The Night Beat

because it seemed obvious Tomio had been hand-selected for evil quality.
    “I go back to the question of what our plan is,” Monty said. “Figuring things out is nice. Doing something about it is better.”
    “Thank you, oh fount of wisdom and experience.” I considered our options. Splitting up seemed like it was going to be in order. We clearly needed to investigate The Pleasure Palace, we needed to track down all the potential relatives of the dead, keeping an eye on the folks in the hospital was going to be a given, and finding out what was up with Tomio had to be a good idea.
    It dawned on me that it was probably past time to check on Amanda and Maurice. I dialed up Amanda on my wrist-com. No answer. Okay, no reason to panic. Called Maurice. No answer. Called the Count. “Have you heard from Amanda or Maurice? Recently, I mean?”
    There must have been something in my tone of voice that told the Count that now wasn’t the time to chide or complain. “No. I’ll try now.” It was quiet for a few long seconds. “No answer from either one. Black Angel One just came back on duty, sending them to intercept.”
    “Good. Please tell them to be careful and fast.”
    “Just out of curiosity, what do you think has befallen them?”
    “I think they’re fighting Abaddon and Apollyon.” Or they were dead. I decided not to mention that possibility, because it was all too possible and I didn’t want to think about it.
    “I see. Black Angel One advised. May I suggest that Black Angel Two be ready to assist?”
    My conversation with the Count had everyone’s attention. Well, it would save time. “You may.” Miriam and Magdalena both nodded, but made no move to leave. “However, until Black Angel One either doesn’t respond or calls for backup, Black Angel Two plans to stay with our teams.”
    “Teams?” the Count asked politely.
    I brought him up to speed quickly. “So we’re going to have to split up into several teams to tackle everything.” I refrained from adding “unless we have to go save Amanda and Maurice” because that would mean Black Angels One and Two were in need of assistance, and that was never a sign of good times ahead.
    “I see.” The Count was quiet for a few moments. “Carry on.”
    Somehow, I’d expected something more from him than that. “Uh, okay. Will do.” My wrist-com went dead.
    Ralph was the first one to speak. Well, first he did the canine throat-clear, but right after that, he spoke. “Did that seem…odd to anyone else?”
    “Very much,” Monty said. As the being with us who’d known the Count the longest, this held a lot of stressful weight.
    I looked around. Everyone was nodding in agreement, even Jack, Freddy and Sexy Cindy. “So, what’re we thinking? The Count’s got a lot on his mind or we’ve got an infiltration and he’s trying to give us a hint?”
    “Oh, I’d go with infiltration,” Monty replied. “It’s always a favorite.”
    “Who could infiltrate that place?” Jack asked.
    I thought about it. Sexy Cindy had made the point that Jack and I could be considered part of the group who were part of Slimy’s attack. And the stronger minions had serious skills. We probably did have eighteen doppelgängers walking about. They just were now unlikely to all be Tomio copies.
    “I have a sinking suspicion, Jack, that you and I not only could infiltrate, but did.”
    “Great.” At least he didn’t sound freaked out. “How do you fight a doppelgänger?”
    “You don’t touch yours, for starters,” Edgar said. “Touching your own duplicate is dangerous at best and normally permanently fatal.”
    “Oh. Good.” Jack shook his head. “What kills them?”
    “Same things that kill us. That’s the one positive.”
    “Yeah, I’m feeling the positive in the situation.” Jack sighed. “So, you and I have to engage the doppelgängers, right?”
    “How do you figure that?” Ken asked him.
    I answered. “We’re the only ones who can be sure we’re really us.”
    “Good point. What’ll the rest of us be doing?” Ken looked ready to fly off and fight something.
    “You’ll be dividing up into teams to handle all the other issues we’ve got.”
    “You know, they’re doing a very good job of dividing us,” Martin said.
    “And potentially conquering, yeah, I know.” The base of my tail wanted a word. “However, what they may be doing is trying to get us away from here, right here. Meaning we want to stay here and continue