Free Deadly Dozen: 12 Mysteries/Thrillers by J. F. Penn, Cheryl Bradshaw, Diane Capri, J. Carson Black, Aaron Patterson, Vincent Zandri, M A Comley, Carol Davis Luce, Joshua Graham, Michele Scott, Allan Leverone, Linda S Prather

entered the diner single file out of necessity. No way two sets of those shoulders could pass through the door frame at the same time, even without the shotguns.
    At the T, they peeled off. One moved toward the kitchen; the other approached, shotgun raised and ready. He stopped across the tile directly parallel to their table, set his legs shoulder width apart as if he was bracing to shoot. He stood out of reach, but left space for Kim and Gaspar to exit the booth and stand. Which they did. Slowly. Hands in the air, palms out. Before being asked.
    “Officer…Leach,” Kim said, facing him because of the camera in her pocket, reading his name plate for the audio, like she’d been trained. “Do you know who we are?”
    Leach said nothing, which was not normal law enforcement procedure anywhere.
    “I’ve got I.D. in my pocket,” Kim said. “I’m going to pull it out and show it to you. OK?” The guy nodded. Once. Kim said, “I’ll take that as a yes. Don’t shoot me.” She kept her left hand raised, and reached slowly into her pocket with her right and pulled out her ID wallet. She showed him her badge and her photograph.
    He looked. Said nothing. Kept the shotgun steady.
    “I’m FBI Special Agent Otto,” Kim said. “This is my partner, FBI Special Agent Gaspar. Would you like to see his ID too?”
    Leach nodded once. Gaspar repeated Kim’s actions. Leach repeated his.
    “What’s this about?” Kim asked him.
    He said nothing.
    “You are holding a federal officer at gunpoint, sir. You realize that? What you’re doing is a federal crime. Do you understand?”
    Leach kept his eyes open, his mouth shut, and his shotgun pointed.
    What the hell?
    Kim looked over at Gaspar and he shrugged as if to say, “Now what?”
    According to the diner’s clock, four minutes had passed since Gaspar noticed the GHP unit in the lot outside. Her arms were tired. She’d never actually been ordered to raise them, so she lowered them again. Gaspar did the same thing. Leach showed no reaction. He just stood there, braced, shotgun pointed, staring, silent. Everybody waited. For what, she didn’t know.
    Six minutes later, the second GHP officer emerged from the kitchen and strode down the aisle. He stopped two steps north of the first guy. His name tag said Leach, too. Brothers?
    The second one did the talking.
    He said, “Can I see your identification, please?”
    “What is this about, Officer Leach?” Kim asked him. When he didn’t reply immediately, to make a clear audio record at the very least, she said, “We are FBI agents. Why are you holding us at gunpoint? What is going on here?”
    He stood with his hand out, palm up. They handed the wallets to him. He took them, read them, refolded them. “If my dispatch says you check out, you can be on your way. It’ll take a minute, if you want to sit down.”
    “What’s this about?” Kim asked, and was ignored, for the third time.
    “Finish your pie. Mary makes great pie.” He took the ID wallets and returned to the cruiser. Rain settled on the brim of his hat while he opened the driver’s door, before pouring onto the ground when he ducked his mass to enter the vehicle. He left the cruiser’s door open while he used the radio.
    The first Officer Leach remained in position, shotgun pointed. Looked like a Browning A-5, weighing about eight pounds. Even if he could bench press 80% of his body weight, his arms had to be getting fatigued by now. Yet the shotgun didn’t waver.
    No one sat. No one ate pie. They waited. About ten minutes later, the second Officer Leach returned. He handed their ID wallets back.
    “It’s OK,” he said to his partner. “You can put the gun down.”
    The first Officer Leach lowered the shotgun.
    “Will you tell us what’s going on now?” Kim asked again.
    The second Officer Leach’s manner was professional and matter-of-fact. “Everything checks out with you two. GHP is aware of you now. We’ve got your rental in the system. We’ll