“Yes.”
“Then what exactly am I supposed to do?”
Julie picks up a pen from a pad sitting next to her laptop. She taps it on the paper.
“I agree with you about looking into Tamerlan Radescu, but we have a problem. You’re too well known to do it discreetly.”
“I’d say let Candy—Chihiro—do it, but people will have seen us together. If they know me, they’ll know her.”
Julie looks away, thinking.
“I suppose I could call some old colleagues from the Vigil and see if they want any after-hours work.”
“I have a better idea. Brigitte Bardo can do it. She’s an actress, so she can look and sound like anything you want. Plus, she’s a trained zombie hunter, so she can handle herself if there’s any problems.”
Julie sits back in her chair.
“I don’t know her that well. I’d have to interview her before I can agree to anything.”
“I’ll call and get her over here today.”
“All right. Do that.”
“You know, one thing I could do is talk to some Cold Cases. They keep tabs on the dying and the recent dead. Maybe one of them has heard about some necromancer badassery.”
“That could be a good idea, but don’t you have a history with the Cold Cases. Didn’t one try to have you killed?”
I wave it off.
“Who hasn’t tried to have me killed? We’ll have a chat over tea and cakes. It will be fine.”
“Keep it civil. No fighting. No guns. At the first sign of trouble, you excuse yourself and report back to me.”
“Got it. I wonder if I should talk to some ghosts.”
Julie frowns.
“You can do that?”
“I don’t see why not. I saw a witch do it at Max Overdrive. It didn’t look all that hard.”
“Once again, I don’t know if you’re joking. But if that’s something you can do, hearing from the dead might be helpful.”
“I know a couple that will probably talk to me. All it’ll cost is some coffee and donuts. Maybe a sandwich.”
“Don’t forget to get receipts.”
“Right. Receipts. Sure.”
“I’m serious—if you want to get paid back I need paperwork.”
“No problem. I’m on it.”
Julie picks up her mug and takes a swig of coffee.
“Are we going to be all right working together?” she says. “You were pretty upset earlier and I need to know that it’s not going to affect things.”
I touch the cigarettes in my pocket, wanting to get outside and have a smoke.