"Rain, Anthony - Miles Beckett - Hampton Blood" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rain Anthony Vincent)

.......Bobbie had been covering Googie the whole time, but he had stayed standing where he dropped me. Quickly, I reached and pulled his foot out from under him. He fell face first onto the floor, his gun going off. Everyone froze, but I made my feet and ran for the front door.
.......If I had tried to wrestle Bobbie for the gun, Googie would have turned me into hamburger. My only chance was to get my backup piece from the car. I knocked Googie off balance as I ran by, and took the screen door with my body. It flew away from the frame, and I rolled off the deck onto the lawn. I heard a gunshot behind me and figured Bobbie was on my ass.
.......I made the car, opened the driver's side door and reached into the glove compartment. I heard a bullet graze the side of the car. I fired once through the closed passenger side window at Bobbie, who was about five feet away. When the chunks of glass fell out, I saw Bobbie looking down at his stomach. The shot had punched a large red hole in him. He dropped his gun and collapsed.
.......I heard a shotgun blast inside Danny's house, then saw Googie come running out with the black bag. He pumped and fired a blast in my direction. He sprayed the front windshield of my Impala, while I stayed on the floor. I waited until his car took off, then got up and fired twice, taking out his tail lights. After he turned the corner, I ran into the house. Laura was sitting on the sofa bed covered in blood and bits of small flesh. Danny lay slumped next to her. Half of his head was gone. I shook Laura by the shoulders and she looked at me with lifeless eyes.
.......I got up and closed and locked the front door. I picked up her purse, found the cigarettes and lit two. One of them I put in her mouth, the other I took a deep drag on.
......."Listen to me, Laura. The police are going to be here any second. I may be able to help you, but I have to know the truth." She grasped the cigarette stiff-fingered. Through the smoky smell, the stench from Danny's blood and brains started to seep through. It made my stomach turn.
.......She remained silent, so I shook her again. "Campbell called Danny and me after the audition," she finally said. "We weren't getting the gig. We got desperate and said we'd do anything. Campbell knew my father was a doctor. He played me. He asked if I could get pills, stuff like that. I said yes. I said I could even steal prescription pads. He told me he'd call us back."
.......She took another pull on the cigarette. "He called a few days later. The plan changed. He said he had a partner, Johnny D. They had the idea of going into business with my dad. What they wanted to do was launder money, push more drugs probably. I set up a meeting between my father and them."
......."Your father met with them?" The manipulating sonofabitch.
......."Yes. They offered him a lot of money to open a string of detox clinics. My father agreed. He knew it was bullshit, but he was tired, he wanted to stop practicing. Then, a week later, my father suddenly said no. He wanted more money. He thought he could squeeze them. They told him to fuck off. Campbell was pissed and told me and Danny to forget about ever performing at his clubs. He said he would have us blacklisted. Danny got frustrated, angry. He robbed my father."
......."Did he kill Campbell?"
.......She shook her head. "I did. I went to Campbell's club while you were talking to my father. I wanted to see if there was another way for us to work things out. He told me sure. He said I could spread my legs for him. He laughed at me and told me we sucked anyway. I lost it. Danny had given me a gun for protection a while back. I took it out and shot Campbell. Just once. I didn't mean to kill him, or maybe I did."
.......Laura shifted her eyes and looked at Danny. "His safe was open and there was that bag of cash in it. I took it for us. I didn't know it belonged to Johnny D."
.......The police arrived as she was finishing her last sentences. Through the front window I could see officers toting automatic weapons. I got up and wet a paper towel and handed it to Laura to wipe the blood off her face. That was about all I could do for her. Then, I walked over and opened the front door and raised my hands.
Copyright (c) 2001 by Anthony Rain.



This is Anthony Rain's second appearance in Thrilling Detective (see Blink of an Eye; December 2000, which also featured Miles Beckett). He has published stories in Judas EZine, Nefarious, Plots With Guns and Without A Clue. Several more stories of his will be appearing in various venues in 2001. Anthony will be spending part of July 2001 at the Iowa Writing Program Summer Festival and looks forward to chewing the fat with fellow crime writers (okay, other genres too). Anthony makes his home in New York City.