Part 18 (1/2)

With the exception of the odd serial killer, and car salesmen who think of them as the perfect unit for measuring trunk s.p.a.ce, n.o.body likes a dead wh.o.r.e. (”Yeah, you can get five-maybe six dead hookers in this baby.”) ”She looks so natural,” said Troy Lee, looking down on Blue. ”Except for the way her arm is bent under her-and the riding crop-and the blood everywhere, I mean.”

”And she's blue,” said Lash.

The other Animals nodded mournfully.

It was turning out to be a stressful morning for the Animals: cleaning up the mess that Jody had made of the store, getting Drew to the emergency room to get his forehead sewn up where the wine bottle had hit him (they immediately pa.s.sed around the painkillers he was prescribed, which help to take the edge off), then explaining the broken front window to the manager when he came in, and now this- ”You're the one with almost an MBA,” Barry, the short balding one, said to Lash. ”You should know what to do.”

”They don't cover what to do with a dead hooker,” Lash countered. ”That's a whole different program. Political science, I think.”

Despite the dulling they'd given themselves with the painkillers and a case of beer they'd shared in the parking lot at the Safeway, they were all feeling sad, and a little frightened.

”Gustavo is the porter,” Clint said. ”Shouldn't he do the cleanups?”

”Ahhhhh!” said Jeff, the tall ex-jock, as he thumped Clint on the head with a protruding knuckle. Feeling like the knuckle might not quite be enough, he s.n.a.t.c.hed off Clint's horn-rimmed gla.s.ses and threw them to Troy Lee, who snapped them into four neat pieces and handed them back to Clint.

”This is all your fault,” Lash said. ”If you hadn't ratted Flood out to the cops, this wouldn't have happened.”

”I just told them that Tommy was a vampire,” Clint whined. ”I didn't tell them he was here. I didn't tell them about your wh.o.r.e of Babylon.”

”You didn't know her like we did,” Barry added, his voice breaking a little. ”She was special.”

”Expensive,” Drew said.

”Si, expensive,” added Gustavo. expensive,” added Gustavo.

”She probably could finally afford to go to Babylon,” said Lash.

”Forgive them, for they know not what they do,” Clint said.

Troy Lee bent and examined Blue, careful not to touch her. ”It's hard to see bruising through the blue dye, but I guess she broke her neck. The blood must be Flood's. I don't see any marks on her.”

”No bite marks, you mean,” said Clint.

”Of course that's what I mean, nit wit. You know Flood's girlfriend did this, right?”

”How do you know?” Lash asked. ”It could have been Flood.”

”I don't think so,” said Troy Lee. ”Tommy was tied up here-see the orange c.r.a.p all over the restraints. And these were unlocked, not broken.”

”Maybe when Blue let him go he killed her.”

Troy Lee picked something off of Blue's face, as delicately as if he were taking her ghost. ”Except for this.”

He held a long red hair up where Lash could see it. ”No reason for her to be here, if Flood was loose.”

”Dude, you're like one of those CSI CSI guys,” Drew said. guys,” Drew said.

”We should call those two homicide cops,” Barry said, like he was the first who might have thought of it.

”And tell them to come help us with our dead hooker,” Lash said.

”Well they know about the vampires,” Barry said. ”Maybe they'll help us.”

”How 'bout we move her to your apartment, and then call them?”

”Well, what are we going to do with her?” Barry said, standing feet apart, hands behind his back, a brave Hobbit ready to face a dragon.

Troy Lee shrugged. ”Wait until dark, then drop her in the Bay?”

”I can't bear to touch her,” Barry said. ”Not after the moments we shared.”

”You little puntas, puntas,” Gustavo said, stepping up and beginning to roll up the bloodstained rug. He had a wife and five children, and although he had never disposed of a dead hooker before, he thought that it couldn't be any worse than changing the diaper on a gloopy infant.

The other Animals all looked at one another, embarra.s.sed, until Gustavo growled at them and they jumped to move the heavy bed frame out of his way.

”I never really liked her that much, anyway,” Barry said.

”She really did take advantage of us,” Jeff said.

”I just went along with you guys so I didn't ruin the party,” said Troy Lee. ”I didn't enjoy even half of those b.l.o.w. .j.o.bs.”

”Let's just put her in my closet until tonight, then a couple of us can sneak the b.i.t.c.h out to Hunter's Point and drop her off.”

”On Christmas?” Drew asked.

”Can't believe she took all our money and now she's going to ruin Christmas,” said Troy Lee.

”Our money!” said Lash. ”That b.i.t.c.h!”

n.o.body likes a dead wh.o.r.e.

I do like a dead wh.o.r.e now and then,” said the vampire Elijah Ben Sapir, derailing a perfectly good theme. He'd snapped the wh.o.r.e's neck right before she was completely drained so there would be a body. ”But one doesn't want to be too obvious.” He dragged the wh.o.r.e's body behind a Dumpster, and watched as the wounds on her neck healed over. He'd taken her in an alley near Tenth and Mission streets. He'd had the hood up on the oversized tracksuit he was wearing, so she'd been surprised when they'd ventured down the alley and he threw it back to reveal a very pale Semitic man. do like a dead wh.o.r.e now and then,” said the vampire Elijah Ben Sapir, derailing a perfectly good theme. He'd snapped the wh.o.r.e's neck right before she was completely drained so there would be a body. ”But one doesn't want to be too obvious.” He dragged the wh.o.r.e's body behind a Dumpster, and watched as the wounds on her neck healed over. He'd taken her in an alley near Tenth and Mission streets. He'd had the hood up on the oversized tracksuit he was wearing, so she'd been surprised when they'd ventured down the alley and he threw it back to reveal a very pale Semitic man.

”Look at-chew. Thought baby was a playa-” the wh.o.r.e had said, her last words. She'd only had a hundred dollars on her, which, along with the tracksuit and a pair of Nikes, were the complete resources the ancient vampire had at his disposal.

He'd come to the city in a yacht worth millions, filled with art worth millions more, and now he was reduced to making kills for petty cash. Of course he owned several homes around the world, and had stashes of cash put away in a dozen cities, but it would take some time to access it. And perhaps it wasn't so bad to have the wolf at the door, for a change. After all, he'd come to the City and taken a new fledgling in order to alleviate his boredom. (It's very hard to feel alive when you've been dead for eight hundred years.) And she had done that. He was not bored-and he felt very much alive.

He walked out of the alley and checked the sky. Dawn was threatening-he had perhaps twenty minutes until sunup. ”Where does the time go?” He crossed the street and was buzzed into a hotel with a sign that read FOR RENT. BY HOUR, DAY, OR WEEK. FOR RENT. BY HOUR, DAY, OR WEEK. He could smell the cigarettes, sweat, and heroin on the desk clerk, and he kept his head down so the hood covered his face. He could smell the cigarettes, sweat, and heroin on the desk clerk, and he kept his head down so the hood covered his face.

”Do you have a room without a window?”

”Twenty-five bucks, like all the others,” the clerk said. ”You want sheets? Sheets are five more.”