mine, Charlie. He left his mind in Vietnam, I'm afraid, but a good soul just the same. He had been dead for some time when I found him, though. The fiend left him there to rot."
Cavuto bristled. "But you didn't see this vampire guy at the scene either."
"I have seen him in the financial district, once in Chinatown, and at the marina last night. In fact, that young man gave me sanctuary at the Safeway."
Cavuto's beeper went off. He ignored it. "You saw Flood and this vampire guy together?"
"No, I ran from the wharf when the fiend materialized out of mist."
"I'm outta here," Cavuto said, throwing up his hands. He checked his beeper and went back to the car.
Rivera held his ground. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty, my partner needs to learn some manners. Now, if you can just tell me..."
Cavuto beeped the horn and hung his head out the window. "Rivera, come on. They found another one. Let's go."
"Wait a second." Rivera took a business card out of his wallet and gave it to the Emperor. "Highness, could you call me tomorrow, around noon? I'll come get you wherever you are - buy you and the men some lunch."
"Of course, my son."
Cavuto yelled out the car window, "Let's go, this one's fresh."
"Be careful," Rivera said to the Emperor. "Watch your back, okay?"
The Emperor grinned. "Safety first."
Rivera turned and walked to the car. He was still shutting the door as Cavuto pulled away from the curb. Cavuto said, "Another snapped neck. Body's in a pickup off of Market. Uniforms found it five minutes ago."
"Blood loss?"
"They knew enough not to say over the radio. But there's a witness."
"Witness?"
"Homeless guy sleeping in the alley saw a woman leaving the scene. There's an all-points out for a redheaded female in a black cocktail dress."
"You're bullshitting."
Cavuto turned and looked him in the eye. "The Laundromat ninja returns."
"Santa Fucking Maria," Rivera said.
"I love it when you speak Spanish."
The radio crackled again, the dispatcher calling their unit number. Rivera grabbed the mike and keyed it.
"What now?" he said.
Chapter 30~31
Chapter 30
Cops and Corpses
"This guy is pissing me off," Cavuto said, expelling a blue cloud of cigar smoke against the file drawers of the dead. "I hate this fucking guy." He was standing over the body of Gilbert Bendetti, who had a thermometer sticking out of the side of his abdomen.
"Inspector, there's no smoking allowed in here," said a uniformed officer who had been called to the scene.
Cavuto waved to the drawers. "Do you think they mind?"
The officer shook his head. "No, sir."
Cavuto blew a stream of smoke at Gilbert. "And him, do you think he minds?"
"No, sir."
"And you, Patrolman Jeeter, you don't mind, do you?"
Jeeter cleared his throat. "Uh... no, sir."
"Well, good," Cavuto said. "Look on the side of the car, Jeeter. It says 'Protect and Serve, not 'Piss and Moan. »
"Yes, sir."
Rivera came through the double doors, followed by a tall, sixtyish man in a lab coat and silver wire-frame glasses.
Cavuto looked up. "Doc, this guy done, or what?"
The doctor pulled a surgical mask over his face as he approached the body. He bent over Gilbert and checked the thermometer. "He's been dead about four hours. I'd put the time of death between one and one-thirty. I won't be able to tell for sure until I finish the postmortem, but offhand I'd say myocardial infarction."
"I hate this guy," Cavuto repeated. He looked down at Jody's toe tag, which was lying on the linoleum with a chalk circle drawn around it. "Any chance this guy misplaced the redhead?"
The coroner looked up. "None at all. Someone removed the body."
Rivera had his notebook out and was scribbling as the doctor talked. "Any news on the one that just came in, the cowboy? Any blood loss?"
"Again, I can't say for sure, but it looks like a broken neck is the cause of death. There may have been some blood loss, but not as much as we've seen with the others. Since he was sitting up, it could just be settling."
"What about the wound on the throat?" Rivera asked.
"What wound?" the coroner said. "There was no wound on the throat; I checked the body myself."
Rivera's arms fell to his sides, his pen clattered on the linoleum. "Doctor, could you check again? Nick and I both saw distinct puncture wounds on the right side of the neck."
The doctor stood up and walked to the rack of drawers and pulled one out. "Check for yourself."
Cavuto and Rivera moved to either side of