“Keep defending rapists and slavers in my presence and I’ll think about it.” Genthry took a deep breath. He couldn’t afford to lose his temper with this man, not here or now. “If I have to, I’ll gag you. I’d rather not. It’s cruel. But if you’re a smart man, Mr. Riatt, you’ll shut up right about now.”
Riatt proved himself smarter than most of his contemporaries. Genthry couldn’t help but wonder if he wasn’t storing Genthry’s lapse away for later. When he let Riatt go, he’d just go running to his superiors to tattle about his weakness. Here’s how we’ll nab him. We’ll set up a trap with a child…
He pushed the intrusive thought from his mind. He couldn’t control what Riatt did, or what the marshals did. He would deal with it when it happened and not obsess about it before hand. At least, he wouldn’t obsess about it much. He had other things to think about.