I leaned to the side and looked around him at the line of cars. “Looks like they’re still backed up a bit.”

He cast a glance over his shoulder. “I’m not surprised. It oughta’ be clear in a few though.”

A thick silence settled in around us as the breeze rose and fell. Felicity shivered against the sharp wind even though she was wearing a coat, so I hugged her even closer.

“Would you be more comfortable waiting in the truck?” I asked her.

“I’m fine,” she replied.

“You’re sure?”

“Aye,” she returned with a slight nod. “For now.”

I looked back to my friend after a short silence and nodded toward the distant gravesite. “You know, Ben, that was a real good thing you did. I mean the honor guard and all.”

“Wasn’t just me,” he objected with an animated shake of his head. “B’sides, didn’t really take much. All I did was make a coupl’a phone calls.”

“Something tells me there was more to it than that.”

“Maybe a little, but not much really once the ball was rollin’ and a few favors got called in. Shit, everyone that ever worked with Deckert loved ‘im.”

“He was a hell of a guy,” I agreed. “I’ll never forget how well he treated me even when the rest of the cops had issues with a Witch as a consultant.”

“Yeah, that was Deck, for sure. Which is exactly why we couldn’t let it go. Just ‘cause the department doesn’t do anything for retiree funerals doesn’t mean the rest of us coppers ain’t gonna make it happen anyway. He was one of ours. If anyone deserved it, it was him.”

“Well, I’m glad you did,” I said with a nod. “I’m sure his wife appreciated it too.”

“Yeah, Mona’s good people,” he grunted as he reached up to smooth back his hair then allowed his hand to slide down and rest on his neck. He closed his eyes then gave his head a slight shake as he sighed, “Jeezus, Row… He was just sittin’ there lookin’ at the tube and had a goddamn heart attack. How fucked up is that?”