The Night Beat

done wrong. He went out of his way to be perfect, from what he said.”
    “Thanks, ‘cause I don’t feel bad enough.”
    “Oh, he’s over it. He realized you two weren’t really going to work out, and he’s relieved you’re still close friends. Jude wasn’t perfect, was he?”
    I controlled the snort. “No. He’s awesome, but not perfect. He’d be the first one to tell you that, too.”
    “Flaws are interesting. Ken’s realizing that, I think.”
    “How so?”
    She giggled. “He told me he’s hemoglobin-intolerant.”
    Ken had bad reactions to drinking blood? Who knew? Well, Sexy Cindy, apparently. A thought waved its tail. “Are you two becoming an item?”
    She shrugged. “Maybe, if we all survive this. He feels real bad for messing me and Freddy up, undead-wise, so he’s spent a lot of time apologizing. More to me than to Freddy.”
    I looked at her carefully. “You like Freddy, too, don’t you?”
    “Yeah. He always treated me like I was more than a whore, you know?”
    “Because you always were more than a whore.”
    “But I didn’t know that.” She looked down. “This is gonna sound stupid, I think. But thank you.”
    “Uh, for what?”
    She looked up. “For also seeing me as more than a whore.”
    I shook my head. “Everyone gets a fresh start, once they undie.”
    “Girl, you knew me as a human, okay? Maybe Ken and the others, they look at me clean. But you’re a cop, and I was a street hooker, and you knew me that way for a good long time. But you still listened to me and let me back you up, and I don’t think any other being would have done that.”
    “Well, we’ll never know. But for what it’s worth, if I’d known how smart you were back when you were a living human, I’d have dragged you off the streets and into some sort of hooker-rehab.”
    “I’d have fought it,” she said flatly. Then she grinned. “But not any more. I like being a sorta-cop.”
    “You’re good at it, so I’m relieved you’re not wishing you were safely tucked away at the University.”
    “Nah, I like kicking butt and taking names.”
    “It’s addictive, isn’t it? So, before we hug and sing ‘We Are the Undead World’, you want to give me your thoughts about my twisted love life, just in case I’ve missed something? Like that I’m not handling it well and will fall apart at the worst possible time?”
    “Sure.” She laughed. “If we ignore the whole ‘he’s really the Adversary’ thing and your suspicions about him sleeping around -- which he was, but you didn’t know that when it mattered -- Jack was too perfect. He was almost like Ken, only Ken’s got real flaws, he just knows how to hide them well. But Jack was made to be perfect for you, and that made him actually the wrong guy.”
    “Somewhere there was logic in that explanation, but I’ve missed it.”
    She shook her head. “Girl, you’re gonna have to trust me. Maurice thinks if you’d seen Ralph in human form years ago you two would already be married.”
    “Married seems a little fast and extreme.” Only, in a way, it didn’t. I considered checking myself for fever.
    “Right. As if you’re determined to be single forever? Face it, you saw the dude without fur and started drooling. No argument there, either. He’s hot.”
    “Jack was more handsome.” Jack was more everything. I didn’t care any more, but facts were facts.
    “Maybe. Ralph’s a lot more…real.”
    And per Nurse Nancy, well-endowed. And Ralph not only was a great kisser, but not even Jack had done that growl thing. My breathing got heavier just thinking about the growl-thing.
    “So you don’t think I’m rebounding, or rebounding stupidly or dangerously?”
    “Nope. I think you’re doing so good because Jack was wrong for you and Ralph is right. But I think the bad guys are gonna try to play Jack against Ralph, maybe even against Ken and Jude, to get you.”
    “Wonderful.”
    We did a fast straighten of the room, just to show willing and pretend we hadn’t been spending time on girl talk. I managed to make myself look somewhat presentable, then we caught up with the others.
    Ralph was there, flanked by Maurice, Amanda and Ken. I relaxed a little and it was a shock -- I hadn’t realized I’d been worried about his safety, but clearly I had. I looked around -- Ken and I were still the highest ranking officers. Unless, of course, Ralph ranked higher, which was a real possibility.
    “What’re your orders, Vic?” Ralph asked,