Blood Trail

am I supposed to stop a killer I can't see ? The more rational part of her mind tried to interject that the wer were hiring her for her detective abilities and her experience, not her eyes, but she was having none of it. Maybe I'll get lucky and one of them's been trained as a guide dog.

    "Yo! Victory!"

    Frowning, she looked around. Her anger had carried her almost to Parliament and Gerrard, farther than she'd expected. "What are you doing in this part of town?"

    Tony grinned as he sauntered up. "What happened to, 'Hi, how are ya?' "

    Vicki sighed and attempted not to take the day out on Tony. When she'd gone to him for help and together they'd saved Henry, their relationship had changed, moved up a level from cop and kid - not that he'd actually been a kid for some time. Four years ago, when she first busted him, he'd been a scrawny troublemaker of fifteen. Over the years, he'd become her best set of eyes and ears on the street. Now, they seemed to be moving toward something a little more equal, but old habits die hard and she still felt responsible for him.

    "All right." She flicked a drop of sweat off her chin. "Hi. How are you?"

    "How come," he asked conversationally, falling into step beside her, "when you ask, 'How are you?' it comes out sounding like, 'How much shit are you in?' "

    "How much?"

    "None."

    Vicki turned her head to look at him but he only smiled beatifically, the picture of wronged innocence. He was looking pretty good, she had to admit, his eyes were clear, his hair was clean, and he'd actually begun to gain a little weight. "Good for you. Now back to my first question, what are you doing in this part of town?"

    "I got a place here." He dropped that bombshell with all the studied nonchalance a young man of almost twenty could muster.

    "You what!" The exclamation was for Tony's benefit, as he so obviously wanted her to make it. Her mood began to lighten under the influence of his pleasure.

    "It's just a room in a basement." He shrugged - no big deal. "But I got my own bathroom. I never had one before."

    "Tony, how are you paying for this?" He'd always turned the occasional trick, and she hoped like hell he hadn't gone into the business full time - not only because it was illegal but because the specter of AIDS now haunted every encounter.

    "I could say it's none of your business. ..." As her brows drew down, he raised his hands appeasingly. "But I won't. I got a job. Start on Monday. Henry knows this guy who's a contractor and he needed a wiffle."

    "A what?"

    "Guy who does the joe jobs."

    "Henry found you this?"

    "Yup. Found me the place too."

    All the years she'd known Tony, the most he'd ever been willing to take from her had been the occasional meal and a little cash in return for information. Henry Fitzroy had known him less than five months and had taken over his life. Vicki had to unclench her teeth before she could speak. "Have you been spending a lot of time with Henry?" The question held an edge.

    Tony glanced over at her appraisingly, squinting a little in the bright afternoon sun. "Not much. Hear you're gonna be doing some howling with him this weekend though." At her frown, he leaned closer and in an excellent imitation of a monster movie matinee, intoned,
    "Verevolves."

    "And did he discuss the case with you too?"

    "Hey, he just mentioned it."

    "I'm surprised he didn't invite you along."

    "Jeez, Victory," Tony shook his head. "There's just no talking to you in this mood. Get laid or something and lighten up, eh." He waved jauntily and raced to catch the streetcar at the lights.

    Vicki's reply got lost in traffic sounds and it was probably just as well.

    "Is it something I said?"

    Vicki didn't bother to lift her head off the cool glass of the car window. The highway lights were less than useless as illumination so why bother turning to face a man she couldn't see.
    "What are you talking about?"

    Her tone was so aggressively neutral that Henry smiled. He concentrated for a moment on slipping the BMW into the just barely adequate space between two transports then out the other side to a clear section of road where he actually managed to achieve the speed limit for seven or eight car lengths before he caught up to another section of congested traffic. "You haven't said two civil words to me since I picked you up. I was wondering if I'd done something to annoy you."

    "No." She shifted position, drummed her fingers on her knee, and took a deep breath.