Page 7 (1/2)

Chapter 9

The car rode in its own tunnel of darkness The headlights were a ht closed behind the car like a door

Stephen was asleep in the back seat of er seat, half-turned in his seat belt to look at me It was just polite to look at soe because I had to watch the road All he had to do was stare at me

"What do you do in your spare time?" Richard asked

I shook my head "I don&039;t have spare time"

"Hobbies?"

"I don&039;t think I have any of those, either"

"You e snakes in the head," he said

I slanced at him He leaned towards , too, but there was so in his eyes, or his posture, that said he was serious Interested in what I would say

"I&039;ether, left elbow propped on the back of the seat "Okay, when you&039;re not raising the dead, what do you do?"

"Work on preternatural crimes with the police, mostly murders"

"And?" he said

"And I execute rogue va," I said I glanced at hiain In the dark I couldn&039;t see his eyes, their color was too dark for that, but I could feel his gaze Probably i around Jean-Claude too long The sled with a faint whiff of his cologne So expensive and sweet It went very nicely with the so out with friends" I shrugged "What do you do when you&039;re not teaching?"

"Scuba diving, caving, bird watching, gardening, astronomy" His smile was a dim whiteness in the near dark

"You must have a lot more free time than I do"

"Actually, the teacher always has more homework than the students," he said

"Sorry to hear that"

He shrugged, the leather creaked and slithered over his skin Good leather always moved like it was still alive

"Do you watch TV?" he asked

"My television broke two years ago, and I never replaced it"

"You ht about it "I collect toy penguins" The rinned atsomewhere The Executioner collects stuffed toys I like it"

"Glad to hear it" My voice sounded gru?" he said

"I&039;ood at s fine"

No, I wasn&039;t, but I wasn&039;t sure how to explain it to hiers Especially strangers with ties to Jean-Claude

"What do you want fro the tith hair had fallen around his face He was taller, thicker, but the outline was familiar He looked like Phillip in the shadowed dark Phillip was the only other hu I&039;d ever seen with the ed in the chains Blood poured in a bright red flood down his chest It splattered onto the floor, like rain Torchlight glittered on the wet bone of his spine Soainst the wall as if soh air So, "Oh, God, oh, God," over and over, and it was ainst the wall I couldn&039;t take my eyes from him Couldn&039;t look away Couldn&039;t breathe Couldn&039;t cry

The torchlight reflected in his eyes, giving the illusion of ut and spilled outcold slithered up uilty conscience It hadn&039;t been my fault that Phillip died I certainly didn&039;t kill hiuilty Someone should have saved him, and since I was the last one with a chance to do it, it should have been

"What do you want from me, Richard?" I asked

"I don&039;t want anything," he said

"Lies are ugly things, Richard"

"What ?"

"Finely honed instinct," I said

"Has it really been that long since a man tried to make polite small talk with you?"

I started to look at hi "The last person who flirted with irl a little cautious"

He was quiet for a h, but I still want to know more about you"

"Why?"

"Why not?"

He had me there "How do I know Jean-Claude didn&039;t tell you to make friends?"

"Why would he do that?"

I shrugged

"Okay, let&039;s start over Pretend we met at the health club"

"Health club?" I said

He sreat in your swimsuit"

"Sweats," I said

He nodded "You looked cute in your sweats"

"I liked looking great better"

"If I get to iet cute"

"Fair enough"

"We made pleasant small talk and I asked you out"

I had to look at hi me out?"

"Yes, I am"

I shook my head and turned back to the road "I don&039;t think that&039;s a good idea"

"Why not?" he asked

"I told you"

"Just because one person got killed on you doesn&039;twheel tight enough to ht when my mother died My father reo away and they don&039;t come back"

"Sounds scary" His voice was soft and low

I didn&039;t knohat had made me say that I didn&039;t usually talk about ers, or anybody else for that matter "Scary," I said softly "You could say that"

"If you never let anyone get close to you, you don&039;t get hurt, is that it?"