The Night Beat

you.”
    “Fascist,” he muttered.
    “No, but speaking of which, is Hitler up at the church?”
    He tried to control it -- he kept most of his expression neutral. But his eyes opened a bit wider and his body jerked, just a little. “I have no idea.”
    “You’re big on saying you don’t have any idea about anything. But Nero, my not-so-favorite ghoul, you’re an idea being. So, I’m betting you have a really good idea of what’s going on. Like who set the fake Hellfire perimeter.”
    He shook his head. “I’m not saying another word.”
    I considered our options. Continuing to question Nero could bear fruit, or it could just leave us barking up a very silent tree. I refused to just let him wander off because Yahweh only knew when we’d find him again or what he’d do. But my alternatives weren’t all that exciting. Tying him up just meant he’d get free in some way -- I’d seen enough movies and heard enough stories to know that never worked. Taking him up the hill with us would give him a prime opportunity to advise the Forces of Darkness that we were coming, let alone allow him to mess things up in any way he could.
    This left taking him the Headquarters. I was all over that possibility, but how was the really big question. Other than the five of us, our entire extended team were in some form of medical rehab, so I couldn’t really ask one of them to come on over and cover this. I doubted Jack, Freddy or Sexy Cindy could really find their way back to take Nero in safely, and Nero was a pro at exploiting weaknesses. Which would leave Ralph.
    However, Ralph was my only truly trained operative. Sure, Jack was a great cop, but he was a human and we were about to face some serious minions. And I didn’t want him to get hurt. Freddy and Sexy Cindy were game and seemed willing, but they had no real training in how to use their undead powers. So, if I sent Ralph away, I was making my meager team even weaker.
    I felt out of options. “We need to do something with him before we move on,” I said lamely, mostly to fill the silence.
    “We could call for a car,” Jack suggested.
    Ralph snorted. “You don’t want humans dealing with this one. Trust me.”
    I nodded. “Ralph’s right.”
    “Don’t you all have some sort of paddy wagon?” Sexy Cindy asked.
    Ralph and I looked at each other. “Actually,” I said slowly, “we do.” It hadn’t occurred to me because they didn’t really work law enforcement so much as transportation. But they were on day shift duty under normal circumstances and they were always up for anything, and no one was ever able to put one past them -- they’d seen and done enough when they were alive that nothing ever fooled them.
    I hit the buttons on my wrist-com for the Tour Bus. “Yo,” a man’s sexy voice replied. “Vic, baby, what’s up?”
    “Merc, are you and L.K. available?”
    “For you, darling, always.”
    “I need a perp taken into Headquarters. He’s slippery and trouble, and I need it done with some semblance of speed and subtlety.”
    Merc chuckled. I heard L.K. in the background. “Is it needful circumstances?”
    I controlled the sigh. These two did have their little quirks. “Yes, King, it is.” I knew what was expected. Fortunately, it was easy in this case. “No lazing on a Sunday afternoon for you two.”
    They both laughed. “Love working with you, darling,” Merc said. “We aiming for your mark?”
    “Please. By the way, we’re in the Estates.
    “I could tell.”
    “Yes, but here’s the thing. It looks surrounded by Hellfire, but it’s not real.”
    “You want us to take your word and risk unlife and limb to cross what could be the most deadly thing out there?”
    “Yeah. I figure it’ll be a nice flashback for both of you. Not like your human lives were exactly dull and full of boredom.”
    “You do know how to entice, don’t you darling? Be there in two shakes of my tail.” Both of them were laughing as Merc signed off.
    My wrist-com went dead. Jack cocked his head. “Let me guess -- Elvis is on his way?”
    “Not…quite.” I went to the front door and waited. True to their reputations, they were as fast as lightning. The Tour Bus flew up the street and came to a screeching halt in front of what might really be Nero’s house. I was fairly sure no one had noticed them -- the Tour Bus had a good spell on it. Human’s only saw it when they needed to.
    The Tour Bus really looked like a tour bus, for some obvious