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Chapter Nineteen

Our Dead Homeys

The va as a five-legged bug liht that the rhyth’s steps ht be able to set st and Li," Tommy said

"Yeah," Jody said

We should save it for Abby, Jody thought She was feeling guilty about having bitten the girl - not so much because of the violation, because obviously the kid had been willing, but because she felt as if she really didn’t have any choice She had been injured and her predator nature told her to survive, whatever the cost, which is what bothered her Was her hu to cory, betrayed by his old crew, but most of all he felt separate from them now He felt separate from everyone Tomorroas Christmas and he didn’t even want to call his parents because they were a different species now What do you buy for an inferior species?

"It’s just the Animals," Jody said "We’ll be safe"

"I’ll bet that’s what Elijah thought, too, and they got hiined Elijah Ben Sapir, standing in the full sun by the Ferry Building, tourists passing hi why someone would put a statue there Would the brass protect hiet there and back in time I tried that yesterday"

"How could you do that to hi to kill us, if you remember He kind of did kill us I resent that Besides, if you’re covered in bronze, what does it et hiht so we could think about our future without hiht Okay," Jody said "Sorry" Future? She’d lived with a half-dozen guys, none had ever willingly talked about the future before And she and To as so "Maybe we really should leave the City," she said "No one would know about us in a new city"

"I was thinking we should get a Christ "That’s a thought, or we could put some mistletoe up, put on Christ for Santa until the sun comes up and incinerates us How’s that sound?"

"Nobody appreciates your sarcaset a handle on norroceries in Indiana, looking at co I had a girlfriend, and wishing that there was so a job with benefits and living the sairlfriend, and superpowers, and a bunch of people want to kill me, and I don’t kno to act I don’t knohat to do next And it’s going to be that way forever Forever! I’ to be scared out of my mind forever! I can’t deal with forever"

He’d been barking at her, but she resisted the urge to snap back He was nineteen, not a hundred and fifty - he didn’t even have the tools for being an adult, let alone being i, we’ll hire a car, go get Elijah, and pick up a Christ a car? That sounds exotic"

"It’ll be like pro?

"You don’t have to do that," he said "I’ like a weenie"

"But you’reher hand, he stood, then pulled her up into his arht?"

She nodded and kissed hiirl in love instead of a predator She i on Abby

The doorbell rang

"Did you knoe had a doorbell?"

"Nope"

"You can’t beat a dead whore in the ," said Nick Cavuto cheerfully, because apparently, everyone loves a dead hooker, despite what certain writer typesin the alley off Mission Street

Dorothy Chin - short, pretty, and whip-sh and checked the thermometer probe she’d stuck in the deceased’s liver like a meat theruys"

Rivera rubbed his te with hisfor a while, but he was feeling a little brokenhearted about the bookstore He figured he knew, but he asked anyway "Cause of death?"

"Toothy blow job," Cavuto said

"Yes, Alphonse," said Dorothy with a tad too much sincerity, "I’d have to concur with Detective Cavuto, she died of a toothy blow job"

"It just pisses souys off," Cavuto added, "a professional without skills"

"Guy just snapped her neck and took his rin

"So a broken neck?" said Rivera, oodbye to a whole set of first-edition Ray on Mondays

Cavuto snorted this ti way, Rivera What did you think it was?"

"Seriously," Dorothy Chin said, "I have to do the autopsy to be sure, but offhand that’s the obvious cause I’d also say she’s probably lucky to go that way She’s HIV positive and it looks like the disease had developed into full-blown AIDS"

"How do you know that?"

"See these sarcomas on her feet"

Chin had removed one of the hooker’s shoes - she pointed to open sores on the corpse’s foot and ankle

Rivera sighed He didn’t want to ask, but he asked anyway, "What about blood loss?"

Dorothy Chin had done the autopsies on two of the previous victied a little It was a pattern They’d all been terminally ill, they’d all died of a broken neck, and they’d all shown evidence of extreme blood loss, but no external wounds - not even a needle mark

"Can’t tell out here"

Cavuto had lost his cheery s to see if anyone saw anything?"

At the end of the alley, uniforri to get the for a bottle of whiskey - because it was Christo ho to find out what he already knew He checked his watch

"What ti?" he asked

"Oh, wait," Cavuto said, patting down his pockets, "I’ll check ling

"Dr Chin," Rivera said, tightening do, "could you be more precise about the time of death?"

Chin picked up on Rivera’s tone and went full professional "Sure There’s an algorith tiet her back to the et you a time within ten minutes"

"What?" Cavuto said to Chin "What?" This time to Rivera

"Winter solstice, Nick," Rivera said "Christinally set at the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year It’s eleven-thirty now I’ up"

"Uh-huh," Cavuto said "Prostitutes have shitty hours - is that what you’re saying?"

Rivera raised an eyebrow "Our guy didn’t travel far after sunrise, is what I’ to be around here"

"I was afraid that’s what you were saying," Cavuto said "We’re never going to get the bookstore open, are we?"

"Tell the uniforms to look anywhere it’s dark: under Du warrants on Christht be a probleet per to bust anyone living here, we’re looking for a ht-story brick building that co like eight hundred et started"

"Where’re you going?"

"There was a uy in North Beach a couple of days ago I’o Du for v - "

"Because," Rivera cut him off before he could say the V-word, "he had terot lost Now I’"

"Uh-huh" Cavuto turned to the three uniforot a merry Christmas detail for you"

The Animals decided to hold a small memorial service for Blue in Chinatown Troy Lee was already there, as was Lash, ouldn’t go home to his apartment until Blue’s body was re there for dinner with his family, as was the tradition in his faith Plus, the liquor stores in Chinatoere open on Christmas, and if you slipped soet firecrackers The Animals were fairly sure that Blue would have wanted firecrackers at her funeral

The Aniround off Grant Street The deceased was being honored in absentia - in her place was a half-eaten pair of edible panties Fro a Fruit Roll-Up

"I’d like to start, if Iovercoat and his hair was tied back with a black ribbon, revealing the target-shaped bruise on his forehead where Jody had hit hi the size of a tenor sax, and using a long lighter designed for lighting fireplaces, he sparked that nificentan asth, poured soround, and croaked, "To Blue," which caht tears to everyone’s eyes

"To Blue," everyone repeated as they placed one hand on the bong and tipped a bit out of their beers

"To Broo, rand the ceremony once she realized there would be firecrackers

"She will be avenged," said Lash

"And we’ll get our fuckingjock

"Amen," the Animals said

They had decided on a nondenominational ceremony, as Barry was a Jew, Troy Lee was a Buddhist, Clint was an Evangelical, Dreas a Rastafarian, Gustavo was a Catholic, and Lash and Jeff were heathen stoners Gustavo had been called in to work that day because so as the front was only boarded up with plywood, so in deference to his beliefs, they had bought so joss sticks around the edible panty The incense also worked within Troy and Grand the cereh they have their differences otherwise, all gods like a good-sain

"And they’re handy for lightin’ firecrackers off of," added Jeff as he bent over an incense stick and set a string cracking

"Hallelujah!" said the Animals

Each offered to share some kind of enerated to orifices and squishiness, and no one wanted to go there in front of Troy’s grandma, so instead they threw firecrackers at Clint while he read from the Twenty-third Psalm

Before they cracked the second case of beer, it was decided that after dark, three of them - Lash, Troy Lee, and Barry - would take Blue from Lash’s aparton, and take her out in the middle of the Bay in Barry’s Zodiac (Barry was the diver of the bunch, and had all the cool aquatic stuff They’d used his spearguns to help take down the old vampire)

Lash braced himself as he opened the apartment door, but to his surprise, there was no sether they wrestled the rolled-up rug out of the closet

"It’s not heavy enough," Barry said

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit," Troy said, trying furiously to unroll the rug

Finally Lash reached down, grabbed the edge of the rug, and whipped it up over his head There was a thudding sound against the far wall, followed by the jingle of

The three Animals stood and stared

"What are those?" Asked Barry