I decided to go to California without much hesitation. If you knew me at all, you’d know this was crazy. The closest thing to impulsive I ever did was snort two lines of speed instead of one. I generally liked the cozy insanity of the nation’s capital, but lately I’d been feeling an itch for change. Things had grown stagnant lately. Same old cases, same old creeps, same old monsters.

Of course, I’d been off the hard stuff for almost a year. I suppose that had something to do with the itch. I’d go to California, stretch my legs, and see what there was to see.

But first I had some details to take care of, and my ghoul of a partner, Mo’Lock, was nowhere to be found. We had no formal agreement, but I’d come to rely on the fact that he’d pop by and help me out on cases on an almost daily basis. I’d known him for years, and undead or not, I considered him my friend. It wasn’t like him to disappear for more than a week at a time. It had been three since I’d last seen him.

I made a few calls around town, with Sam grumbling at me from the desk the whole time.

“Screw your girlfriend,” he snapped. “Let’s get this show on the road!”

The head was right. I had more pressing business than finding Mo’Lock. I had to deal with packing up and blowing town. I also had to figure out how the hell I would get Sam’s head back to California. I’d most likely be flying, and there was no way on God’s Green Earth that I’d be able to smuggle a human head past baggage check. No way around it: I had to mail Sam’s head back to his house and meet him on the other end.

“Like hell you are!”

Sam wasn’t too pleased with the idea.

“You have any better ideas?”

Sam almost tipped himself over. “Yeah, we rent a private plane and . . .”

“You gonna pay for it? I’ve got a pocket full of lint and half a Vicodin to my name.”

“So how you gonna pay for your plane ticket, smart-ass?”

Sam was starting to get on my nerves. “That’s one reason I need to track down Mo’Lock. He can loan me the cash.”

Sam rolled his eyes and grunted, “I shoulda called in some real law enforcement.”

That did it. “You already did, and he mailed you to me.”

I lifted Sam’s head and dropped him back in his box. He yelled and even tried to bite me. I packed him in tightly, with packing paper in his eyes and mouth, then sealed up the box.

“See you in Los Angeles.”