Part I Part 112 (1/2)

”It's life. The last thing the twenty-first century wants to admit is that it might not know everything.” I popped open the c.o.ke and guzzled some. ”How's the leg, Murph?”

”It hurts,” Murphy reported, considerately leaving out the implied ”you idiot.”

Georgia stood up from attending Murphy's leg and shook her head. She was nearly a foot taller than Billy, and had bound her blond hair back into a tight braid. It emphasized the gauntness of her features. ”The cuts and bruises are nothing major, but your knee could be seriously damaged. You should have it checked out by a real doctor, Lieutenant Murphy.”

”Karrin,” Murphy said. ”Anyone who mops up my blood can call me Karrin.” I tossed Murphy a c.o.ke. She caught it and said, ”Except you, Dresden. Any diet?”

I put several slices of pizza on a paper plate and pa.s.sed them over. ”Live a little.”

”All right, Karrin,” Georgia said, folding her arms. ”If you don't want a twenty-five-thousand-dollar surgery along with seven or eight months of rehab, we need to get you to the hospital.”

Murphy frowned, then nodded and said, ”Let me eat something first. I'm starving.”

”I'll get the car,” Georgia said. She turned to Billy. ”Make sure she doesn't put any weight on her leg when you bring her down. Keep it straight if you can.”

”Got it,” Billy said. ”Phil, Greg. Get that blanket. We'll make a litter out of it.”

”I'm not an infant,” Murphy said.

I put my hand on her shoulder. ”Easy,” I said in a quiet voice. ”They can handle themselves.”

”So can I.”

”You're hurt, Murph,” I said. ”If you were one of your people, you'd be telling you to shut up and stop being part of the problem.”

Murphy shot me a glower, but its edge was blunted by the big mouthful of pizza she took. ”Yeah. I know. I just hate being sidelined.”

I grunted.

”What are you going to do?” she asked.

I shook my head. ”Finish this c.o.ke. I haven't planned much past that.”

She sighed. ”All right, Harry. Look, I'll be home in a few hours. I'll keep digging, see if I can turn up anything about Lloyd Slate. If you need information on anything else, get in touch.”

”You should rest,” I told her.

She grimaced at her leg. Her knee was swollen to a couple of times its normal size. ”Looks like I'm going to have plenty of time for that.”

I grunted again and looked away.

”Hey, Harry,” Murphy said. When I didn't look at her, she continued, ”What happened to me wasn't your fault. I knew the risks and I took them.”

”You shouldn't have had to.”

”No one should. We live in an imperfect world, Dresden. In case that hasn't yet become obvious enough for you.” She nudged my leg with her elbow. ”Besides. You were lucky I was there. The way I count it, I'm the one who put on the boots.”

A smile threatened my expression. ”You did what?”

”Put on the boots,” Murphy said. ”I put on the boots and kicked some monster a.s.s. I dropped the ghoul, and I'm the one who rammed a chain saw through the head of that plant monster thing. Crippled the ogre, too. What did you do? You threw a can of Sterno at him. That's barely an a.s.sist.”

”Yeah, but I soaked him in gasoline first.”

She snorted at me, around more pizza. ”Shutout.”

”Whatever.”

”Murphy three, Dresden zero.”

”You didn't do all of it.”

”I put on the boots.”

I raised my hands. ”Okay, okay. You've... got boots, Murph.”

She sniffed and took an almost dainty sip of c.o.ke. ”Lucky I was there.”

I squeezed her shoulder and said, with no particular inflection, ”Yes. Thank you.”

Murphy smiled up at me. From the window, one of the Alphas reported, ”Car's ready.”

Billy and a couple more laid out a blanket and then carefully lifted Murphy onto it. She tolerated them with a roll of her eyes, but hissed with discomfort even at the gentle motion.

”Call,” she said.

”Will.”

”Watch your back, Harry.” Then they carried her out.

I picked up some more pizza, exchanged some more or less polite chitchat with some of the Alphas, and made my escape from the crowded living room of the apartment to the balcony. I shut the sliding gla.s.s door behind me. Only one light in the parking lot provided any illumination, so the balcony was mostly covered in sheltering shadows. The night was a close one, humidity cooking along at a lazy summer broil, but even so it felt less claustrophobic than the crowded apartment.

I watched Billy and the Alphas load Murphy into a minivan and drive off. Then there was as much silence as you ever get in Chicago. The hiss of tires on asphalt was a constant, liquid background, punctuated with occasional sirens, horns, mechanical squeaks and squeals, and the buzzing of one lost locust that must have been perched on a building nearby.

I put my paper plate on the wooden balcony railing, closed my eyes, and took a deep breath, trying to clear my head.

”Penny for your thoughts,” said a quiet female voice.

I nearly jumped off the balcony in sheer reaction. My hand brushed the paper plate, and the pizza fell to the parking lot below. I whirled around and found Meryl sitting in a chair at the other side of the balcony, deep in shadows, her large form nothing more than a more solid piece of darkness-but her eyes gleamed in the half-light, reflecting traces of red. She watched the plate fall and then said, ”Sorry.”

”S'okay,” I said. ”Just a little nervous tonight.”

She nodded. ”I was listening.”

I nodded back to her and returned to looking at nothing, listening to night sounds. After a while, she asked me, ”Does it hurt?”

I waved my bandaged hand idly. ”Sort of.”

”Not that,” she said. ”I meant watching your friend get hurt.”

Some of my racing thoughts coalesced into irritated anger. ”What kind of question is that?”