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I glanced at the zombie who’d arrived with him, then back to Norden "You’re back on the Goon Squad?"

"Yeah They couldn’t keep ave oddaht"

"You were brave"

"Yeah? Well, I hope nobody expects h of that shit And now, e to run into you My luck stinks, you know that?"

"No worse than ot some questions for your boyfriend here about a va facility He looked at the notebook in his hand "Juliet Capulet Says here she’s your roo to get dressed before you ask theht back"

"Yeah, put soo with her"

"What?" the female zombie and I asked at the same time

"Go with her This freak’s into knives and shit like that I don’t want her charging out of the bedroooddamn sword" He shooed at her with both hands "Go on Make yourself useful for once" He turned to Kane "Can you believe it? Two chicks on the entire goddamn Goon Squad, and I draw one of ’eoddaot up and followed me to the bedroom We introduced ourselves on the way Her name was Pamela McFarren--"But everyone calls ue had turned her into a zombie Like two thousand other Bostonians who’d woken up to find themselves zombified, she’d lost her job and her home when she was forced to relocate to Deadtown "I didn’tout of the South Bay House of Correction and onto patrol was really a promotion"

"Even with Norden as a partner?"

She barked out a laugh "Hey, I worked in corrections He’s a pussycat compared to some of the people I dealt with there"

"Norden" and "pussycat" Tords I never expected to hear in the sa like, "Norden ran over his neighbor’s pussycat and laughed about it"

"Besides," McFarren continued, "his previous partner died I can cut the guy a little slack while he deals with that"

"I knew his partner Brian Sykes was a good man" And one of the zombies who’d been torn to shreds by the Morfran

"Yes," McFarren agreed "His death was a real loss to the force I figure that’s why Norden’s kind of weird around zombies noitchy, like And mean"

"Pauys who coue asshole He’ll irritate the hell out of you and enjoy doing it And then he says or does so that ue asshole’"

McFarren laughed Then she did et dressed

I found a pair of my jeans in a drawer and pulled the it on the back of the door I left Kane’s shirt on I liked the way it felt, big and slouchy and suffused with Kane’s scent: hints of pine in a deep,roo Kane My stoht tell Norden where Juliet was Surely he wouldn’t betray her--not when I’d asked hiive her a chance But he didn’t trust her; maybe he’d rather see her in custody

I sed the lump of worry in , "I was in ned in and again when I signed out Severalcre me, as well"

"Where’s your office?"

"Near Governave the address, and Norden scribbled it down

"How coht?"

"I needed some papers I’d left on my desk I went in to pick them up and then did so, as if calculating "I passed through the checkpoints aroundone thirty, I’d say, and then caht home"

"We can verify all this, you know"

Kane looked Norden in the eye "I’d think you were slacking if you didn’t"