Part 11 (1/2)

Lucian leaned forward. ”So what upset you so badly?”

”Oh! Oh, well, I ... uh ... I have odd jobs to make ends meet. I work at the morgue, and it's been interesting, and I've learned a lot, but Jesus! Last night ...”

”Last night?”

”We had an accident victim. A kid. Went right through the front window of a car. Man ...”

”Ripped up, I take it?”

”To shreds. But the oddest thing, the most awful, was...”

Daniel looked down, breathing in.

”The most awful was ... ?” ”The head.”

”What about it?”

”It was”-he moistened his lips-”off ... but not completely. It was hanging by shreds of flesh and sinew and . . . there were smears of blood, but not pools of it, and the eyes, oh, G.o.d, the kid must have seen it coming, the eyes . . .”

Lucian was very still for a moment. ”They're convinced he was the victim of an accident?”

Daniel exhaled. ”What else? What the h.e.l.l else? They found the car in a tree. The kid was through the window, half wrapped around the tree. It happened not far from here. Near the Saint Louis Cemetery.

G.o.d, it was awful.

I've seen little kids, poor old people mugged and battered ... I've just never seen anything like this kid's eyes.”

”You should go home and get some sleep.”

”I'm not very tired,” Daniel said, looking down into his coffee. ”Or maybe I am tired. I just can't seem to shake this. I'm ...”

”What?”

Daniel hesitated. ”I'm tired. But I can't sleep.”

”Yes, you can.”

He looked up. ”I-”

”You can.”

Daniel nodded. ”Yeah, thanks. I'm going home now. I'm going to sleep.” He stood, started to leave, then turned back awkwardly. ”Nice to meet you. Thanks again. See you around.”

Lucian nodded.

Daniel left. Thoughtfully, Lucian stared after him.

Jade awoke to find herself on the couch, Rick at her side.

”You okay?”

A sense of panic seized her. What had she said and done? Nothing, nothing-he had walked in; she had pa.s.sed out. He had come in very late-or very early, depending on how you looked at it He hadn't been in her bed.

She had dreamed that he was.

No, not him. Yes, it must have been! Who else would she allow into her dreams, and such a dream?

”You really are upset, huh? I don't blame you, of course,” he said kindly, his blue eyes gentle as he smoothed hair from her face.

Upset? She was losing her mind!

”I. ..um...”

”No offense, but you look like h.e.l.l. And I feel like it.”

She looked like h.e.l.l? She believed him. And she believed that he felt like it as well. He was drawn and haggard. She had never seen Rick in such sad shape.

She reached out and stroked his cheek. ”You must be exhausted. Bad night?”

”Terrible.” He shook his head. ”Even your buddy Daniel was turning green.”

”I'm so sorry. It was a teenager?”

”A young man, a student. A transfer student with a bit of past history, but still ... young.” He looked at her awkwardly. ”Look, I, um...

well, I've never been so thrilled in my life that anybody wanted to be with me, but ... I think I gotta go home. I'm really feeling lousy. I can't keep my eyes open. I want to thrill you to no end and make you see that the world will never be the same without me. But I'm not so sure I could accomplish that at this moment.”

”I understand,” she told him softly. ”I'm ... uh ... not so sure I could thrill you to no end myself right now.”

”You couldn't sleep. Nightmares, hm?” he asked kindly.

”Um, yes, dreams,” she said.

That wasn't a lie. Was it?

”I asked for details from the crime scene in New York,” he told her.

”Gavin will be getting everything in today. When I wake up we can go to the station together and get the information he's received over the wires.”

”Okay, thanks, Rick, you look ... drained. You know,” she offered, ”you could just get some sleep right here.”

”I need to get home. I want clean clothes. I need clean clothes. After the morgue ...”

”I see.”