Lara pulled her head back, eyes blinking in surprise. “How so?”

Alice fidgeted with her bar napkin, drummed her fingers, wet her lips,
as she tried to sort it out in her own mind. She looked over at the
nearby table and suddenly stood up. “Excuse me, I’ll be right back.”
She walked over to the neighboring couple and said, “I’m sorry, but
could I possibly bum a couple of cigarettes off you?”

The leather-clad butch at the table smiled, shook four cigarettes out
of her pack, and handed them to Alice, along with a pack of bar
matches. “My pleasure,” she said in a low voice. She watched as Alice
sauntered back to the table.

Alice scooted back into her side of the booth, lit a cigarette, inhaled
deeply and held the smoke before closing her eyes and exhaling,
pleasure on her face. “Boy, I didn’t think I missed them all that
much,” she smiled.

Lara looked at Alice in shock. She’d never envisioned the reporter smoking anything other than dope.

“I know, I know, nasty habit,” Alice waved a hand at her. “OK, now,
where was I? Oh yeah, why you make a lousy Susan.” She took another
deep drag off the cigarette, and sighed the smoke out between her thin
lips, tapping the ash off into the ashtray. “There’s something about
Susan.” She stared off, picturing Susan in her mind.

“No *****, Sherlock!” Lara snorted, having been there and done that.

“No, I mean it. Even when she’s totally mind ***** you, Susan has
some” she stirred the air with long fingers, “she has some vitality
about her, some presence. She makes you curious, she makes you want to
do what she wants you to. I can’t explain it. But whatever it is, you
don’t have it.” She looked at Lara with button-bright eyes. “Sorry, I
know it sounds harsh, but you don’t. You’re all hard edges and brittle.
Susan scares me because of what she makes me feel, what she makes me
want. You scare me because I’m afraid of what you’ll do. There is a
subtle difference, but a difference nonetheless.”

Lara’s mouth fell open. Alice’s words caught her by surprise. Even as
much as she’d changed lately, she didn’t think she was a scary person.
Alice made her sound downright dangerous. Well, perhaps she was, but
only to those who had earned her anger. And her revenge.