“I didn’t think you were going to do anything.” Gibbons panted up, full of righteous wrath. “I came to warn them to stay away from my bank.”

“As you can see, it’s not necessary. We’re here, and we’ll handle it. Now go home.” To underscore his command, he stepped forward to take Gibbons’ arm and escort him back to the SUV. He even went so far as to open the door. With bad grace, Gibbons climbed in.

Liam caught Diana as she reached the porch, which along with the stairs up to it and the overhang looked brand-new, the wooden planks neatly lined up and not yet gray from weathering. Liam wondered who next would be pounding on the trooper post’s door to report a theft.

The door swung open.

“Hi, John,” Diana Prince began.

She didn’t have time to say anything else. The man standing in the door took one look at her uniform, another at Liam’s blue-clad bulk looming up behind her, said, “Oh, shit,” and vanished.

From behind him there was a panicked yell and some shouts and a lot of swearing and a rush of footsteps. Something crashed inside the room and the lights went out. There was a thump and a moan and some more swearing.

“Okay, guys, we’re coming in,” Diana Prince said, pushing the door wide and feeling for a wall switch. She found one. An overhead light revealed a terrified Teddy Engebretsen with something in his hand and that hand pulled back to throw. “What’s- Teddy? Teddy, what the hell is that? Teddy, don’t- Christ! Look out, sir!”

She ducked, and on instinct Liam followed suit. Something pale and elongated sailed over their heads.

There was a loudsmack! followed by a howl of outrage and the thump of a butt hitting the ground, hard.

Still crouching, Liam turned to look.

Brewster Gibbons was sitting on his fanny in the snow at the foot of the stairs, staring at the thing lying half on the bottom step and half on his lap. As Liam watched, he let out a yell and scuttled backward on his hands and feet. The thing slid from his lap and skidded across the icy path to bounce off the berm on one side and back off the other. “Keep it away from me! Keep it away from me!”