The sharp clink of glass knocking against the solid wood of his desk jarred Julius Pepperwood awake. He peeled open his blood-shot eyes to see the last splash of Jack Daniels spill onto the mahogany surface.

"Geez," moaned Pepperwood, trying to lift his head from his arms, stiff with a night of sleeping on them. "Feels like someone is doing the meringue on my temples." He squeezed his eyes against the bright shafts of light that poured through the blinds hanging precariously on the window. He sighed. Morning always comes too soon, he thought and eased himself out of his desk chair.

Rubbing the scruffy stubble on his chin, Julius considered shaving as he made his way to the small sink in his office. Captain Aumua would be expecting him for a debriefing today. Glancing in the cracked mirror, he took in his reflection. "Looking good, Julius," he snarled, and pulled his hand through his tangle of thick, brown hair. His swollen eye was starting to fade to the customary black, while the cut on his forehead would probably leave another scar on his already battered face. Might as well leave the beard, he thought. Why mess with the look? It had not been a pretty night for the zombie private detective.

The Zombie Days had not been what anyone expected. It hadn't come down in a plague or infection. The zombie virus had been cooked up in a pristine lab – an accident that some genius thought could make him a lot of money. Julius had been at ground zero of the beginning of the Zombie Days, working as a beat cop near Caroline Labs in Chicago. At first, the calls just sounded like the regular kooks seeing things out their windows. Until Julius and his partner Winnie had seen it all with their own eyes.

They sure looked like something out of the movies, but it didn't matter who these zombie bit. Nope, it was only through injection that a person could get infected. Julius had seen it himself. One quick shot and the vic began the slow and hellish descent into zombieville.

Julius turned on the tap, and the water slowly consented to squeak out of the pipes. He splashed cold water on his face and cringed as it hit his wounds. The sting brought a hitch to his breath, but he poured another on for good measure before he grabbed the towel on the nearby rack and wiped the water dripping from his face.

In the old days, Julius and Winnie knew they were way over their heads, but still decided they had to try and stop the head of Caroline Labs. The actually cornered the guy, who Julius considered as close to a mad scientist as he'd ever come. He'd not only manufactured the virus, but the antidote to go along with it. He figured he's sell the drug to the highest bidder, then charge the other side even more for the antidote. Freakin' brilliant, Julius thought.

Of course, at the last minute, the feds swept in, and the guy got away. The feds worked to cover up the "incident," but now it seemed any kid with a smart phone could find a way to access the formula. Once the zombie cat was out of the bag, small cadres of them began to show up here and there. Someone was always trying to create a zombie army, or infect a city water supply. The feds asked Julius and Winnie to join them, and for five years they hunted down wayward zombie juice makers and distributors, and cleaned up the mess they left behind. The worst of it had come a few years ago, when a couple of nutjobs down South decided to expand their Hatfield-McCoy personal vendetta by infecting an entire town and having them battle it out. It was like a mini-zombie apocalypse, and it had been enough for Julius. The memories he carried from those days still haunted him.

Though Winnie opted to stay with the feds, Julius decided to crawl back home to the darker streets of Chicago – the same ones he'd fought so hard to escape all those years ago when he'd joined the police academy. These days, he took the scrap jobs Winnie got the feds to send his way – the small-time zombie juice mixers who weren't big enough for the feds to bother tracking down.

Julius leaned against the chipped sink. They may be scrap jobs, but that doesn't mean they are easy, he thought. Last night had been a doozy. Julius had to take out two hulking gorillas hopped up on a new version of the zombie cocktail that was being distributed as a steroid. The creator – a chemist kid who Julius was not sure if he wanted to drag to jail or take over his knee – had promised no zombie side effects, and some idiots were dumb enough to believe him. He pulled all three into the station last night, but had been too tired to fill out the usual paperwork.

Clenching the towel in his fist, Julius raised his eyebrows in question. His thin, frayed towel had been replaced with a soft, fluffy one. He cringed. Embroidered on the towel was a bright, orange flower. It was then he caught a whiff of strong coffee brewing in the main office. He pursed his lips and sighed, "Knight."

Striding out into the main office of Pepperwood Private Investigations, Julius took note of his surroundings. The usual room, which had been stark and plain – the way Julius liked it – had taken on a new feel. All along the walls were paintings in colorful hues, and on the few pieces of furniture in the office were vases, various plants and bright knick knacks. Julius had let all of that slide because she was good, got the invoices done, and generally stayed out of his way.

The "she" in question was sitting at her desk – Jessica Knight. Wrapped in one of her usual bright dresses and sweaters, Julius tried not to notice how they hugged her in all the right places. Of course, Knight's sunny demeanor offset any attraction Julius had for the petite woman. Heck, he had almost dismissed her outright when she came to apply for the job he described in his ad as a "Girl Friday." When she bounced into his office in a short shirt and legs that did not seem to end, Julius almost kicked her out. You're gonna fall for this one, he thought. Then she started talking, and the oddest stuff fell from her plump, red lips. Hell, she even SANG her resume to me, he laughed. He hired her on the spot, convinced she was the last woman who would ever entice him.

He might find her irritating, but she made a hell of a cup of coffee, and she put up with what he had been told was his less-than-pleasant demeanor.

Julius turned to Knight and was about to lecture her – again – on not disturbing the stuff in his office when he stopped. Something was not right. Her usual perky smile was not dancing on her lips, and her blue eyes were drained of their sparkle. You're a crack PI, Pepperwood. Figure it out, he hissed to himself, and watched as she dabbed a handkerchief along a streak of running mascara.

"What's with the waterworks, doll? Somebody die while I was passed out?" he asked.

Jessica jumped at the sound of his voice. "Oh, Mr. Pepperwood! I did not hear you. I'll get your coffee." She hurried to wipe the mascara from her cheek and launched herself from her chair, bumping into Julius. He caught her and held on for a moment longer than was probably necessary. A flash of what it might be like to really have her in his arms invaded his thoughts. She slowly raised those enormous blue eyes to his and gasped. "Mr. Pepperwood! What happened to you?" She gingerly touched his swollen face, and Julius jumped back as if she shocked him.

"It's nothing, doll," he said quickly. "The Griswold case is wrapped up. Get the invoice ready, will ya?" She nodded, though the look of concern remained in her gaze. Jess moved to pour him a cup of coffee in his favorite Bears mug, and Julius tried not to watch her walk across the small room. He glanced at her desk and noticed the picture of the latest boyfriend was gone. What was his name? Stan? Sam? Some kind of doctor, thought Julius. He heard the coffee splash into the mug and he snapped his attention back to her. "I'm meeting with Aumua today. Call him and let him know I'll be in around 10:30." He paused. "What time is it?"

"Almost 11 'o clock," she said, not turning to face him, though he could hear the indulgent smile in her tone.

He sighed. "Tell him I'll be there around 2."

She walked to him and nodded, handing him the cup of liquid heaven she created. He took a sip and sighed. "Great coffee, Knight."

A small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth, though he noticed it did not reach her eyes. "You want me to run to Lou's and get you some eggs?" she asked.

He coughed into his coffee. "Food before noon? Ya trying to kill me?"

Now she added a small laugh, and he thought he caught a bit of twinkle back into those blue eyes. "I've thought about it," she said softly.

Now he smiled. "Yeah? Well get in line." He turned back to his office, but paused. "If he dumped you, he's an idiot, doll." He barely heard her gasp as he closed his door.