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"I’ to hide from her," Rivera said "She’s just a kid"
"Exactly You can’t hit her"
"Jesus, Nick She’s just a creepy kid What’s wrong with you?"
Cavuto had been on edge since they’d pulled up an hour ago They both had, really, since the guy naht crew froe on Rivera’s voice mail that Jody Stroud, the redheaded vampire, had not left town as she had promised, and that her boyfriend, Tommy Flood, was now also a vampire It was a very bad turn of events for the two cops, both of whom had taken a share of the money fro theo It had seemed like the only option, really Neither of the cops wanted to explain how the serial killer they’d been chasing had been an ancient vampire, and how he’d been tracked down by a bunch of stoners from the Safeway And when the Animals blew up the vampire’s yacht - well, the case was solved, and if the vaood The cops had planned to retire early and open a rare-book store Rivera thought heit all float away on an evil breeze A cop for twenty years, without ever soa traffic ticket, then the one tio, the whole world turns on you like you’re souy Rivera was raised a Catholic, but he was starting to believe in karma
"Pull out Pull out," Cavuto said "Go around the block until she goes away"
"Hey," said the broken clown girl "You guys cops?"
Cavuto hit thebutton on his door but the ignition was off, so thedidn’t budge "Go away, kid Why aren’t you in school? Do we need to take you in?"
"Winter break, brain trust," said the kid
Rivera couldn’t hold the laugh in and he snorted a little trying to
"Move along, kid Go wash that shit off your face You look like you fell asleep with a Magic Marker in your ernail, "well, you look like someone pumped about three hundred pounds of cat barf into a cheap suit and gave it a bad haircut"
Rivera slid down in his seat and turned his face toward the door He couldn’t look at his partner He was sure that if it was possible for stea to Cavuto, and if he looked, he’d lose it
"If you were a guy," Cavuto said, "I’d have you in handcuffs already, kid"
"Oh God," Rivera said under his breath
"If I were a guy, I’ll bet you would And I’ll bet I’d have to send you to the S and M ATM, because the kinky shit is extra" The kid leaned down so she was eye level with Cavuto, and winked
That was it Rivera started giggling like a little girl - tears were creeping out the corners of his eyes
"You’re a big fucking help," Cavuto said He reached over, flipped the ignition key to "accessory," then rolled up his
The kid came over to Rivera’s side of the car
"So, have you seen Flood?" she asked "Cop?" She added «cop» with a high pop on the p, like it was punctuation mark, not a profession
"You just ca to shake off the giggles "You tell me"
"Place is empty The douche nozzle owes me money," said the kid
"For what?"
"Stuff I did for him"
"Be specific, sweetheart Unlike my partner, I don’t threaten" It was a threat, of course, but he thought he h to see light
"I helped hi load their stuff into a truck"
Rivera looked her up and down She couldn’t have weighed ninety pounds "He hired you to help him move?"
"Just little crap La by, he flagged ive hty He said it was all he had on hi for the rest"
"Did either of the to leave the City thisunusual about either of them - Flood or the redhead?"
"Just day dwellers, like you Bourgeois four-oh-fours"
"Four-oh-Fours?"
"Clueless - Pottery Barn fucktards"
"Of course," Rivera said He could hear his partner snickering now
"So you haven’t seen the, kid"
"How do you know that?"
"I know that You’re out twenty dollars Cheap lesson Go away and don’t come back here, and if either of them contact you, or you see them, call me"
Rivera handed the kid a business card "What’s your name?"
"My day-slave name?"
"Sure, let’s try that one"
"Allison Allison Green But on the street I’m known as Abby Normal"
"On the street?"
"Shut up, I have street cred" Then she added, "Cop!" like the chirp of a car alar, Allison"
She shuffled off, trying to swivel nearly nonexistent hips as she went
"You think they left the City?" Cavuto asked
"I want to own a bookstore, Nick I want to sell old books and learn to golf"
"So that would be no?"
"Let’s go talk to the born-again Safeway guy"
Four robots and one statue guy worked the E Not every day Some days, when it was slow, there were only two robots and a statue guy, or on rainy days, none of theold makeup they used to color their skin didn’t hold up well in the rain, but as a rule, it was four robots and one statue guy Monet was the statue guy - the ONLY statue guy He’d staked his territory three years ago, and if some poseur ever showed up, he had to meet Monet on the field of stillness, where they would clash in theMonet had always prevailed, but this guy - this new guy - was really good
The challenger had been there when Monet arrived in the late uy’s makeup was perfect, too He looked as if he had really been bronzed, so it was beyond Monet why he would choose to get his collections in Big Gulp cups that he’d jammed his feet into Monet carried a small portfolio case, with a hole cut in it where tourists could stuff their bills He had primed his er that he wasn’t intimidated, but the truth was, after two hours, he hadn’t made half of what he saw the newcomer take in, and he was intimidated And his nose itched
His nose itched and the new statue guy was kicking his ass Nore positions every half hour or so, then stand motionless while the tourists taunted him and tried to make him flinch, but with the new co as it took
The robots on the promenade had all assumed poses from which they could watch They only had to hold still until someone dropped cash into their cup, then they would do the robot dance It was boring work, but the hours were good and you were outside It looked like Monet was going down
Sundown
He felt like his ass was on fire
Toainst his bare butt and the rough bark of a woman’s voice
"Say it! Say it! Say it!"
He tried to pull away fros He was having trouble focusing his vision - waves of light and heat were rocketing around his brain and all he could really see was a bright red spot aves of heat coes It was like staring into the sun through a red filter He could feel the heat on his face
"Ouch!" Toainst his bonds and heard a ht went away and was replaced by the blurry form of a female face, a blue face, just inches away fro a little on the "it"
"Say what?"
"Say it, va crop across his stoainst his bonds and heard the rattling again With the spotlight moved away, he could see that he was suspended by very professional-looking nylon restraints to a brass, four-poster bed frame that had been stood on end He was completely naked and evidently the blue woman, as dressed in a black vinyl bustier, boots, and nothing else, had been whaling on him for sohs, and well, his ass felt like it was on fire
She wound up to s not to screech He only realized then that his fangs were extended and he’d bitten his own lips
The blue woman held up "Say it"
Tom this for a while now, but I’ve only been awake for about ame If you slon and repeat the whole question, I’ll be happy to tell you whatever I know"
"Your safety word," said the blue woman
"Which is?" Tommy said He noticed for the first ti out of that bustier and it occurred to hi blue boobs before They were kind ofHe wouldn’t have been able to look away even if he weren’t strapped down
"I told you," she said, letting the riding crop fall to her side
"You told me what a safety word is?"
"I just told you what it is"
"So you know it, then?"
"Yes," she said
"Then why are you asking?"
"To see if you’re at your breaking point" She see a little now "Don’t be a dick, this isn’t my specialty"
"Where am I?" Tommy asked "You’re Lash’s S the questions here" She snapped the riding crop against his thigh
"Ouch! Fuck! Stop that You have issues, lady"
"Say it!"
"What is it? I was asleep when you told , he was able to look away fro up fronize - soe of out of control - like when he first made love with Jody as a vampire, only this felt - well, lethal
"It’s Cheddar"
"Cheddar? Like the cheese?" He was getting beating because of cheese?
"Yes"
"So I said it Nohat?"
"You’re broken"
"’Kay," Toainst the heavy nylon straps, understanding nohat he was feeling He was going to kill her He didn’t kno yet, but he was as certain of it as of anything he had ever known Grass was green, water et, and this bitch was dead
"So now you have to turn s ached, like they were going to leap out of his e? Is this another Cheddar thing? Because - "
"Not orange, you nitwit, a va crop across his chest
He bit his lips again and felt the blood running down his chin "So for that you needed all the hitting?" He said "Come over here"
She leaned up and kissed him, then pushed away hard and ca to have to get used to this," she said, licking her lips
"Closer," Tommy said