"Katherine Kurtz & Scott MacMillan - Knights of the Blood 1" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kurtz Katherine)

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Katherine Kurtz & Scott MacMillan




Knights of the Blood



This one's for my mom and dad.




Prologue

Los Angeles, 1972
 Jack Sprague surveyed the crime scene before returning to the body. The
alley showed signs of a struggle, and judging from all the blood between the trash
cans and the dumpster, that was probably where the murder took place. It was
Sprague's guess that after killing their victim, the assailants had placed the body in
the dumpster, where it had been found by the driver of the refuse-collection truck at
approximately four-thirty that morning.

It was now five forty-five, and Sprague was developing a headache from too
much coffee, too little sleep, and a lot of pressure from Parker Center to "keep it
out of the papers." He walked back to the dumpster, where his partner stood talking
to the driver of the garbage truck.

"Jack"тАФDemitter sounded as tired as SpragueтАФ"I don't think we'll get much
more out of Mr. Fuentes here." He gestured toward the fat man in greasy overalls
and Angels baseball cap. "Think we oughta cut him loose?"

"Sure." Sprague was looking at the body again. "Let him go." The victim was
a white male, early twenties, blond, and well-built.

"Looks like half the surfers at Zuma," Demitter commented.

"Yeah," said Sprague, "except that none of them have wooden stakes
pounded through their hearts."

"I dunno, Kingfish. The last three we've met were all dressed that way."
Demitter shook his head. "Stark naked, except for the stake."

Sprague ran a coffee-colored hand across the pepper-and-salt frizz on the top