Deader Still

By the time Co

“Why couldn’t he have been some big old fat guy?” I shouted ahead to Co

“Sorry!”

“Don’t let it get away, kid,” Co

I slid down the embankment and tried to keep my pace while I crossed the road with caution. Horns blared, but I was almost all the way across when I felt a tug on my jacket that spun me around like a top. I heard the sound of it tearing. My coattail must have caught on a passing car because the speed at which I spun reminded me of the old Wonder Woman quick-change on TV. I was no superhero, though, and although my coat luckily tore free from whatever car had snagged it, I was dizzy and stumbled around as I regained my footing.

Co

The jogger still didn’t seem to notice that he was being chased, but he was quite fast for a dead science nerd.

“Don’t make me drown you,” I shouted after him, hoping to get his attention. He was almost at the reservoir now. I pulled my bat free from the holster on my belt and flicked off its safety before telescoping it to full length. I wasn’t sure what the jogger would do once cornered at water’s edge—or what damage my bat could do to a ghost—but I wanted to be prepared for anything. I slid the rest of the way down the embankment with Co

“Be careful, kid,” he shouted. I came in swinging low, hoping to take the jogger right below his knees. I didn’t, however, expect him to just keep on ru

Co

In my frustration, I made one last attempt to stop the jogger by chucking my bat at him. I couldn’t help myself. My aim was perfect, but unfortunately the bat sailed through the jogger’s body and fell into the water with a splash.

“Simon—” Co

“Right,” I said, slapping my forehead. “Ghost.”

We watched the jogger disappear off into the distance. Even if we made our way around the reservoir, he’d be long gone by then.

“That,” Co

I sat down at the edge of the water and pulled my shoes off.

“Kid?”

“It’s already killing me that I’m waiting for a replacement phone from Supply,” I said, rolling up my pants above the knee. “I’ll be damned if I’m going to wait on a new telescopic bat. It’ll take months, because even after I churn through all the paperwork, they’ll still have to have it custom-made. If I have to wait on it, I’ll be long dead before the order ever comes through.”

“Suit yourself,” Co

I stepped into the freezing water. My foot hit the slime-coated reservoir bed and I fought back the urge to throw up. Was being a do-gooder really a better life than the one of crime that I had left behind—a world of Mina’s and other assorted psychotics? As something slithered its way over my toes, I really wasn’t sure.

13

My luck held true to form and my bat was much deeper in the water than I’d expected. By the time I got it, I was soaked through to the middle of my thighs. On the bright side, being wet was a step up from being covered in liquefied rats.

The chase had taken a lot out of us, and as Co

Co

“The cause of death seems to be the same as the one for the people on the boat,” he said.

“Do you think the vampires knew the jogger? Or was it something random?”

Co

“Eh?”

“The jogger’s shirt,” Co

“That doesn’t seem very likely,” I said.

“Always consider the unlikely, kid,” Co

When we returned to the little park surrounding the spire, the Metropolitan Museum of Art rose into sight through the trees like a scenic backdrop, and in the foreground I could make out the figure of David Davidson pacing near the body. Co

“What was that all about?” Davidson asked when we were within earshot. He shooed away several of the cops meandering near the crime scene.

“Nothing,” Co

“That chase was for nothing?” Davidson raised his eyebrows.

“Did you see anything?” Co

Davidson shook his head.

“Okay, then,” Co

“Just have them push through the paperwork on the you know what,” I added.

The cops were still lingering too close for my liking.

“Vampire?” Davidson whispered under his breath.

I nodded as I checked to make sure no one had heard us.

“Easy there,” Co

“I’d try clawing, too, if someone sank their teeth into my neck,” I said. “Unless we’re talking about Jane, of course.”

Co

I shook my head. “I don’t do the dead. Well, not off the body, anyway. At least the DJ had equipment with him on the boat. Remember?” Co

As I reached for the body, Co

“Besides, we already checked,” Davidson added. “No keys. No wallet. Nothing. The only way we ID’d him was because he matched the description of a missing-person call that came in.”

I stepped away from the body, frustrated. “Jesus. You’d think he’d at least be wearing an iPod or something.” I turned to the spire at the center of our little park. “What is this thing anyway?”