Donita K Paul [DragonKeeper Chronicles 03] DragonKnight (pdf)
Amber Kell [Hellbourne] Hellbourne [TEB MM] (pdf)
Ian Morson [William Falconer Mystery 05] Falconer and the Great Beast (pdf)
Denise A Agnew [Daryk World 03] Daryk Craving (pdf)
Ian Morson [William Falconer Mystery 04] A Psalm for Falconer (pdf)
Burroughs, Edgar Rice Tarzan 05 The Jewels of Opar
Macomber Debbie Deszczowe pocaśÂunki
Balcerzan Edward Poezja polska w latach 1918 1939
Anthony, Piers Cluster 5 Viscous Circle
Bahdaj Adam Do przerwy 0;1
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
Does that mean maybe?
No. It means probably not.
The road was becoming nothing more than a single gravel
track that led uphill through a forest of young fir trees. They quit
talking and peered up any and all logging spurs.
Two large, shaggy, yellow-eyed, wolf hybrids watched silently
from the porch of the first house they passed.
They always give me the creeps, he said, they never bark.
Yeah. But they sure can howl. I used to open my bedroom
window and listen to them cut up downtown when I was growing
up.
Downtown?
Yep. Downtown Cherry Grove.
The second house was set back from the road far enough that
all they could see of it was the glow of the lights.
I wonder if they checked that place out for him? Stix asked.
Jane was talking to them on the scrambler about it. They
looked both places over real good. Like maybe their jobs
depended on it.
Did you really bug their house?
Uh huh. I just used an electronic ear that I borrowed from a
private dick I know. And hooked it to a voice-activated recorder.
What part of your soul did you sell for that favor?
262 DAVE MEAD
I caught him in a house one night, after being tipped off by a
neighbor. He was after a guy who had raped some kid in
Portland. The kid s folks wanted him taken down for anything
that would avoid having to have their daughter testify. He
showed me what he d found. So I kind of didn t quite find him.
She wanted to ask what the private dick had found that would
cause Sam to let someone who was committing a felony take a
walk, but before she could the cabin came into sight. As she
slowed down, looking for a place to park, Sam opened his door
and rolled out onto the road. Stix didn t see him again until she d
parked and gotten out of her car. When she did see him he was
on the other side of the tarped corpse, crouched down beside a
tree. He was scanning the area, covering her as she made her
way to the tarp. She was glad he d come. Even though she knew
what was under the tarp, she had to look. She had to be able to
tell the news media what she d seen, and her tracks had to lead
up to and away from the corpse.
She took a deep breath and lifted one corner of the blue plastic
tarp and shined a flashlight in under it. Fuck! she said and,
dropping the tarp, tried to lean as far away from it as she could.
Most of his face is gone.
Raccoons? Sam asked, from somewhere off to her left.
I suppose. It seems like those four bastards could have told
us. She shuddered. Guess I ll make a phone call.
He didn t answer, she figured that he was off playing Rambo.
The media circus lasted over two hours, and then she still had
to drive back to her place, and run the media gauntlet again,
saying all the carefully rehearsed things she was supposed to say.
Once inside, she didn t dare stop until she d made it to her
chair. She slumped down into it and dropped her head in her
arms.
Jane came up beside her carrying a bucket of fried chicken and
three containers of coleslaw.
How d you get in? she said, without lifting her head.
Sam and I came in the back. He s out fussing with your hot
tub.
It s shut off.
STIX 263
He cleaned it and started it this morning while you and I were
rehearsing your lines.
Hey Stix, the hot tub s ready for you, he said when he came
in a few minutes later. The elevator is all hooked up and it s
even got a bright orange certification tag prominently displayed as
required.
Stix looked up at him, Is that like on a mattress?
Huh?
You know. Like if you take the tag off of a mattress the FBI
will come get you.
That s ATF, Jane said, defending her organization around a
mouthful of salad.
Yeah, this is like that, Sam confirmed.
So what do we do now? Stix asked nobody in particular.
I think we sleep for awhile, Jane said, Then tomorrow some
time, we ll go over everything from the media coverage to the
search. She looked at the two younger ones. They appeared to
be almost too tired to eat. She watched Stix play with a piece of
chicken, shook her head and said, You two kids look like you re
just about asleep on your feet.
I m fine, Sam said, And Stix should be all right. She s got
two extra legs to hold her up.
She didn t take the bait. Just kept playing with her food until
Jane told her to quit playing and eat.
Yes, Mother.
Stix, honey, don t worry about Kingston getting in here. I ve
got four agents from Seattle here. Two of them will be on duty
watching your place twenty-four hours a day.
Where are they?
Probably a block away, watching everything.
I hate stakeouts, Sam said, I always feel like a sitting duck.
The two sitting ducks will be in an armored van, watching
monitors of ten cameras set around this place. There s even one
attached to a motion detector on the front door, and the same
264 DAVE MEAD
set-up on the gate in the back wall. Even if someone got in here,
which won t happen, but if it were to happen, the two agents on
duty would know about it, and so would fifteen other agents
including myself.
I m impressed.
You should be, Sam, it s your tax dollars at work.
So I m at this minute on camera?
Uh huh.
So I don t have to bunk here? Sam asked, looking around
the office, trying to decide where the best place would be, if he
did have to stay.
No reason to.
Jane got up and walked around the desk and gave Stix a hug.
See you tomorrow, she said.
You callin it a night?
I wish. I ve got two to three hours of reports to dictate and
probably twenty phone calls to return.
She gave me a hug, Stix said after the door closed. She
gave me a hug.
Yeah, I saw. He started to say, But I didn t get one, but,
remembering the monitors and wondering if maybe there was one
in the office too, said instead, How about I give you a hand up to
your apartment?
I think I could use a hand right about now.
While they stood outside, by the elevator, Stix asked, You
think there s one out here too?
No. Jane would have told us if there was.
They stood looking at one another for several seconds each
waiting for the other to say something. Stix broke the silence
with, Race you to the hot tub.
Sam grinned at her, You re on.
He managed to take only one step before she stuck a crutch
between his ankles, tripping him. He went face first into the mud
of what had once been a flowerbed before the elevator company s
STIX 265
truck had churned its way up to the building, then away. Sam
started to get up, but Stix used the middle of his back for a crutch
site as she went by. He opted to lay in the mud and watch her
get to the tub and then undress by the glow of the green ready
light on the elevator. He waited until she was in the water before
he got up and walked over to the tub.
You lost, she said in a matter-of-fact tone. And you got
muddy too. She watched in appreciation as he stripped, then
said, There s a garden hose over there, She raised up enough to
point at the side of the building, Under the steps.
You want me to rinse off in ice water?
Yeah.
He muttered his way over the find the hose, yelped when the
water hit him, muttered his way back, and climbed in.
This feels good. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
