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Riley, she discovered, wasn’t chatty when she orking, so Bryn kept her silence, too There was so oddly Zen about the prep room; it was like a chapel, hushed and peaceful As Bryn made her incisions and hooked the carotid out of Mrs Jacoby’s pale, fleshy neck, she concentrated on the details Don’t break the surface was the first rule; the dead did bleed, particularly from the carotid, and it was athat o for the femoral

She didn’t screw it up

The h, and Mrs Jacoby had died peacefully in her sleep It was only afluid, applying the hydration crea theabout this business?" Riley suddenly said She stepped back frohed, put her hands on her hips, and stretched as if her back ached, which it probably did; Bryn’s already had a twinge, even though she’d probably done a lot less standing and leaning "You can get used to the bodies, the smell, the mess I’ve picked up bodies that were et used to the grief, too"

Bryn nodded She’d already experienced that; after the first few days, she’d realized that the tearful stories still moved her, but not in a deeply personal way She’d put up a wall to eable She’d seen the bad (Melissa) and the sad (most of the rest), and so far, only one that was crazy, but it was all a et used to thinking of them as just skin, bones, flesh, to-do lists, but every once in a while you find so that makes you realize they used to be just like you Just like us" Riley stared down at the h one, a car crash victih Bryn had more reason than most to subscribe to the whole beauty-is-skin-deep theory "He had plane tickets in his pocket He was supposed to be headed to Hawaii today--can you believe that? First class He probably paid extra so he could really enjoy hi his na on to a standby because he hasn’t shown up"

Riley was right That made it uncomfortably real There were sostopped for death; nothing stopped for grief or horror or tragedy

As if she’d read her thoughts, Riley said, "The worst part of it is that it never stops Death keeps coet sad and lonely because nobody understands e do or e do it Police and firemen, they’re heroes Us, we’re pariahs And every day, there are more bodies" She said it without any particular emotional emphasis; it was an observation, delivered calmly, but it chilled Bryn deep down

"Then why do you do it?" she asked

Riley turned and ood at it," she said "Because it needs doing Why do you?"

Originally, it had been because the ood and the job was stable, but Bryn understood what Riley was saying There was a certain unspoken honor to this job, a certain quiet dignity We, Bryn thought, are the great dirty secret, the reality that runs under everything else

And Riley was right It was lonely

"Don’t mind me," Riley said, and finally smiled It didn’t reach her sad eyes "I’ve been at this awhile I get et depressed; soet philosophical It’s healthier"

"What do you do when you’re not, you know, here?"

"I shower three tio out to dinner with friends I watch movies and read books I exercise I live a normal life" Riley cocked her head and looked at Bryn with suddenly sharp, inquisitive eyes "Don’t you?"

"Well, I have a dog" That was just about the only norood Pets are good People will let you down" Riley shook her head and put her ood work on Mrs Jacoby, by the way"

"It’s easy"

"Nothing’s easy here Just delicate"

As Bryn warently applied it to Mrs Jacoby’s pale, lifeless lips, she had to agree

Joe Fideli gave her shots every day She didn’t see McCallister at all, although she knew Fideli was in contact with hie her on the road alone, unprotected So she had a bodyguard from the minute she left the fortress of her apartment until she arrived at the funeral ho ti in her office, and the distorted voice said, "I got your good-faith money, Bryn Very nice"