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11

Kingsley occupied a spacious corner suite, filled with lots of dark wood shelving and legal reference books Had the blinds not been shut he would have had a grand panorae Thick stacks of rubberbanded folders were piled everywhere, and in one corner was a discreet wet bar A bottle of Jack Daniel&039;s was sitting not-so-discreetly on the counter

"Generally, the Jack Daniel&039;s stays behind the bar during office hours," said Kingsley,er than protocol required Then added, "You keep strange hours, Mrs Moon"

I rely well"

The scar above his eye was alone Indeed, it even appeared to have ain Moination He sawat it and promptly turned his head

"Touche," he said "A drink to the freaks?"

"This freak is working No drinking" Drinking didn&039;t effect me, but he didn&039;t need to know that

"Do you mind if I have one?"

"You mean another one?" I asked I could it smell it on his breath

"You are quite the detective," he said

"Oh yeah, that was a hard one"

He grinned and swept past me toward the bar "Please, make yourself comfortable"

The closest place to make myself comfortable was a client chair that was currently occupied by a giant box "Would you prefer I sit on a pile of folders or on top of this box?" I asked, perhaps a little snottily

Behind sley had started to pour hiive me We&039;ve been so busy lately; the place is a et that for you"

"Don&039;t bother," I said, setting the heavy box on the floor

Now back behind his desk, drink in hand, Kingsley watched lass The bourbon sparkled aht I watched hi was up Finally, he said, "That box is filled with four fifty-pound plates," he said "Two hundred pounds And if you throw in the other crap in the box, that&039;s well over two hundred pounds"

"I&039;h I suspected I knehat he was getting at

"It was a test," he said s how you look at it"

I said nothing I couldn&039;t say anything Instead, I found o I had stepped on a thick piece of glass; the wound had healed cosley&039;s face had a healthy rosy glow And he had arrived at my home in the middle of the day and had not worn extra protection from the sun He was not like me, and yet he had survived five bullet shots to the head

"Well," I said, "I would have been in trouble had it been too much over two hundred pounds"

He pounced "You only work nights, Mrs Moon You wear an exorbitant amount of sunscreen Your s, I noticed, were all completely covered You lift two hundred pounds without a moment&039;s hesitation Your skin is icy to the touch And you have the complexion of an avalanche victim"

"Okay, that last one was just mean," I said

"Sorry, but true"

"So what are you getting at?"

He leaned back and folded his hands over his flat stohed So did he Mine was a nervous laugh; his not so hts for a firlance around his office Behind his desk on the wall, was a beautiful picture of the full h-powered telescopic lens There was a silver lobe next to his ether, would form a full moon On his desk was a picture of a wo over her shoulder

"You&039;re obsessed with moons," I said

"Which is why I picked you out of the phone book," he said, grinning "Couldn&039;t help myself, Mrs Moon"

We were both silent I watched hi heavily, his wet tongue pushed up against his incisors His face looked healthy, vigorous andferal

"You&039;re a olf," I said finally

He grinned, wolf-like

12

Kingsley moved over to the , pulled aside the blinds, and peered out into the night With his back to me, I could appreciate the breadth and width of his shoulders

"Could you iine in your wildest drea this conversation?"

"Never"

"And yet neither one of us has denied the other&039;s accusations"

"Nor have we adain, and I listened to the faint hum of traffic outside theI spied soh the open slats I was in uncharted territory here, and so I decided to roll with the situation

"For simplicity&039;s sake," he said, his back still to me, "let&039;s assume we are vampires and olves Where does that leave us?"

"Obviously I must kill you," I said