Read AfterNet 01 - Good Cop Dead Cop for Free Online

three minutes to drink it, you know.” She continued staring straight ahead.
    “All right, this is getting ridiculous. If you can’t take a joke, then that’s just your fault, Yamaguchi. If your anal little mind can’t find the humor in a situation then you can just stick it up your …”
    That’s when Munroe noticed the smile that had been creeping onto her face, and at the same time she lifted her right hand to push back her hair and reveal the ear buds.
    “Oh, you little bitch. How long have you been listening to me?”
    “Since left seat,” she told him. She was again accessing the field directly and not speaking aloud. “Amuse yuorself until concert ends 30 mins. Meet u back by coat check, OK?”
    So she’s still mad, but I’m forgiven. “OK, enjoy yourself.”
    The line moved forward. “I plan to,” she said.
    Munroe left the bar and lobby and headed toward the exits. He hadn’t found a terminal. There’s a Starbucks a block away. Let’s see if they have a terminal. As he left the auditorium he saw the clock in the main gallery of the performing arts center. OK, I have forty-five minutes, enough time to check my email.
    Munroe was back in thirty minutes. He had checked his email in that time and also sent a message to AfterNet security, to make sure that Rebecca Thompson had notified them that her son was missing. It also gave him time to check the scores at ESPN and read yet another analysis of why the Seahawks would almost certainly lose against the mighty Denver Broncos offense and why he would almost certainly lose his bet with the stiff in Detroit who had egged him into putting his money where his mouth was.
    Time to check out the perky blonde, he thought to himself, and waited until he saw someone sneak out of the men’s room. He followed the man and re-entered the concert hall behind him. He worked his way down the orchestra level and then up onto the stage.
    His view of the orchestra and the entire auditorium was impressive. I should have been down here the whole time. Although he couldn’t hear the music, he could sense the rhythms of it by the motions of the musicians and the baton of the conductor. It pleased him to see the feet of the musicians as they kept time when he bent down low and saw their perfect synchrony.
    He allowed himself to see everything at once, not concentrating on anything in particular, for once enjoying the 360-degree vision that terrified him when he first realized that he was dead. He looked up at the overhead lights and allowed himself to see the full spectrum, playing the wavelengths from infrared to ultraviolet almost as if they were musical notes.
    He realized the orchestra had stopped, and then he saw that the audience was standing, first in clumps and then standing as a wave of people. The conductor turned to face the audience and he saw her beaming, red face and he noticed the sweat that plastered her short brown hair.
    She turned to her orchestra and in turns motioned for individual musicians or sections to take a bow. Finally, she had the orchestra take a bow together and again Munroe marveled at their simultaneous bow, as if they were all still keeping time with the music.
    Suddenly he felt like an intruder, sharing the accolades that were meant for the orchestra and he backed away from the stage, up the aisle of the orchestra level and toward the exit. He never even saw the perky blonde.
    Yamaguchi eventually showed up at the coat check, although he almost didn’t see her because the crush of people had forced him into a corner with limited view.
    “Hi,” he said.
    “Hi,” she said. “Did you amuse yourself?” She began walking away from the coat check.
    “Yes I did. And how was the music?”
    “Sublime.”
    “And is that good?” She ignored his remark. She knew that he knew the meaning of the word. Well, I’m pretty sure I know the meaning of sublime: from the ridiculous to the sublime, right?
    “Are you ready for the reception?” she