"Laurell K. Hamilton - Anita Blake 03 - Circus Damned" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hamilton Laurell K)

really didnтАЩt want to start shooting people. Oh, I would if I had to, but it
was better to avoid it. I had hoped flashing the gun would make Ruebens back
off. It had just seemed to enrage him. I rotated my neck, trying to ease some
of the tension away. It didnтАЩt work.
I could go home, shower, and get eight hours uninterrupted sleep. Glorious.
My beeper went off. I jumped like IтАЩd been stung. Nervous, me?
I hit the button, and the number that flashed made me groan. It was the
police. To be exact, it was the Regional Preternatural Investigation Team. The
Spook Squad. They were responsible for all preternatural crime in Missouri. I
was their civilian expert on monsters. Bert liked the retainer I got, but
better yet, the good publicity.
The beeper went off again. Same number. тАЬShit,тАЭ I said it softly. тАЬI heard
you the first time, Dolph.тАЭ I thought about pretending that IтАЩd already gone
home, turned off the beeper, and was now unavailable, but I didnтАЩt. If
Detective Sergeant Rudolf Storr called me at half-past dawn, he needed my
expertise. Damn.
I called the number and through a series of relays finally got DolphтАЩs
voice. He sounded tinny and faraway. His wife had gotten him a car phone for
his birthday. We must have been near the limit of its range. It still beat the
heck out of talking to him on the police radio. That always sounded like an
alien language.
тАЬHi, Dolph, whatтАЩs up?тАЭ
тАЬMurder.тАЭ
тАЬWhat sort of murder?тАЭ
тАЬThe kind that needs your expertise,тАЭ he said.
тАЬItтАЩs too damn early in the morning to play twenty questions. Just tell me
whatтАЩs happened.тАЭ
тАЬYou got up on the wrong side of bed this morning, didnтАЩt you?тАЭ
тАЬI havenтАЩt been to bed yet.тАЭ
тАЬI sympathize, but get your butt out here. It looks like we have a vampire
victim on our hands.тАЭ
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. тАЬShit.тАЭ
тАЬYou could say that.тАЭ
тАЬGive me the address,тАЭ I said.
He did. It was over the river and through the woods, way to hell and gone
in Arnold. My office was just off Olive Boulevard. I had a forty-five-minute
drive ahead of me, one way. Yippee.
тАЬIтАЩll be there as soon as I can.тАЭ
тАЬWeтАЩll be waiting,тАЭ Dolph said, then hung up.
I didnтАЩt bother to say good-bye to the dial tone. A vampire victim. IтАЩd
never seen a lone kill. They were like potato chips; once the vamp tasted
them, he couldnтАЩt stop at just one. The trick was, how many people would die
before we caught this one?
I didnтАЩt want to think about it. I didnтАЩt want to drive to Arnold. I didnтАЩt
want to stare at dead bodies before breakfast. I wanted to go home. But
somehow I didnтАЩt think Dolph would understand. Police have very little sense
of humor when theyтАЩre working on a murder case. Come to think of it, neither
did I.
Chapter 2