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7

I drove north along Harbor Blvd, through don Fullerton and made a left onto Berkeley Street I parked in the visitor parking in front of the Fullerton Municipal Courthouse, turned off my car, and sat there

While I sat there, I drank water from a bottle Water is one of the few drinks h the alcohol in wine has no effect on me

Yeah, I know Bu heavy froers I couldn&039;t help but noticewith taut muscle I like that I worked hard for that, and it was soranted

I sat in the minivan and watched the entrance to the courthouse There was little activity at this late hour I wasn&039;t sure what I was hoping to find here but I like to get a look and feel for all aspects of a case Makes me feel involved and inforht turn up

Two security guards patrolled the front of the building So where had they been at the ti the back of the building

Behind me was a wooded area; above that were condominiums A bluejay swooped low over my hood and disappeared into the branches of a pine tree A squirrel suddenly dashed along the pine tree&039;s liain, and dove down after the squirrel

Can&039;t we all just get along?

When the guards disappeared around a corner, I got out of the van and s were still shaky from the workout; my hands heavy and useless, like twin balloons filled with sand

The courthouses consisted of two massive edifices that faced each other Between therassy knoll, full of trees and stone benches The benches were e sky

I like darkening skies

Shortly, I found the infah to conceal evenman with broad shoulders As a shield, it was useless, as the additional bullets in Kingsley&039;s head attested To have relied on it for one&039;s sole protection of a gun-wieldingto contesley&039;s fear, recalled his desperate atte bullets Coa

I circled the tree and found four fairly fresh holes in the trunk The bullets had, of course, been dug out and added to the evidence Now the holes were nothing more than dark splotches within the white bark The tree and Kingsley had one thing in coun

The attack had been brazen The fact that the shooter had gotten away clean was probably a fluke The shooter hiunned down himself But instead he walked away, and disappeared in a truck that no one seemed to remember the license plate of The shooter was still out there, his job left unfinished Probably wondering what ood question

According to the doctor&039;s reports cited in a supplementary draft within the police report, all bullets had sley&039;s brain In fact, the defense attorney&039;s only side effect was a minor loss in creativity Of course, for a defense attorney, a lack of creativity could prove disastrous

Sosley dead, and someone wanted it done outside the courthouse, a place where sley&039;s ability to manipulate the law This fact was not lost on me

Detective Sherbet had only ation into the possibility that the shooting was related to one of Kingsley&039;s current or past cases Sherbet had not dug very deeply

It wasbucks

I turned and left the way I had come

8

"So how often do you, like, feed?" asked Mary Lou

Mary Lou was my sister Only recently had she discovered that I was, like, a creature of the night Although I co family, she was the only one I had confided in, rown up best friends We were sitting side-by-side at a brass-topped counter in a bar called Hero&039;s in don Fullerton

I said, "Often Especially when I see a particular fine sweep of milky white neck Like yours for instance"

"Ha ha," she said Mary Lou was drinking a le house Chardonnay Since I couldn&039;t taste the Chardonnay, why order the good stuff? And Chardonnay rarely had a reaction on my syste in public witha blue sweater and jeans Today was casual day at the insurance office This was apparently soood She often talked about casual day; in fact, often days before the actual casual event

"Seriously, Saain

I didn&039;t say anything I sed soue good for only talking and kissing, and lately not even kissing I looked over at Mary Lou She was six years older than ain she ate a nor "I get hungry like you My stoer symptoms"

"But you can only drink blood"

"Youthat a little louder?" I said "I don&039;t think the guy in the booth behind us quite heard"

"Sorry," she said sheepishly

"We&039;re supposed to keep this quiet, remember?"

"I know"

"You haven&039;t told anyone?" I asked her again

"No I swear You knoon&039;t tell"

"I know"

The bartender calass of wine I nodded, shrugging What the hell,useless, like wine

"Have you tried eating other food?" asked Mary Lou

"Yes"

"What happens?" she asked

"Sto I throw it back up within minutes Not a pretty picture"

"But you can drink wine," she said

"It&039;s the only thing I&039;ve found so far that I can drink," I said "And sometimes not even that Needs to be relatively pure"

"So no red wine"

"No red wine," I said

My sister, with her healthy tan, put her hand on my hand As she did so, she flinched imperceptively froers "I&039;m sorry this happened to you, Sis"

"I am, too," I said

"Can I ask you some more questions?" she asked

"Were you just war me up?"

"Yes and no"

"Fine," I said "What else you got for me?"

"Does the blood, you know, have to be human blood?"