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He s and help calm the waters"

"I didn't agree to that"

"You didn't say no, either"

He had a point I sippedface for perhaps a , only stared back His face was neutral, no challenge to it There was no contest of egos as with Bert "Let's go," I said

We stood I left a tip We went off in search of clues

Chapter 20

Rebecca Miles lived in South City's Dogtown The streets were all na was blind, rass was tall as an elephant's eye, but not half so beautiful A block over were expensive rehabs full of yuppies and politicians There were no yuppies on Rebecca's block

Her apart, narrow corridor There was no air conditioning in the hallway, and the heat was like chest-high fur, thick and war In places the off-green walls were patched hite plaster, but it was clean The s in the small, dark hallway You could probably have eaten off the carpeting if you had wanted to, but you would have gotten fuzzies in your et rid of carpet fuzzies

As we had discussed in the car, Phillip knocked on the door The idea was that he would cal into her hu before we heard so around behind the door

The door opened as far as the chain would allow I couldn't see who answered the door A woman's voice, thick with sleep, said, "Phillip, what are you doing here?"

"Can I come in for a few minutes?" he asked I couldn't see his face, but I would have bet everything I owned that he was flashing her one of his infamous smiles

"Sure; sorry, you woke me up" The door closed, and the chain rattled The door reopened, wide I still couldn't see around Phillip So I guess Rebecca didn't see me either

Phillip walked in, and I followed behind hiasping, stranded-fish heat The darkness should have made it cooler, but instead made it claustrophobic Sweat trickled down my face

Rebecca Miles stood holding onto the door She was thin, with lifeless dark hair falling straight to her shoulders High cheekbones clung to the skin of her face She was nearly overwhelile Small, dark eyes blinked atout the light She had only seen me once, shortly after Maurice's death

"Did you bring a friend?" she asked She shut the door, and ere in near darkness

"Yes," Phillip said "This is Anita Blake"

Her voice came out small and choked "The Executioner?"

"Yes, but

She opened her smalland slapping I braced and covered irl, all open-handed slaps, scratches, and flailing arrabbed her wrist and used her own momentum to pull her past me She stuht arm in a joint lock It puts pressure on the elbow, it hurts, and a little extra push will snap the arht well after you break their arm at the elbow

I didn't want to break the woman's arm I didn't want to hurt her at all There were two bloody scratches on uess I was lucky she hadn't had a gun

She tried to move, and I pressed on the arasps "You can't kill him! You can't! Please, please don't" She started to cry, thin shoulders shaking inside the too-big robe I stood there, holding her ar her pain

I released her arm, slowly, and stepped back out of reach I hoped she didn't attack again I didn't want to hurt her, and I didn't want her to hurt

Rebecca Miles wasn't going to try again She huddled against the door, thin, starved hands locked around her knees She sobbed, gasping for air, "Youcan'tkill hi herself tight as if she lass

Jesus, some days I hate my job "Talk to her, Phillip Tell her we didn't come here to hurt anyone"

Phillip knelt beside her He kept his hands at his sides as he talked to her I didn't hear what he said Her shuddering sobs floated after ht-hand doorway It led into the bedroom

A coffin sat beside the bed, dark wood, leaht I came to kill her lover Jesus