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RECONSIDERING A CAREER IN SECONDHAND RETAIL

Anton Dubois, the owner of Book ’eer than anyone else in San Francisco Of course he hadn’t called himself a Death Merchant at first, but when that Minty Fresh felloho opened the record store in the Castro coined the ter else He was sixty-five years old and not in the best health, having never used his body for much more than to carry his head around, which is where he lived , acquired an encyclopedic knowledge of the science and , just after sundohen the s of his store went black, as if all the light had been sucked suddenly out of the universe, and the three feh the store, as he sat under his little reading light at the counter in the back, like a tiny yellow island in the vast pitch of space, he was the first man in fifteen hundred years to know exactly what - who - they were

"Morrigan," Anton said, with no particular note of fear in his voice He set his book down, but didn’t bother to lasses and cleaned them on his flannel shirt, then put them back on so as not to htsthe deep shadows in the store, but he could see them They stopped when he spoke One of the, steady tone -the rubber raft that is all that lies between you and a dark sea full of sharks, the hiss of your life leaking out at the sea," Anton said, a little anxious now "With all the signs, and the prophecy about the Lu, but I didn’t think it would be you - in person - so to speak This is very exciting"

"A devotee?" said Nemain

"A fan," said Babd

"A sacrifice," said Macha

They ht

"Ihad happened to the others"

"Aw, are you disappointed because you’re not the first?" said Babd

"It will be just like the first tiled

Anton reached under his counter and pushed a button Steel shutters began to roll in the front of the store over the s and door

"You afraid we’ll get away, turtle man," said Macha "Don’t you think he looks like a turtle?"

"Oh, I know the shutters won’t keep you in, that’s not what they’re for The books say that you’re immortal, but I suspect that that’s not exactly true Tooyou heal yourself on the battlefield"

"We will be here ten thousand years after your death, which starts pretty soon, I ht add," said Nemain "The souls, turtle man Where did you put theht the light fro lamp Venom dripped from their tips and sizzled when it hit the floor

"You’d be Nean smiled, he could just see her teeth in the dark

Anton felt a strange peace fall over him For thirty years he had, in so for thisprepared for your death can you ever truly live If collecting souls and seeing people pass for thirty years didn’t prepare you, ould? Under the counter he carefully unscrewed a stainless-steel cap that concealed a red button

"I installed those four speakers at the back of the store a few o I’m sure you can see them, even if I can’t," Anton said

"The souls!" Macha barked "Where?"

"Of course I didn’t knoould be you I thought itthe neighborhood But I think you’ll enjoy the an looked at each other

Macha growled "Who says things like ’nonetheless’?"

"He’s babbling," said Babd "Let’s torture him Take his eyes, Nemain"

"Do you rereat, two-handed broadsword," said Ne of heads"

"I knew that, I knew that," said Babd "She’s just showing off"

"Well, in this ti else," Anton said "You acquire thein the secondhand business for three decades" He closed his eyes and pushed the button He hoped that his soul would end up in a book, preferably his first edition of Cannery Rohich was safely stored away

The curved claymore antipersonnel mines that he had installed in speaker cabinets at the rear of the store exploded, sending twenty-eight hundred ball bearings hurtling toward the steel shutters at just under the speed of sound, shredding Anton and everything else in their path

Ray followed the love of his life a block up Mason Street, where she hopped on a cable car and rode it the rest of the way up the hill into Chinatown The probleure out where a cable car was going, they only ca about every ten minutes, so Ray couldn’t wait for the next one, jump on, and shout, "Follow that antiquated but quaint public conveyance, and step on it!" And there were no cabs in sight

It turned out that jogging up a steep city hill on a hot su on a treadyot to California Street, Ray was drenched in sweat, and not only hated the city of San Francisco and everyone in it, he was pretty o back to the relative desperation of Ukrainian Girls Loving Hie, where the cable cars pick up in Chinatown, and was actually able to jump on the car behind Audrey’s and continue the breathtaking, seven-mile-per-hour chase, ten more blocks to Market Street

Audrey hopped off the cable car, walked directly out to the island on Market, and stepped onto one of the antique streetcars, which left before Ray even got to the island She was like soht The way the trains just seeot there She was master of some sort of evil, streetcar mojo, no doubt about that (In ination can turn quickly on a floundering suitor, and at that point, Ray’s was beginning to consume what little confidence he had mustered)

It was Market Street, however, the busiest street in the City, and Ray was able to quickly grab a cab and follow Audrey all the way into the Mission district, and even kept the cab for a few blocks when she was on foot again

Ray stayed a block away, following Audrey to a big jade-green Queen Anne Victorian building off Seventeenth Street, which had a small plaque on the column by the porch that read THREE JEWELS BUDDHIST CENTER Ray had his breath and his composure back, and was able to watch coht post across the street as Audrey cliot to the top step, the leaded-glass door flew open and two old ladies ca, but entirely out of control The old ladies looked fa into the back pocket of his jeans He came up with the photocopies he’d kept of the driver’s-license photos of the women Charlie had asked him to find It was the there with the future Mrs Macy Then, just as Ray was trying to get his head around the connection, the door of the Buddhist center opened again and out charged what looked like a river otter in a sequinedAudrey’s ankles with a pair of scissors

Charlie and Inspector Rivera stood outside Fresh Music in the Castro, trying to peer in the s past the cardboard cutouts and giant albu to the hours posted on the door, the store should have been open, but the door was locked and it was dark inside From what Charlie could see, the store was exactly as he had seen it years ago when he’d confronted Minty Fresh, except for one, distinct difference: the shelf full of glowing soul vessels was gone

There was a frozen-yogurt shop next door and Rivera led Charlie in and talked to the owner, a guy who looked entirely too fit to run a sweetshop, who said, "He hasn’t opened for five days Didn’t say a word to any of us Is he okay?"

"I’m sure he’s fine," Rivera said

Three minutes later Rivera had obtained Minty Fresh’s phone numbers and ho the nu voice mail, they went to Fresh’s apartment in Twin Peaks to find newspapers piled up by the door

Rivera turned to Charlie "Do you know of anyone else who could vouch for what you’ve been telling me?"

"You mean other Death Merchants?" Charlie asked "I don’t know them, but I know of them They probably won’t talk to you"

"Used-book-store owner in the Haight and a junk dealer off lower Fourth Street, right?" Rivera said

"No," Charlie said "I don’t know of anyone like that Why did you ask?"

"Because both of the," Rivera said There was blood all over the walls of the junk dealer’s office There was a huht"

Charlie backed against the wall "That wasn’t in the paper"

"We don’t release stuff like that Both lived alone, no one saw anything, we don’t know that a cri - "

"You think that these other guys were Death Merchants?"

"I’ I believe that, Charlie, it could just be a coincidence, but when Ray Macy called me today about you, that was actually the reason I ca to ask you if you knew theo He ht about Sophie for the hundredth ti there with her "Can I call hter?"

"Sure," Rivera said "But then - "

"Book ’e his cell phone out of his jacket pocket "That can’t be ten minutes away I think the owner is one of us"

Sophie was fine, feeding Cheese Newts to the hellhounds with Mrs Korjev She asked Charlie if he needed any help and he teared up and had to get control of his voice before he answered

Seven minutes later they were parked crossways in thewater into the second story of the building that housed Book ’ee to the police officer who had been first on the scene

"Fire crews can’t get in," the cop said "There’s a heavy steel fire door in the back and those shutters must be quarter-inch steel or more"

The security shutters were bowed outward and had thousands of small bumps all over them

"What happened?" Rivera asked

"We don’t know yet," said the cop "Neighbors reported an explosion and that’s all we know so far No one lived upstairs We’ve evacuated all the adjacent buildings"

"Thanks," Rivera said He looked at Charlie, raised an eyebrow

"The Fillmore," Charlie said "A pawnshop at Fulton and Fill Charlie’s arm to help speed-limp him to the car

"So I’m not a suspect anymore?" Charlie asked

"We’ll see if you live," Rivera said, opening the car door

Once in the car, Charlie called his sister "Jane, I need you to go get Sophie and the puppies and take them to your place"

"Sure, Charlie, but we just had the carpets cleaned - Alvin and - "

"Do not separate Sophie and the hellhounds for one second, Jane, do you understand?"

"Jeez, Charlie Sure"

"I er and they’ll protect her"

"What’s going on? Do you want me to call the cops?"

"I’ht now"