked well. So well, in fact, that even he was surprised. Just a quick visit to the Shaw house, again making sure he was in his uniform, a polite ringing of the bell, a moment's surprise at the tired, drawn look on Rebecca's face.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Shaw. I hope you don't feel it is presumptuous of me, but I felt that I should check on all of you, both professionally and personally."

She admitted him, guided him to the living room, bade him sit while she went for Edward.

Who as well looked bad. Tired, drawn. Kevin forced himself not to smile, forced a concerned look onto his face. A little extreme, he thought, to let something as simple as a stupid teen magazine bother him like that. Patty Mary had read those sorts of things all the time and it hadn't done her any harm. And the college catalog? College cost money, and as long as you made sure your wife or daughters never had any money to speak of, they'd never go to college. Simple, really.

Kevin rose, extended his hand.

"How are you, Ed?" he asked.

"Tired," the man admitted, his handshake a bit weak. "It's been hard."

"I can imagine."

Actually, Kevin couldn't. But no matter.

"I feel a bit responsible," he said to Edward now. "In my job I see a lot of kids in trouble. I hate to see it happen to the daughter of a friend."

Edward looked at him, nodded.

"We appreciate that, Kevin. Thank you. You did the right thing. Heaven knows where Satan would have taken her. There's so much evil out there ...."

Kevin nodded and Edward's voice drifted off. They sat silently for a moment.

"Is there anything else I can do, Ed?" Kevin asked then. "Kids need a lot of guidance these days."

Edward nodded again. "You've already done so much," he said. "It's good to know that you're close, that you're keeping an eye on them. There are so few good neighbors in America anymore."

Kevin nodded, doing his very best to show concern, attentive to the man's every word. "There are a lot of bad people out there, Ed. We have to stick together, men like you and I."

Silence again. Edward rubbed his brow, looked at Kevin.

"Rebecca and I want you to know how much we appreciate it, Kevin," he said. "This wasn't part of your job, policing our kids. I just wish there was something I could do for you."

#

Bingo. Hook, line and sinker.

Too easy.

And so Kevin sat now, up in his apartment, the antique saber from the Indian Wars in his hands, stroking the hard leather sheath and wondering if he had ever felt better than this. He pulled out the weapon, waved it around a bit. He wondered if it had ever killed anyone.

History. In his hand. And power, too. Power was good.

Too easy.

Stupid Christian sucker. No woman, no girl, could ever be worth what those idiot Shaws were putting themselves through over their daughter.

Kevin shrugged. Oh, well. So much the better for him. He'd have to keep an eye on those other Shaw kids now. Maybe Franklin had some real porno stashed somewhere; Kevin certainly had, at that age. That would get him some real points with Ed and Rebecca.

Heck, maybe he could just plant some on the kid. Something believable like a lingerie ad from one of those papers Franklin delivered. Valentine's day was coming up, and there were always some sexy underwear ads coming out then, so it would be easy to explain.

Stupid damn Christians. No wonder the Romans had killed them. Now, the Romans, they had been real men.

"What's that?"

The question snapped Kevin out of his reverie. He looked up and over at the trapdoor that was the entrance to his apartment.

Ruthie was there, her face propped up in her hands, looking at him.

Now, we must take a moment to consider Kevin's opinion of Ruthie. On the one hand, she was just a girl, too young for real fun, and so was hardly worth paying any attention to; she had nothing she could give him, after all. He had to be nice to her, of course, for the time being anyway, because she was Lucy's sister and Lucy was his fiancée.

But there was something more to Ruthie, another reason that Kevin was always friendly to her. This was an intangible, something we cannot quite define. For Kevin sensed something in Ruthie, something familiar. He liked that. He liked the way Ruthie was always in everybody's business, the way she always managed to avoid punishment.

And there was another part of Kevin, deep inside, well hidden, that said more, that warned him.

Don't trifle with this one. Don't.

"It's an antique saber from the Indian Wars," he said. "Come on; take a look."

She climbed up into the apartment and walked over to him. He extended the weapon to her and she took it. It was too big for her but she still held it with confidence.

"Neat," she said. "Where'd you get it?"

He gave her his patented, frozen grin. She handed the sword back to him, and he resheathed it.

"Well, Ruthie, sometimes people do nice things for you, if you do something for them. I did a good deed, and someone was grateful."

"Mr. Shaw?" Ruthie asked.

Kevin stiffened. He nodded.

"Why, yes," he said. "How did you know?"

Ruthie smiled mysteriously.

"He's the only one around here who collects weapons. Except, I suppose, for you. That must have been some favor."

Kevin set the sword aside, pulled himself up. "Well, Ruthie, I'm sure your parents have told you that no good deed goes unrewarded. You should remember that."

Her smile remained.

"Oh, I will. Thanks."

"You're welcome," Kevin said to her. "Shall we see if your mother has dinner ready yet?"