1 IT WAS THE middle of November. I was supposed to be out jogging, but instead I was sitting at my breakfast table talking about men, sex, werewolves, vampires, and that thing that most unmarried but sexually active women fear most of all--a missed period. Veronica (Ronnie) Sims, best friend and private detective, sat across from me at my little fourseater breakfast table. The table sat on a little raised alcove in a bay window.