“It’s not one of my juveniles, is it?” Charlie asked, in reference to his own teenagers.

“I haven’t had any problems with Adams teenagers tonight. This is a Delaney. I don’t think it’ll take him long to explain to his mother that he’s been assaulting little kids and stealing their candy.”

Bobby Delaney groaned and slid down in his seat.

“May the force be with you,” Charlie said.

Seth drove eight or ten blocks to the house. It wasn’t a very big house. Two-story with a porch. He’d heard it was Sue and her three kids plus Sue’s sister, brother-in-law and their two kids living there. Eight people would be a crowd in that space. The place looked pretty quiet. There was a light on in the living room but it was otherwise dark.

Bobby preceded him across the porch and opened the front door. He heard Sassy’s voice shout, “Who’s home?”

“Ma?” Bobby called.

Sassy walked into the living room from downstairs. She was all made up though she wore two fat curlers in her white-blond hair with the pink tips. She wore skintight black pants with high-heeled knee-high boots over them, a silky low-cut top that flattered her cle**age and a shiny vest. She frowned when she saw Bobby and Seth standing just inside the door. “Seth?” she asked.

“Tell your mother why I brought you home,” Seth said.

“I boosted some kid’s candy,” he said quietly.

She took another step closer. “You stole it?” she asked. “You stole some little kid’s candy?”

“He wasn’t that little,” Bobby said defensively.

“Two kids,” Seth said. “Both smaller than Bobby. He came on them from behind and then was going to run, but guess who was right there to chase him? The law.”

Sassy glared at her son. “Go to your room.” Then she looked at Seth. “What do I have to do now? Pay a fine? What?”

“How about you keep him in to think about consequences. You might want to make him apologize to his victims and their parents.”

“Fine. Whatever.”

Seth frowned. “You on your way out?”

“Maybe, I don’t know.”

“Can I just suggest, you should do something about this. Your son could’ve hurt those kids.”

“He’s a pain sometimes, but he wouldn’t hurt anyone,” she said.

“Wherever you were thinking of going, you weren’t thinking of driving there, were you?”

“Why? What’s this about?”

“About your breath, which is pretty high-octane right now.” He sniffed the air. “Wine, I guess. And a lot of it.”

“I’ve had one glass of wine! And I’m over twenty-one!”

“Is that your car in the drive?” he asked.

“Yeah, why?”

He shrugged. “Just wondering what to be on the lookout for. Listen, maybe you should get Bobby’s dad involved, make sure he gets the message that his little prank is actually against the law, not to mention it’s a real bad kind of bullying and stealing to ignore. You don’t want him getting the impression it’s okay. It’s not okay. If I hadn’t been there, I can’t guess what might’ve happened to those little kids. Plus, Bobby wasn’t alone—there was another kid with him who took off. I wouldn’t have brought him home to you if I didn’t take this seriously. You understand me?”

“I understand you still hold a grudge from high school,” she said, giving her hair a flick over her shoulder.

“Sorry? What?”

“You know what I’m talking about, Seth. We were going steady, we were first loves, broke up badly and it was probably my fault and you’re not over it. That explains the way you’ve been acting.”

He frowned. “How have I been acting?”

“Like you don’t care. Like you don’t dare take a chance on me now, even though we’re years older.”

He continued to frown and shook his head. “I think you’ve got the wrong impression, Sue. Now, about Bobby—”

“Bobby’s fine,” she snapped. “This is about you and me and you know it!”

“There is no you and me,” he said as patiently as he could.

“So you keep saying, but you never forget your first time....”

“I think you are drunk. No matter what, don’t drive tonight. And if you’re smart, you’ll call Bobby’s father and tell him the boy is in need of a strong moral influence.”

“Right,” she said. “Sure.”

“Sue, listen to me. Listen very carefully. There was a very brief time we dated when we were kids. It was a long time ago. You weren’t my first and I definitely wasn’t yours. And I haven’t thought about you once in seventeen years. I didn’t even know you married Robbie Delaney because no one mentioned it and I didn’t care enough to ask. There’s nothing. There won’t be anything. Not in this lifetime. Now let it go, drop it, and if you love your boy at all, concentrate on being a decent mother to him!”

Seth left the house, his boots striking the wood of the porch and steps loudly. He got into his car. Before pulling away from the curb, he called Charlie. “I’m done here,” he said. “How’s the town?”

“Quiet. The only residence party I saw seems to be breaking up early, most of them leaving on foot. Not many kids out anymore. I checked in on one noise complaint—just music and they apologized and turned down the volume. The Knudsons’ haunted house is still open but in the past twenty minutes there haven’t been any kids around there.”

“Business district?” Seth asked.

“Under control the last time I looked. A few adults and teenagers wrapping things up.”

Seth looked at his watch. It was after nine. “If you don’t need me, I’m going to get off the clock and get something to eat.”

“Sure thing, boss. I’ll give you a call if anything important comes up, but I think we’re good.”

Seth drove slowly down the street toward the pizza place, now pretty busy with teenagers. He phoned from the car and ordered a large pizza and for the next fifteen minutes he just hung around in front, talking to people. Then he went in for his pizza and took it a few blocks up the hill to Iris’s. He wanted to see Iris to escape the nasty feeling Sassy had left on him.

Funny thing about Sassy. He’d thought she was his first until Iris had informed him about that night before the prom when he’d lost his virginity in a drunken stupor. Of course he’d known about Sassy’s reputation, he’d heard the talk. He hadn’t really cared that much whether she’d been with other boys before him. She’d made a lot of assertions about her virginity and he’d just let her. It’s not like he owned her. What happened before they’d started dating wasn’t his business. Besides, their relationship had been short and troubled.

He phoned the dispatcher and clocked out for the night. Then he called Iris from the car and when she answered he said, “I hope you’re up.”

“Sure. What’s going on?”

“I’ve been on duty since early this morning. I’ve taken pictures of a lot of little goblins and princesses and witches, plus I have a pizza in the car because I’m starving. I’m done for the night.”