"If you really need to tell somebody, you can tell me," she said with a smile. "I don't mind listening."
Louise is pretty sweet, most of the time. It's hard to believe that she's Civil Service.
"That's all right, Louise," I said. "It would take me an hour to give you the background, and I'm not sure if the payoff would be worth it for you. But thanks."
She gave a toss of her head that sent the blonde curls bouncing. "That's OK."
"When you see the Feebies again, ask them to do something for me, will you?"
She pulled a pad over and grabbed a pencil. "Sure – go ahead."
"Tell them I think it would be a good idea to find out who owns the People's Voice – I mean who really owns it, not what it says in small print on page 2."
She wrote busily for a few seconds. "Got it, Stan – I'll tell them the next time they come in."
"Thanks. Hey – how'd the tournament go last weekend? Did you take First again?"
Louise is an absolute genius at Scrabble, and she's got the trophies to prove it.
She made a face. "Nah. Second."
"You'll get 'em next time."
"Damn straight I will."
Karl and I spent about an hour catching up on paperwork – or whatever we should call it these days, since no paper's involved. Then we signed out for the night. Fifteen minutes later, I was home.
As I closed the front door behind me, I noticed there was no light on in the kitchen. Christine can see fine in the dark, but she usually leaves the light on for my sake. I flipped the switch – no Christine. Tonight had been her night off, so I knew she hadn't gone to work.
Living room – nothing. I looked in the basement, although Christine never goes down there until she has to. Nothing. Then I checked the bathroom and upstairs. Nada.
A cold hand had gripped my chest as soon as I saw the darkened kitchen, and with every room I looked in, it grabbed a little tighter. I checked my watch – sunrise in seven minutes.
If she was stuck somewhere and couldn't get home before dawn, she'd have called – either to have me come get her, or at least to let me know that she was OK. But my cell phone hadn't rung all night. It occurred to me to check the house phone – we still have a landline, call me old-fashioned – and felt a surge of relief when I saw the red light blinking on the answering machine. I started toward it – and then heard the sound of a key in the front door.
A moment later, Christine walked in. I resisted the temptation to go all fatherly and give her, "Where have you been, young lady?" She was an adult now, and besides, she's a vampire – people are probably afraid of her.
She closed the door and said, "Hi, Daddy." To my ears she sounded a little like a teenager coming home way past curfew, but I might have been projecting my own feelings onto her.
I took a deep breath, let it out and said, "You're cutting it pretty close tonight, baby. Sun's up in–"
"Six minutes. I know. I hope you weren't worried."
"What – me worry? I'm a regular Paul Newman."
She laughed a little. "I think you mean Alfred E." She came over and gave me a hug, and when she stepped back I saw, at the corner of her mouth, a tiny smear of red.
As she went over to put her purse on the kitchen counter I said, because I had to, "Mind if I ask where you were tonight?"
She turned back at once. The look she gave me wasn't angry, exactly, but I didn't think she was about to nominate me for Father of the Year, either.
She raised one eyebrow – something I've never been able to do, but her mother always could – and said, "I thought the new policy was 'Don't ask – don't tell.' Was it only good for twenty-four hours?"
We stood looking at each other for a little bit, then I blinked a couple of times and nodded slowly. "Yeah, you're right. I withdraw the question, and I'll try not to ask it again." I gave her half a grin. "Guess maybe I was a little worried, after all."
Her face relaxed. "I know, and I'm sorry I put you through it. I tried to take a shortcut home. Like most shortcuts, it ended up taking longer than the regular way."
"You could've transformed and flown home," I said.
"Yeah, I know. If I was really pushing the dawn, I would have. But I'd hate to just leave the car, with my purse in it, parked on some street all day. So I'm saving going batty as a last resort."
"You're the best judge," I said. "Just call me Paranoid Papa."
She gave me a smile that looked genuine. "I don't think it's called paranoia if you're scared for someone else." Glancing toward the window she said, "Well, time for nighty-night. See you at sundown."
She was opening the basement door when I said, "Don't get pissed off, but I need to ask you a very specific question, baby. Either answer it, or don't."
Her expression became wary. "All right, but be quick, huh?"
"Do you know a guy named Lester Howard?"
"Is he warm?"
He wasn't when I saw him, but to avoid confusing her I just said, "Yeah."
Her brows furrowed, then she shook her head slowly. "Nope, the name doesn't ring any bells. Why?"
"I'll tell you about it tonight. Sleep well, honey."
"OK, then. Goodnight, Daddy." She closed the door behind her, and I could hear her footsteps on the stairs.
I'm not going to say it's impossible for Christine to deceive me. Any parent who thinks that is a fool. But I've known her a long time – her whole life, and then some – and I believed her.
Then I remembered that answering machine message. If it wasn't Christine, then who…?
"Stan, hey, it's Karl. I've gotta hit the hay in a couple minutes, but on the way home it hit me why that weird knife wound in Milo rang a bell. I was at the Supernatural Law Enforcement Conference in LA last year – you got me that grant, remember? So I met this chick from Chicago, she's a detective on their Spook Squad. Spent all my free time buying her drinks and trying to get into her pants. I never did, but I remember she told me about a bunch of homicides where each one of the vics had a long blade shoved through the soft tissue under his jaw and up into the brain. Familiar, haina? She said the Chicago cops had a pretty good idea who the hitter was, they just couldn't prove it. And catch this: she said the guy would kill anybody for money, but the dude specialized in supes. I'll call her tonight and try to get a name and some more info. Catch you later, man."