"Laurell K. Hamilton - Anita Blake 01 - Guilty Pleasures" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hamilton Laurell K)

something when I go back.тАЭ
I wasnтАЩt sure, but there was something like fear in his voice. Would he get
in trouble for failing? I felt sorry for him and knew it was stupid. He was
the undead, for heavenтАЩs sake, but he stood looking at me, and he was still
Willie, with his funny coats and small nervous hands.
тАЬTell them, whoever they are, that I donтАЩt work for vampires.тАЭ
тАЬA firm rule?тАЭ Again he made it sound like a question.
тАЬConcrete.тАЭ
There was a flash of something on his face, the old Willie peeking through.
It was almost pity. тАЬI wish you hadnтАЩt said that, Anita. These people donтАЩt
like anybody telling тАШem no.тАЭ
тАЬI think youтАЩve overstayed your welcome. I donтАЩt like to be threatened.тАЭ
тАЬIt ainтАЩt a threat, Anita. ItтАЩs the truth.тАЭ He straightened his tie,
fondling the new gold tie tack, squared his thin shoulders and walked out.
I closed the door behind him and leaned against it. My knees felt weak. But
there wasnтАЩt time for me to sit here and shake. Mrs. Grundick was probably
already at the cemetery. She would be standing there with her little black
purse and her grown sons, waiting for me to raise her husband from the dead.
There was a mystery of two very different wills. It was either years of court
costs and arguments, or raise Albert Grundick from the dead and ask.
Everything I needed was in my car, even the chickens. I drew the silver
crucifix free of my blouse and let it hang in full view. I have several guns,
and I know how to use them. I keep a 9 mm Browning Hi-Power in my desk. The
gun weighed a little over two pounds, silver-plated bullets and all. Silver
wonтАЩt kill a vampire, but it can discourage them. It forces them to have to
heal the wounds, almost human slow. I wiped my sweaty palms on my skirt and
went out.
Craig our night secretary, was typing furiously at the computer keyboard.
His eyes widened as I walked over the thick carpeting. Maybe it was the cross
swinging on its long chain. Maybe it was the shoulder rig tight across my
back, and the gun out in plain sight. He didnтАЩt mention either. Smart man.
I put my nice little corduroy jacket over it all. The jacket didnтАЩt lie
flat over the gun, but that was okay. I doubted the Grundicks and their
lawyers would notice.

Chapter 2

I had gotten to see the sun rise as I drove home that morning. I hate
sunrises. They mean IтАЩve overscheduled myself and worked all bloody night. St.
Louis has more trees edging its highways than any other city I have driven
through. I could almost admit the trees looked nice in the first light of
dawn, almost. My apartment always looks depressingly white and cheerful in
morning sunlight. The walls are the same vanilla ice cream white as every
apartment IтАЩve ever seen. The carpeting is a nice shade of grey, preferable to
that dog poop brown that is more common.
The apartment is a roomy one-bedroom. I am told it has a nice view of the
park next door. You couldnтАЩt prove it by me. If I had my choice, there would
be no windows. I get by with heavy drapes that turn the brightest day to cool
twilight.
I switched the radio on low to drown the small noises of my day-living