"George R. R. Martin - WC 5 - Down and Dirty" - читать интересную книгу автора (Martin George R R)

chin. "For corpse abuse."
"Are we taking the body with us?" Brennan asked through tightly clenched lips.,
"No thanks," Deadhead said brightly. "I'll eat it here." He began to saw
Gruber's skull. The blade cut through the bone easily. Brennan and the janitor
watched, horrified, as the top of the skull came off and Deadhead, with
maniacal, somehow furtive glee, scooped chunks off Gruber's brain and stuffed
them in his mouth. He chewed noisily.
Brennan felt Lazy Dragon dive into his vest pocket. The janitor vomited and
Brennan fought off the rising tide of nausea that threatened to overwhelm him,
holding on with grim, tight-lipped self-control.


III
Brennan gagged the janitor with his handkerchief and bound him at wrist and
ankle with packing tape Lazy Dragon found in a corner of the storage room. He
had to do all the work himself because Deadhead, mumbling incoherently, had
sagged against the wall after wolfing down Gruber's brain. After Brennan took
care of the janitor he guided the mumbling maniac out of the storeroom. Brennan
wished that Lazy Dragon could tell him what the hell was going on.
"How'd it go?" Whiskers asked when Brennan threw open the Buick's rear passenger
door and pushed Deadhead in. Brennan slammed the door and slid onto the front
seat before answering.
"Fine, I think. Deadhead had a snack."
Whiskers nodded, started the car, and pulled away from the curb. Lazy Dragon
climbed from Brennan's pocket, balanced precariously on the shoulder of the car
seat, then leaped onto the lap of his human body, which, after a moment, awoke,
yawned, and stretched. The mouse, undergoing a transformation somewhat analagous
to that of Lot's overcurious wife, turned back into a block of soap.
"How'd it go?" Whiskers mumbled again, glancing up into the rearview mirror as
he dove.
"Lazy Dragon dropped his mouse-sculpture in his jacket pocket and nodded. 'As
planned. We found the body and Deadhead ... dined. Cowboy did fine."
"Great. We'd better get Deadhead to the boss while he's still digesting."
"Now that we're all buddies," Brennan drawled, "maybe you can tell me what's
going on."
Whiskers flipped off a driver who'd cut in front of them. "Well ...I suppose
it'd be all right. Deadhead there," he snickered, "is an ace, sort of. He can
get people's memories by eating their brains."
Brennan made a face. "Jesus. So Gruber knew something that Mao wants to know."
Whiskers nodded and gunned the Buick, running a red light. "We think so. We hope
so, anyway. You see, Danny Mao's boss is this guy named Fadeout who wants to
find some ace who calls herself Wraith. Gruber was her fence before she bumped
him off. Mao figures Gruber probably knew enough about her so we can use his
memories to track her down."
Brennan pursed his lips, suppressing a smile. He knew more about this than these
guys did. Fadeout was one of Kien's aces who had tried, and failed, to capture
him and Wraith on Wild Card Day, and Wraith had told him that someone-not
her-had killed her fence that very day. "Why'd you wait so long to get to
Gruber's corpse?" Brennan asked.
Whiskers shrugged. "Deadhead was in some kinda hospital. Cops caught him doing