She coached it out of him. I could tell that this was something she’d done a lot of, by the watertight nature of the results. If he abided by it, he’d be as safely locked away as if she’d sent him to San Quentin. If he abided by it.

I waited until he’d hurried off down the street, and Sunny was doing the hair, thread, and match trick with the back door lock. Then I said, “I can’t believe you did that.”

“Did what?” she asked, once the recitation was done and the match had gone out.

“You let the son of a bitch go. Why do you think he’s going to do what he promised? What’s going to keep him from running away, going to ground someplace, and starting work on the next batch?”

Sunny smiled up at me, the torchlight gleaming sharply off her teeth. “What, can’t you find him again?”

I shut my mouth so hard it was lucky I didn’t bite my tongue.

“Besides, I think he will keep his promise. You heard what he said about Faerie. I think his bridges are burned in a big way there. And if he’s grateful for a little mercy, we might be able to get some help out of him.”

“Testimony.”

“That, too. I was thinking of the kids that are half-changed, and the virus. If he’s actually the originator of the passport, he may know enough of his stuff to repair some of the damage.”

She stood up, and the torchlight fell full on her face. She was tired, and angry, and nothing like any movie cop I’d ever seen. I was fascinated by the texture of the skin on her forehead, the tight lines of her lips. She met my stare and frowned.

“Vengeance is somebody else’s,” she said. “Don’t ask me whose. But it’s not in my job description, no matter how much you or I wish it was.”

“That’s not what I was thinking,” I said.

Lightning was shuttling between clouds, where the sky showed between gaps in the buildings. “I need to take the bike back to the garage,” I said, as she settled into the sidecar. “Do you want me to drop you at home?”

“Are you staying at Tick-Tick’s apartment?”

“No, I’ll walk back to my place.”

“I’ll stick with you, then, and walk you home.”

I looked at the sky. “You’ll get rained on.”

Sunny shrugged. “Now that I’ve lost my wheels, I better get used to walking in the rain.”