Read AfterNet 01 - Good Cop Dead Cop for Free Online Page A

asked.
    “Yes, looking forward to it.”
    “And no smart remarks in my ear.” A man they were passing looked at her oddly. She smiled at him and walked a little faster.
    Munroe had to dodge a very fat woman who blocked his way and couldn’t immediately respond. “R U listening?” she asked silently.
    “Yes, sorry. No smart remarks. I’ll behave.”
    “You know you can be very childish sometimes,” she said out loud.
    Munroe bit back a smart remark. “I said I’d behave. Uh, where are we going?” he asked, when he noticed they were leaving the building.
    “The reception.”
    “I know that. I mean, isn’t it in the concert hall?”
    “Don’t you read the email you’re addicted to? I sent you the information. It’s in the theatre complex, the next building over.”
    “Oh, yeah. I remember now,” he lied. He decided he’d better keep quiet until they got there.
    She led them to the theatre complex. It must have been even colder because Munroe saw the crowd hunched even tighter than before. He saw that she was trying to show a brave face even though she must be freezing, despite her heavy wool coat.
    She entered the building’s outer door. Inside, a doorman checked her invitation and he held the door open as she went through the inner door. Munroe followed as she headed for the coat check. As she was taking her ticket, she silently told Munroe, “Wait here Ill be back.”
    “What, why?” he asked.
    “Because Im going to the bathroom.”
    Munroe waited for her. The novelty of touring women’s restrooms had long since passed.
    She returned and Munroe asked, “Ready?”
    “Yup, let’s do this,” she said out loud.
    She led them up a flight of stairs to the ballroom. Munroe marveled at her knowledge of the performing arts center. I guess she’s a culture vulture, he thought. Guess I don’t know as much about my partner as I thought.
    Another doorman opened the door and she stepped through. As Munroe entered, he noticed the field effect of an AfterNet terminal.
    “Hi, name please,” a disembodied voice asked.
    “Uh, Alex Munroe,” he told the voice. “Hey, hold on Linda, looks like I got to register.”
    She raised an eyebrow but waited while Munroe talked to someone he supposed was dead like him, but for all he knew was just a living person somewhere else.
    “Please enjoy yourself, Officer Munroe, and feel free to use the terminals while you’re here. There are several hotspots throughout the ballroom.”
    Munroe was surprised. Since he’d died, he’d never had anyone extend that kind of hospitality to him except his partner.
    “Wow, this is something, Linda. Wish I could have dressed up for the occasion.”
    Munroe saw a sea of women in evening dresses and men in expensive (although not always tasteful) suits. A string quartet was playing and a knot of people were being served food at a buffet table while a much larger group was at the bar.
    “Ooh, open bar,” she said, before getting in line for another glass of wine.
    A few minutes later, she was balancing her wine and a plate of food and not doing a very good job of it.
    “It’s always so hard to juggle these,” she said, while trying to devour an egg roll.
    “You know, Linda, I wondered when I first met you whether you were cop material, but when I see you scarfing down food and wine at taxpayer expense, it puts my mind at rest.”
    “Giffit a wesht, Alesh,” she said, turning her attention to smoked salmon on a cracker.
    “Ah, Officer Yamaguchi,” a man said while walking toward her, his hand extended. It was the Manager of Safety Marvin Montoya, the man to whom the chief of police reported, who incidentally was standing next to Montoya. The chief, Harold Moncrief, took the plate from Yamaguchi, who didn’t know what to say.
    “Swallow, then shake his hand,” Munroe said.
    She did what he suggested.
    “I’m sorry I caught you mid munch,” Montoya said, “but Harry pointed you out and I had to come over and say