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out. He worried that she might be in jail or worse.
    Finally, Perez spoke up. “Well, I’m afraid we haven’t yet made a positive identification, but we think your friend…”
    In Charlie’s ears, the rest drowned out to white noise. He knew Kay was dead even before the words came out. He took a moment to register what an appropriate response would be and decided on a soft “Oh my God” with a glazed-over look would suffice. When Dee Dee touched his hand thoughtfully, he knew he’d played the part well. Charlie stayed silent and kept his eyes gazing down at the tabletop, compartmentalizing his emotions, just like he’d done since he was a kid, a skill that served him well in his current vocation. The difference was, this time, he was pretty sure he’d have his chance to vent his frustrations. “How did it happen?” Charlie finally asked.
    “We aren’t at liberty to go into details,” Perez said, “but we’d appreciate it if you could come with us to the coroner’s office to give us a positive identification.”
    The request didn’t entirely sit well with Charlie, who was hungry and eager to finish his meal. If Kay was dead, she wasn’t going anywhere and wouldn’t become undead if he took the time to fill his belly. On the other hand, he knew it would make more sense for him to play the concerned citizen and friend role and make the positive ID. He had been looking forward to waffles, it had been years since he had any that didn’t come from a toaster. Then again, he thought, trying to look on the bright side of things, maybe it was the out he needed to part company with Dee Dee. She was a nice girl, but she wasn’t exactly an asset to him, and he needed to travel light. If Kay was dead, someone was responsible for killing her. It had taken him over a week just to find out she’d moved to North Dakota from St. Louis; Charlie had a talent for finding people who didn’t want to be found, but the search for Kay had been an arduous one, even for him. He knew she’d had good reasons for moving, because it wouldn’t have been like her to make the trip on her own. There was a time when Charlie would have been able to say he knew Kay really well, when it wouldn’t have been so easy for him to consider her anything other than just a friend. She must have followed the drugs though, he realized. A dealer? Maybe a pimp? He wasn’t sure how to feel about Kay being pimped out, but then again, she probably wouldn’t have known how to feel about the things he’d been doing for the last eight years either. In any case, for Charlie, North Dakota had just gotten a whole lot more complicated, and it was going to get a whole lot less populated soon. “Sure, Officer,” Charlie said. “I’ll do whatever I can to help.”
    Dee Dee offered to ride along, but Charlie said he needed some time alone. He gave her a kiss on the top of the hand and said he’d see her soon. Charlie saw the disappointment in her eyes, maybe even that flash of feeling used. It was a pain pretending to be a normal person, whatever the hell normal was.
     
    The coroner pulled the body out of the cooler, and Perez watched Charlie slowly shuffle over. He looked apprehensive, just like anyone else Perez had ever asked to come in to identify a body. The only difference was that Charlie held his hat in his hands; he was only thirty-something, but by his shuffling gait and the way he held that hat between his hands, he looked like a seventy-year-old man.
    Perez did his best not to act or sound cynical; after all, the guy had just found out a friend of his was dead. “Well?” he asked, unable to say much else.
    “Yeah,” Charlie confirmed after the coroner unzipped the bag, “that’s her.”
    “Can you tell us her full name?” Hamill asked over Charlie’s shoulder, almost hovering.
    Charlie didn’t answer right away and just looked down at the body. Perez thought his hesitation was just from the shock of the situation, but something about