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"Just peachy, Clyde Would youKane a call? Tell hiood, Miss Vaughn" He reached for the phone

"Goddaru zorowled, and the huave his partner a look that would reducepuddle of fear The two stared at each other, tense, fists clenched on both sides Then Sykes pulled up his hood, put on his sunglasses, and shaloves

Norden watched hio, his lip curled in pure hatred Odd Most nor out with the h This one seemed to be here because he hated us Wasn’t I lucky the lucky one, drawing hih It just wasn’t his day I wasn’t playing nice, his partner was snarling at hi uy wasfor so me hard toward the door

"Mr Kane is out of the office, Miss Vaughn," Clyde said, putting the phone down Daotten about the press conference "But I left an urgent e"

"Thanks, Clyde And could you send someone up to fix my front door? The Goons kicked it in The lock’s busted, and Juliet’s asleep in her coffin"

Clyde picked up the phone again as Norden hustled me out the door Good old Clyde He’d have the door fixed before Juliet woke up Good thing, too, I thought, looking at Norden In this neighborhood, you couldn’t be too careful

5

THE GOON SQUAD WAS HEADQUARTERED IN THE BASEMENT of a rundown building in the New Coripped rayeach side The sound of our footsteps ricocheted off the anonymous walls, and I tried not to wonder what lurked behind the doors Offices, probably, but the place had an eerie sense of despair, as though people were trapped and forgotten behind those blank doors We stopped in front of one, seely at random Norden rapped once, then turned the knob and went inside Sykes propelled me in behind him

"Here’s your freak," Norden said He spun around, shot y-eyed frowns, then pushed past me and out the door "C’ardedlike he wanted to say soh, he settled for a nod Then he sha the door behind him

The room was small, with scuffed, white, less walls Two people sat at a banged-up metal table--a woman directly across from me, and a man to my left There was no third chair, no place for ed, then I turned lare into a pair of astonishingly blue eyes with a hint of a ses I blinked and took in the rest of the view: a headful of curly blond hair--half an inch too long for a cop--high cheekbones, and a strong jaw He wore a suit, not a unifor at a detective I didn’t know they uy should’ve beenain Nah, he wasn’t pretty enough to be a azillion bucks playing tough-but-sensitive action heroes Whatever He still looked da it around to my side of the table "Here, why don’t you sit down?" he asked "I’ll find us another seat"

I sat, and he actually held the chair for entleuy Circu pulled out of ed here in my pj’s by the Goon Squad

Suddenly I realized I hadn’t even had time to comb ation room, or whatever it was, didn’t have one of those one-way mirrors I didn’t want to see

The detective disappeared through the door, which shut with a bang but no click Was it unlocked? Norden hadn’t used a key to get in I thought of reaching over to try the knob and glanced at the fe like a startled owl She was on the far side of forty, with frizzy hair, scanty eyebrows, and saucer-sized dark circles under her eyes Her jacket, green plaid with linebacker shoulder pads, could’ve been an exhibit in a 1980s ht about how easy it would be to walk out of there--stand up, open the unlocked door, waltz down that hallway and up the rickety stairs She’d be too paralyzed to stop ht back

The door opened, and the good-looking detective wrestled achair into the room He hefted it over aveabout hiood manners, the even better looks, the two-hundred-watt smile Who the hell was he to look so attractive and friendly andattractive? This was the guy who’d sicced the Goons on , but I beat hied ainsta word until ed a look, increasing my annoyance factor "My attorney, by the way, is Alexander Kane Ever heard of hian

"Kane will be hts aspect of my treatment today I’ive hts of a human, but it didn’t work that way Shapeshifters were either active, like me, or inactive, like my sister, Gwen, a suburban wife and hts as huhts at all Kane had several civil rights cases grinding their way through the courts, trying to get such issues in front of the Suprehts