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The Lunatic Cafe :: Гамильтон Лорел
Страница: 158 из 234I opened my eyes and looked at him.
He was staring down at me, arms crossed.
"What?" I said.
He shook his head. "If I told you that I was going to do something, no debate, you'd be mad."
"No, I wouldn't."
"Anita." He said my name the way my father use to say it.
"I wouldn't, not if your reasons were valid."
"Anita, you'd be pissed, and you know it."
I wanted to deny it but couldn't. "All right, you're right. I wouldn't like it." I stared up at him. I was going to have to give him reasons why I was going to go out and do my job. It wasn't a pretty sight.
I stood. I wanted to say I didn't have to explain myself to anyone, but if I meant this marriage thing, it wasn't true anymore. I didn't like that much. His being a werewolf was not the only hurdle to domestic bliss.
"This is police business, Richard. People die when I don't do my job."
"I thought your job was raising zombies and executing vampires."
"You sound like Bert."
"You've told me enough about Bert that I know that is an insult."
"If you don't want to be compared, then stop saying one of his favorite things." I walked past him towards the bedroom. "I've got to get dressed."
He followed me. "I know that helping the police is very important to you."
I turned on him. "I don't just help the police, Richard. The spook squad is just over two years old. The cops on it didn't know shit about preternatural creatures. It was a garbage detail. Do something to piss off your superiors and you get transferred."
"The newspapers and TV said it was an independent task force like the major task force. That's an honor."
"Oh, yeah, right. The squad gets almost no extra funding. No special training in preternatural creatures or events. Dolph, Sergeant Storr, saw me in the paper and contacted Bert. There was no training in preternatural crime for law officers in this country. Dolph thought I could be an adviser."
"You're a heck of a lot more than an adviser."
"Yes, I am." I could have told him that earlier in the summer Dolph had tried not calling me in right away. It had seemed like a clear-cut case of ghouls in a cemetery getting a little ambitious and attacking a necking couple. Ghouls were cowards and didn't attack able-bodied people, but exceptions to the rule and all that. By the time Dolph called me in, six people were dead. It hadn't been ghouls. So lately Dolph had started calling me at the beginning before things got too messy. Sometimes I could diagnose a problem before it got out of hand.
He was staring down at me, arms crossed.
"What?" I said.
He shook his head. "If I told you that I was going to do something, no debate, you'd be mad."
"No, I wouldn't."
"Anita." He said my name the way my father use to say it.
"I wouldn't, not if your reasons were valid."
"Anita, you'd be pissed, and you know it."
I wanted to deny it but couldn't. "All right, you're right. I wouldn't like it." I stared up at him. I was going to have to give him reasons why I was going to go out and do my job. It wasn't a pretty sight.
I stood. I wanted to say I didn't have to explain myself to anyone, but if I meant this marriage thing, it wasn't true anymore. I didn't like that much. His being a werewolf was not the only hurdle to domestic bliss.
"This is police business, Richard. People die when I don't do my job."
"I thought your job was raising zombies and executing vampires."
"You sound like Bert."
"You've told me enough about Bert that I know that is an insult."
"If you don't want to be compared, then stop saying one of his favorite things." I walked past him towards the bedroom. "I've got to get dressed."
He followed me. "I know that helping the police is very important to you."
I turned on him. "I don't just help the police, Richard. The spook squad is just over two years old. The cops on it didn't know shit about preternatural creatures. It was a garbage detail. Do something to piss off your superiors and you get transferred."
"The newspapers and TV said it was an independent task force like the major task force. That's an honor."
"Oh, yeah, right. The squad gets almost no extra funding. No special training in preternatural creatures or events. Dolph, Sergeant Storr, saw me in the paper and contacted Bert. There was no training in preternatural crime for law officers in this country. Dolph thought I could be an adviser."
"You're a heck of a lot more than an adviser."
"Yes, I am." I could have told him that earlier in the summer Dolph had tried not calling me in right away. It had seemed like a clear-cut case of ghouls in a cemetery getting a little ambitious and attacking a necking couple. Ghouls were cowards and didn't attack able-bodied people, but exceptions to the rule and all that. By the time Dolph called me in, six people were dead. It hadn't been ghouls. So lately Dolph had started calling me at the beginning before things got too messy. Sometimes I could diagnose a problem before it got out of hand.