amilla was remembering a line from a favorite Shirley Jackson | novel. The Haunting of Hill House, which had been made into a really disappointing movie. ‘Whatever walked there, walked alone,’ Jackson had written. That pretty much summed up how she felt about the murder case. And maybe even about her life lately. She drove her trusty, dusty Saab toward Santa Cruz. She gripped the steering2 wheel a little too firmly most of the way, and her hands felt numb3. The kink in her neck was getting worse. This was a disturbing case, and she just couldn’t let it go. The killers4 were out there somewhere. They were going to keep murdering until somebody stopped them. So maybe she should stop them.
She had tried to get Tim to go with her, but he was covering a bicyclists’ protest for The Examiner. Besides, she wasn’t sure that she wanted to spend the whole day with him. Tim was sweet, but, well, he wasn’t Alex Cross. So here she was getting off Route 1, entering Santa Cruz all by her lonesome. All by her damn lonesome again. At least she had alerted Tim to the fact that she was going to Santa Cruz, and of course she was a big girl, and armed to the teeth. Ugh, teeth, she thought. She cringed at the image of fangs5, and the horrible deaths of all those who had been bitten.
She had always liked Santa Cruz, though. Maybe because it had been practically the epicenter of the Loma Pietra earthquake back in ‘89 - 6.7 on the Richter scale, fifty-seven dead - but then the area had come back. The gutsy little town and the people there had refused to fold. Lots of earthquake-proof construction, nothing higher than two stories. Santa Cruz was pure California, the best. As she drove, she watched a big, blond surfer climb out of a VW with a surfboard strapped6 to the roof. He was finishing off a drippy slice of pizza, heading into the Book Shop of Santa Cruz. Pure California.
There was quite a mix of people here - post-hippies, high-tech7 start-up folks, transients, surfers, college kids. She liked it an awful lot. So where were the goddamn vampires8 hiding? Were they here? Did they know she was here in Santa Cruz looking for their gnarly asses10? Were they among the surfers and post-hippies she was passing on the street?
Her first stop was the town’s police department. The lieutenant11, Harry12 Conover, was totally surprised to see her in the flesh. She guessed he couldn’t imagine any detective going out of his or her way on the job.
‘I told you I’d pass along everything I found on the Goths and wannabe vamps. Didn’t you believe me?’ he asked. He shook his head of longish blond curls, rolled his soft brown eyes. Conover was tall, well-built, probably in his mid-thirties. Around her age. Jamilla could tell that he was a big flirt13, and that he had a high opinion of himself.
‘Sure I believed you. But I had today off, and this case is burning a hole right through me. So here I am. Harry. Better than e-mail, right? What do you have for me?’
She sensed that he wanted to tell her to get a life, to enjoy her day off. She’d heard it all before, and maybe he was right. But not now, not with this case still on the boards.
‘I read in a couple of the reports that some of the local ghouls might be living together commune-style. You have any idea where?’ she asked.
Conover shook his head, and even pretended to be concerned. He was also checking her out, she could tell. Obviously, he was a breast man. ‘We never got any confirmation14 of that,’ he said. ‘Kids crash together, of course, but I don’t know about any commune. There are a couple of hot clubs - Catalyst15, Ealookaville. And lots of kids share cribs on lower Pacific Street.’
She didn’t give up. Never/But if a lot of kids were living together any ideas where that might be?’
Conover sighed, and actually looked a little annoyed with her for asking. Jamilla could tell he wasn’t the kind of cop who put too much of himself into his work. She would have transferred him in a second if he worked for her, and Conover would have sworn it was a gender16 thing. It wasn’t. He was a lazy, half-assed cop, and she hated that. Lives depended on how well he did his job. Didn’t he understand that?
‘Maybe out in the foothills. Or north around Boulder17 Creek,’ Conover finally volunteered in a soft drawl.’I really don’t know what to tell you.’
Of course you don’t, Harry. Duh.
‘Where would you look first?’ she persisted. If you were worth jack1 shit as a cop.
‘Inspector, I just wouldn’t be chasing this one too hard. Yes, there have been some curious disappearances18 around here. But that’s true of just about every town up and down the coast of California. Kids are more restless now than they used to be when we were growing up. I don’t believe anybody’s getting seriously hurt in Santa Cruz, and I sure don’t buy that this is the freaking vampire9 capital of the West Coast. It isn’t. Believe me on that. There are no vampires in Santa Cruz.’
She nodded, pretended to agree. ‘I think I’ll try the foothills first,’ she said.
Conover saluted19 her. ‘If you’re finished chasing ghouls before seven or so, give me a call. Maybe we could have a drink. It is your day off, right?’
Jamilla nodded. ‘I’ll do that. If I’m finished before seven. Harry.
Thanks for all your 1ne.’Jackass.
收听单词发音 |
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jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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steering
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| n.操舵装置 | |
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numb
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| adj.麻木的，失去感觉的；v.使麻木 | |
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killers
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| 凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事 | |
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fangs
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| n.（尤指狗和狼的）长而尖的牙( fang的名词复数 )；（蛇的）毒牙；罐座 | |
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strapped
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| adj.用皮带捆住的，用皮带装饰的；身无分文的；缺钱；手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词)；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带 | |
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high-tech
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| adj.高科技的 | |
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vampires
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| n.吸血鬼( vampire的名词复数 )；吸血蝠；高利贷者；（舞台上的）活板门 | |
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vampire
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| n.吸血鬼 | |
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asses
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| n. 驴，愚蠢的人，臀部 adv. (常用作后置)用于贬损或骂人 | |
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lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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flirt
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| v.调情，挑逗，调戏；n.调情者，卖俏者 | |
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confirmation
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| n.证实，确认，批准 | |
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catalyst
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| n.催化剂，造成变化的人或事 | |
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gender
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| n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性 | |
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boulder
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| n.巨砾；卵石，圆石 | |
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disappearances
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| n.消失( disappearance的名词复数 )；丢失；失踪；失踪案 | |
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saluted
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| v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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