Cavuto nodded. "We're fucked, you know? We have to let them go."
Rivera unlocked the handcuffs and got out of the car. He stood next to Cavuto, not sure what to do next.
Jody stuck her head out the back window of the cruiser. "Come on, Tommy, you drive."
Tommy turned to the Emperor, who nodded for him to go, then to the Animals. "You guys, get that stuff off the dock. In Troy's car. Get out of here. I'll call you at the store tomorrow."
Tommy shrugged, got in the car, and started it. "What now?"
"To the loft, Tommy. He needs a dark place to heal."
"I'm not comfortable with this, Jody. I want you to know that. I'd like to know what your relationship is to this guy."
The vampire moaned.
"Drive," she said.
They pulled off the dock, leaving the Animals scrambling around collecting the art and the two policemen staring at them in amazement.
She said, "I love you, Tommy, but I need someone who's like me. Someone who understands. You know how that is, right?"
"So you run off with the first rich older guy that comes along?"
"He's the only one, Tommy." She stroked the vampire's burned hair. "I don't have any choice. I hate being alone. And if he died, then I'd never know about what I am."
"So you two are going away? You're leaving me?"
"I wish I could think of some other way. I'm sorry."
"I knew you'd break my heart."
Chapter 35
Sculptures
Sunset cast a warm orange across the great Pyramid, while below, the Emperor enjoyed a cappuccino on a concrete bench and Bummer and Lazarus battled for the remains of a three-pound porterhouse.
"Men, would that I could let you, like Cincinnatus, retire like gentlemen soldiers to the country, but the City is still in need. The fiend is vanquished, but not the despair of my people. Our responsibility is legion."
A family of tourists passed the Emperor, hurrying to get to the cable-car stop at California Street before dark, and the Emperor tipped his cup in salute. The father, a balding fat man in an Alcatraz sweatshirt, took the Emperor's gesture as a request for spare change and said, "Why don't you get a job?"
The Emperor smiled. "Good sir, I have a job. I am Emperor of San Francisco and Protector of Mexico."
The tourist scrunched his face in disgust. "Look at you. Look at your clothes. You stink. You need a bath. You're nothing but a bum."
The Emperor looked down at the fraying cuffs of his dirty wool overcoat, his rib-worn gray corduroys, stained with splatters of vampire blood, the holes in his filthy sneakers. He raised an arm and took a sniff, then hung his head.
The tourists walked away.
Cavuto and Rivera sat in leather wingback chairs in front of the fireplace in Cavuto's Cow Hollow apartment. The fireplace was burning, the fire crackling and dancing as it fought off the damp chill of the bay. The room was furnished with rugged oak antiques, the bookshelves filled with detective novels, the walls hung with guns and posters from Bogart movies. Rivera drank cognac; Cavuto, Scotch. On the coffee table between them stood a three-foot-high bronze statue of a ballerina.
"So what do we do with it?" Cavuto asked. "It's probably stolen."
"Maybe not," Rivera said. "He might have bought it from Degas himself."
"The black kid says it's worth millions. You think he's right?"
Rivera lit a cigarette. "If it's authentic, yeah. So what do we do with it?"
"I've only got a couple of years before I retire. I've always wanted to own a rare-book shop."
Rivera smiled at the thought. "The wife wants to see Europe. I wouldn't mind having a little business of my own. Maybe learn to play golf."
"We could turn it in and just finish our time. They're going to move us out of homicide after this, you know that? We're too old for narcotics. Probably vice — night after night of screaming hookers."
Rivera sighed. "I'll miss homicide."
"Yeah, it was quiet."
"I've always wanted to learn about rare books," Rivera said.
"No golf," Cavuto said. "Golf is for pussies."
Tommy moved the futon so he could sit facing the two statues, then sat down to admire his handiwork. He'd worked all day in the foundry below, covering Jody and the vampire with the thin coat of conductive paint and putting them into the bronzing vats. The two biker sculptors had been more than happy to help, especialy when Tommy pulled a handful of cash out of the grocery bag that the Emperor had delivered.
The statues looked very lifelike. They should, they were still alive under the bronze coating, except for Zelda, who stood next to the two vampires. Tommy had put Jody in a leotard before he applied the paint. He'd dressed the vampire in a pair of his own jockey shorts. It was amazing how fast the vampire had healed after drinking Jody's blood. The worst part had been waiting — waiting outside the bedroom where Jody had carried the vampire, waiting for them to go out at sunrise, listening to the soft murmur of their voices. What had they been talking about?
Overall, the vampire looked pretty good. Almost all the damage to his body had healed by morning. Jody, even bronzed, looked beautiful. The finishing touch had been to drill ear holes through the thick bronze coating so he could talk to her.
"Jody, I know that you're probably really, really mad. I don't blame you. But I didn't have a choice. It's not forever, it's just until I can figure out what to do. I didn't want to lose you. I know you wanted to just go away and I think you would have, but he wouldn't have. He would never have let me live."
Tommy waited, as if he would get some response from the statue. He picked up the grocery bag of money from the floor and held it up.
"By the way, we're rich! Cool, huh? I'll never make fun of Lash for studying business again. In less than a day he fenced the art from the yacht and got us ten cents on the dollar. Our cut's over a hundred thousand. The guys flew to Vegas. We tried to give a share to the Emperor, but he would only take enough to buy a meal for Bummer and Lazarus. He said that money would distract him from his responsibilities. Great, huh?"
He dropped the money and sighed.
"Those two cops believed you. They're going to leave us alone. They reported that the killer was on board the yacht when it went up. Lash gave the gate guard some money to back up their story. I couldn't believe they were going along with it. I think the big cop kind of likes me.
"I'm going to write a book about this. I came here to find adventure and being with you sure has been that. And I don't want to give it up. I know we're not the same. And we shouldn't feel lonely when we have each other. I love you. I'm going to figure I something out. I've got to sleep now. It's been days."
He got up and went to Jody. "I'm sorry," he said. He kissed the cold bronze lips and was turning to go into the bedroom when the phone rang.
"It's probably the Animals calling from some casino," he said as he picked up the phone.
"Hello."
"Uh, hi," a man's voice said. "Could I speak to Jody, please?"
Tommy pulled the phone away and looked at it, then put it to his ear and said, "Jody's… well… she's deceased."
"I know. Can I speak to her?"
"You sick fuck."
"Is this C. Thomas Flood? The guy from the paper?"
Who was this guy? "Look, buddy, that was a mistake. They got the guy who did those murders."
"Look, my name is Steve. I can't tell you my last name. Not until I'm sure it's safe. I'm a med student at Berkeley. I spoke to Jody the other night. We were supposed to meet the other night at Enrico's, but she never showed up. I'm kind of glad, I met a nice girl who works at the Safeway with you. Anyway, when I saw Jody's name in the paper I took a chance and looked up the number."