Read Liquid Cool: The Cyberpunk Detective Series for Free Online

there would be very few jobs available to an ex-gang member like her with psych problems. Her days were spent mostly like today--smoking on the stoop, wasting her life away, while watching people walk by, the hover-cars fly above, the rain fall from the sky, and counting the raindrops.
    "Punch!" She heard the man's voice but didn't see him.
    She lethargically looked up with her mirrored, wet shades to the first apartment window above her. A pudgy man looked down at her from a large open window. She stared back without a word; she liked to sit in the rain. The feel of the drops made her feel content.
    "Are you not going to answer me?" he shouted.
    She took a draw from her cigarette.
    "No wonder you have no friends."
    "I have no friends," she answered in a contemptuous French accent, "because they were all killed."
    "How long ago was that? Why do you sit under my window? I'd pay good to switch with my neighbors not to see you under my window."
    "You say the same things every time I see you, you stupid man. What do you want?"
    "Don't you carry a mobile?"
    "Stop asking me stupid questions you know the answer to, you stupid man."
    "Turn it on! People are calling me like I'm your personal secretary."
    "Who is it?"
    "I'm not your personal secretary! Turn on your mobile and find out for yourself!"
    The man disappeared back into his apartment home and slammed the window shut.
    She placed her cigarette in the corner of her mouth as she reached into her jacket pocket. As soon as she flipped it on, it began to ring. She looked at the outside display screen, but didn't recognize the number.
    She answered it and saw the tiny face of China Doll on the display.
    "How did you get my number?"
    "Where's Cruz?"
    "Why are you asking me?"
    "Maybe because you're the sidewalk sally who sits in front of his building all day long."
    "I am not a sidewalk sally!"
    "Where's Cruz?"
    "I don't know and I don't care and I wouldn't tell you if I did know and care."
    "Tell him I'm looking for him."
    "No, I won't."
    "And call me immediately."
    "No."
    "As soon as you see him."
    "No."
    "Now you can go back to doing whatever nothing you were doing, you sidewalk sally."
    "I am not a sidewalk sally! I live in this building!"
    "Whatever."
    "I am--"
    It clicked before she could finish. She cursed in French and crushed the mobile phone to pieces with her bionic hand. "Chinese donkey, I hate you!" She threw the pieces of the mobile into the air, showering the steps with fragments everywhere.
    "Hey!"
    Four of the local sidewalk johnnies watched her.
    "I'm sorry," she said to them.
    "I thought you were one of us, Punch," one of them said.
    One could see that the men were dressed decently under their gray slicker coats. It must have been a multi-buy sale because the slickers were identical and all of them had their hoods covering their heads. Their faces were another matter. Weathered faces with scraggly mustaches, beards, and heads of hair. This particular crew of sidewalk johnnies wore subtle yellow shades.
    "I am one of you," she answered, standing to her feet.
    "That's not how it sounded when you were talking on the mobile, Punch. It's like you're ashamed of us," another man said.
    "No, that's not true. She was disrespecting you, not me. I'm an adopted sidewalk sally. You know that. I have problems. You know that."
    "We all got problems, Punch. Every last person in this city has problems, even the ones who pretend they don't."
    "Absolutely true." She started to walk down the steps towards them and could see in their expressions that they were not happy with her. "No hard feelings. I'm always here with you. We look out for each other. Isn't that true?"
    "Yeah, but if you don't want to associate with us anymore--"
    "No! I won't hear any more about it. We are the guardians of the streets. We know better than anybody what the street is capable of. We must stay united because the street can get angry. We're the line of defense against that. Besides, you know I say all kinds