Before I could say anything to Cass or Jon, the man in the suit turned to his companions, making an odd series of hand gestures.
Then all three of them were looking at me.
It occurred to me that maybe yelling at these guys wasn't all that smart. That maybe the reason no one kicked up a fuss was because they knew better. And maybe the reason these jerks were so cocky was that usually no one kicked up a fuss.
Like I was kicking up a fuss. Right now.
Even as I thought it, another man loomed in front of me.
He was tall...tall enough to block the sun, and to confuse me momentarily. I barely got a look at his face before he was holding out his arms, his voice a command.
"Go," he said. "Leave here. Right now."
He had an accent too, but it sounded more German to me than Asian.
When I didn't move, he loomed nearer.
"Get out of here!" he snapped. "This is a crime scene. You cannot be here!"
I stared past the man's arms to the seer on the ground, wincing when I saw the black-clad soldier kick her again, right before they hauled her, bruised and now bleeding, up to her feet. The skirt barely seemed to cover her at all now, and her nylons were torn. I saw cuts on her knees where she'd dropped on the pavement. For the first time in my life, I felt a surge of genuine, honest-to-God anger about the way no one gave a shit about seers.
No matter if this was "legitimate" or not, no matter what that seer did, no one deserved to be publicly beaten like that. Like she was a dog. Or less than a dog, really, since there'd probably be a riot if anyone publicly beat their dog in any American city outside of Texas.
But the guy in the suit was still looking at me, and now Jon was tugging on my arm, pulling me backwards, away from the taller man who still stood directly in front of us.
He seemed determined to block our view of the seer, especially mine.
"Let's get out of here," Jon said. "Come on. That guy's a cop, Al."
"A cop?"
"Yeah. Didn't you see the badge?"
Shaking my head, I hesitated a last moment, still looking at the downed seer. Then I gave up, nodding. There wasn't anything I could do for her. Not here anyway.
"Yeah, okay," I muttered, still angry.
I let myself be pulled out of the circle of people. Grabbing hold of my arm, Jon steered both me and Cass into the greenery of the park and away from the scene, which was now attracting an even larger crowd, as the half-naked seer stood on display before the group, her collar plainly visible, as well as that chain-like decoration.