Hounded

sprang out the door as if summoned.
    » Pardon me, are you Detective Fagles? « Hal said, placing himself in the detective’s way perhaps a bit faster than a normal human could. The other officers registered this and tensed. A couple of hands drifted toward holsters.
    » Stand aside, sir, I’m on official police business, « Fagles commanded. Hal wasn’t intimidated in the least.
    » If your business is with Third Eye Books or its owner, then your business is with me, « he said. » I am the attorney of record for Mr. Atticus O’Sullivan. «
    » You’re the attorney of record? Then who was the other guy at his house? «
    » One of my associates. He called me and reported that your search of his house was not entirely legal, and I assure you that we will be making a complaint, perhaps filing suit. «
    That got the cops’ attention. They glowered at Hal, and Fagles sneered, » We have a warrant signed by a Tempe judge. « He held it in front of Hal’s face to emphasize his point. » Our search was entirely legal. «
    » But that warrant gives you permission to search for an Irish wolfhound or similar dog, I believe, and nothing more. Is that correct, Detective? «
    Fagles didn’t want to answer with a flat-out yes, so he tried to sound defiant as he replied, » That’s what the warrant says. «
    » An Irish wolfhound is a very large breed of dog. I saw the specific dog you’re looking for before he ran away, and I assure you he weighs almost as much as you. That being given, we can assume that the dog could not possibly be hiding in a drawer or a dresser or in kitchen cupboards or underneath a basil plant. Yet you and your colleagues searched through all those things at my client’s house, in clear violation of his civil rights. «
    I didn’t need to hear any more than that to know they weren’t looking for just my dog. Aenghus Óg had sent these guys to find Fragarach. And they had torn up my basil in the kitchen—at least I hoped that was all. If they got my whole backyard herb garden, which I had left camouflaged, Oberon would have to make a run for it soon.
    » We did no such thing, « Fagles said.
    » My associate will testify that you did. «
    » His word against ours. «
    » He took some video of your search procedure with his cell phone. «
    Fagles bit back his initial retort and ground his teeth for a moment. Then he said, » Look, whoever you are— «
    » Hal Hauk. «
    » Whatever. We have a legal warrant to search these premises. You will stand aside now or we will arrest you. «
    » I will stand aside, Detective, but I warn you not to repeat the methods you used at my client’s house. You are looking for a large dog, nothing more, and I will be recording your search. If you look in places where a large dog could not possibly be hiding, then the lawsuit we bring against you will be much, much worse. «
    » Fine. «
    » Fine, « Hal said. » I’ll take that, « and he snatched the warrant out of Fagles’s hand, faster than the eye could track, before stepping aside. Fagles was pissed . He had probably wanted to slap the warrant against Hal’s chest or something like that, a not-too-subtle push or jab to establish his superiority, but Hal had not only robbed him of that, he had made Fagles look slow and stupid—which, compared to Hal, he was. In Fagles’s defense, he didn’t know he was trying to play dominance games with a werewolf.
    Rather than say anything to deepen his humiliation, Fagles stalked forward, with Jimenez and the others close behind. He paused at the door, examining the broken glass around the edges and scattered on the floor inside. He peered through at me before stepping across the threshold. I was standing to his left, behind my counter, access to which was open and visible from the shop entrance.
    » What happened here, O’Sullivan? « he said.
    » A customer objected strenuously to my returns policy, « I said.
    » Yeah, right, « Fagles muttered as he stepped through the door. As soon as he did, wards around my shop alerted me that he had a binding on him. I looked closely at his aura as he gestured for the others to file in and start searching, and I turned on my faerie specs. A band of green knotwork wreathed Fagles’s skull, almost like one of those Roman laurels. That was the primary method by which he was being controlled. But interlaced with those strands, I saw, were very fine blue and red threads. I could not break the green binding without breaking those