lawyer on murder," I said.
"No," he said, "I haven't exactly pressed on that, because once they realize they're just going to be executed then..." He let it trail off.
I finished for him. "They have nothing to lose, so they could fight, go apeshit. I would in their place."
"I know you would," he said.
"Wouldn't you?" I asked.
He was quiet for a minute. "I don't know."
"Letting someone kill you is harder than it sounds, if you have another option," I said.
"Maybe," he said, and his voice was thoughtful, too serious for him.
"What?" I asked.
"Nothing."
"There's something in your voice, Zerbrowski. What is it?"
He laughed, and it was suddenly him again, but his next words weren't. "Just thinking I hope you never end up on the wrong end of the law."
"Are you implying that I'd be treated as less than human?" I asked, and I was both angry and hurt.
"No, and you're a good cop."
"Thanks, but I hear a but in there somewhere."
"But, you react like a bad guy when you're cornered. I just don't want to see what would happen if you felt you were out of choices."
We were quiet on the phone, listening to each other breathe. "You've thought about this," I said.
"Hey" - and I could see him shrug, that awkward version he did in his ill-fitting suit - "I'm a cop; that means I do threat assessment. I wouldn't want to be on the wrong side of Dolph either."
"Should I be flattered by the company?"
"He's six foot eight, you're five foot three - he's an ex - college football player and power lifter who stays in shape. You're a girl. Yeah, you should be flattered."
I thought about it for a moment, and then said, "Okay."
"Why do I feel like I should apologize? Like when Katie gets that silence, that girl silence?"
"Don't know; why should you apologize for the truth?"
"I don't know, but you've got that same tone that Katie gets, so I know I'm in the doghouse for it anyway."
"You can't compare me to Dolph and then compare me to your wife, Zerbrowski?"
"You're my partner, and you're a woman; actually that's about right."
I thought about it for another minute, and then said, "Okay."
"Now that's an okay that really means okay, not that okay that women use when it means everything but okay."
I had to laugh then, because he was absolutely right. "What do you want to do to get them to talk?"
"I had an idea. It's going to make me into bad cop, and you into serial killer cop, but we have about twenty missing vampires that have already killed two police officers. They fled, because they do know that they're going to be executed when we catch them."
"Which means we need to find them fast," I said.
"I think they'll give up the others after we're done questioning them."
"What's your plan, Zerbrowski?"
He told me. I was quiet for a few heartbeats. "God, Zerbrowski, that's fucking evil."
"Thank you, thank you very much," he said.
"It wasn't a compliment," I said, and I hung up before he could say something funny, and jolly me out of what I was thinking. Dolph was more physically intimidating and had the worse temper. I was scary in a lot of ways, but Zerbrowski - he hid it better, but the inside of his head could be fucking scary, too. He'd be the last one you'd shoot, but it might be a mistake you wouldn't live through. I filed that thought away, with the thought that he'd been thinking what he'd do if I went over to the Dark Side of the Force. Partners shouldn't think that way about each other - should they?
Chapter Ten
RULE ONE OF trying to break someone down: Isolate them. Zerbrowski separated the vampires, and divided officers up to guard them. SWAT was on the scene now, not the team that had gone to back up Marshal Larry Kirkland, but a second team. Normally I had mixed feelings about having SWAT with me, but tonight I was just glad to see the manpower, and the skill level. I needed some of the vampires alive enough to talk. I spoke with Sergeant Greco and explained what I needed. He passed it on to his men, and I knew that they would do their best to wound and not kill. Not every shooter, no matter how good, can aim to wound when the monsters are coming at them. You've got to have nerves of steel and the marksmanship to go with it; SWAT would have