I nodded and smiled. “I know. I just need it to go back. I’m going to fly out and meet it on the other side.”

I watched the ghoul’s face as he worked out what I said. Suddenly, there was clarity. His eyes widened, his head bobbed, he gave me a wink.

“I’ll make sure it gets back for you, Cal,” he said. “Don’t you worry.”

A yellow taxi pulled up and the driver, another neighborhood ghoul, leaned out the window and softly honked the horn.

Brent and I spoke in unison. “Hey, Simon.”

“You seen Mo’Lock?” I asked.

The cab driver shook his head. “Not since last week. You got something you need done?”

I rocked on my feet. I thought I’d sneak away clean.

“Well,” I said, “it look’s like I’m leaving town.”

Brent looked shocked. “For how long?!”

“For good, maybe. It’s time for a change.”

“Is it us?” Brent asked sincerely.

I shook my head, “Of course not. It’s just . . . I dunno. It just feels like the right time to make a move.”

Simon and Brent exchanged a look of disbelief. They were shocked, but they thought I might be fucking with them.

Simon got out of his taxi and joined Brent and me at the curb behind the open mail truck. “You’re joking.”

“No,” I shook my head, “I’m not. I have some business in Los Angeles, so I thought I’d scope the city out while I was there.”

“Los Angeles, huh?” Simon rolled his grayish tongue in his mouth. “Bunch of freaks out there from what I hear. And I mean that in the worst possible way.”

“And it’s sunny all the time,” Brent added.

I held my hand out and caught some drizzle in my palm. “It’s gotta be better then this.”

Simon extended his hand.

“You’ll be missed, Cal McDonald. The city won’t be the same without you.”

Brent got a little choked up when he shook my hand. I gave him a slap on the back and he pushed me away. Funny little guy.

There was a long silence. Then Simon said what we were all thinking.

“What about Mo’Lock?”

I shrugged. “He’s MIA. I gotta go. It’s urgent.” I nodded at the taxi. “You wanna give me a lift to the airport?”

Simon took my bag without saying a word and loaded it into the trunk. I said goodbye to Brent and asked him to tell Mo’Lock I’d left. Brent promised to spread the word around the ghoul populace that I’d be out of town for awhile. I didn’t want some freaks crawling into town thinking the place was unprotected.