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The Laughing Corpse :: Гамильтон Лорел
Страница: 191 из 213We can't pay full price when you force us to take such chances."
"Like a federal prison term for kidnapping," I said.
"Exactly. Your stubbornness has cost you five hundred thousand dollars. Was it really worth that?"
"I won't kill another human being just so you can go looking for lost treasure."
"Little Wanda has been bearing tales."
"I was just guessing, Gaynor. I read a file on you and it mentioned your obsession with your father's family." It was an outright lie. Only Wanda had known that.
"I'm afraid it's too late. I know Wanda talked to you. She's confessed everything."
Confessed? I stared at him, trying to read his blankly good humored face. "What do you mean, confessed?"
"I mean I gave her to Tommy for questioning. He's not the artist that Cicely is, but he does leave more behind. I didn't want to kill my little Wanda."
"Where is she now?"
"Do you care what happens to a whore?" His eyes were bright and birdlike as he stared at me. He was judging me, my reactions.
"She doesn't mean anything to me," I said. I hoped my face was as bland as my words. Right now they weren't going to kill her. If they thought they could use her to hurt me, they might.
"Are you sure?"
"Listen, I haven't been sleeping with her. She's just a chippie with a very bent angle."
He smiled at that. "What can we do to convince you to raise this zombie for me?"
"I will not commit murder for you, Gaynor. I don't like you that much," I said.
He sighed. His apple-cheeked face looked like a sad Kewpie doll. "You are going to make this difficult, aren't you, Ms. Blake?"
"I don't know how to make it easy," I said. I put my back to the cracked wooden headboard of the bed. I was comfortable enough, but I still felt a little fuzzy around the edges. But it was as good as it was going to get for a while. It beat the hell out of being unconscious.
"We have not really hurt you yet," Gaynor said. "The reaction of the Thorazine with whatever other medication you had in you was accidental. We did not harm you on purpose."
I could argue with that, but I decided not to. "So where do we go from here?"
"We have both your guns," Gaynor said. "Without a weapon you are a small woman in the care of big, strong men."
I smiled then. "I'm used to being the smallest kid on the block, Harry."
He looked pained. "Harold or Gaynor, never Harry."
I shrugged. "Fine.
"Like a federal prison term for kidnapping," I said.
"Exactly. Your stubbornness has cost you five hundred thousand dollars. Was it really worth that?"
"I won't kill another human being just so you can go looking for lost treasure."
"Little Wanda has been bearing tales."
"I was just guessing, Gaynor. I read a file on you and it mentioned your obsession with your father's family." It was an outright lie. Only Wanda had known that.
"I'm afraid it's too late. I know Wanda talked to you. She's confessed everything."
Confessed? I stared at him, trying to read his blankly good humored face. "What do you mean, confessed?"
"I mean I gave her to Tommy for questioning. He's not the artist that Cicely is, but he does leave more behind. I didn't want to kill my little Wanda."
"Where is she now?"
"Do you care what happens to a whore?" His eyes were bright and birdlike as he stared at me. He was judging me, my reactions.
"She doesn't mean anything to me," I said. I hoped my face was as bland as my words. Right now they weren't going to kill her. If they thought they could use her to hurt me, they might.
"Are you sure?"
"Listen, I haven't been sleeping with her. She's just a chippie with a very bent angle."
He smiled at that. "What can we do to convince you to raise this zombie for me?"
"I will not commit murder for you, Gaynor. I don't like you that much," I said.
He sighed. His apple-cheeked face looked like a sad Kewpie doll. "You are going to make this difficult, aren't you, Ms. Blake?"
"I don't know how to make it easy," I said. I put my back to the cracked wooden headboard of the bed. I was comfortable enough, but I still felt a little fuzzy around the edges. But it was as good as it was going to get for a while. It beat the hell out of being unconscious.
"We have not really hurt you yet," Gaynor said. "The reaction of the Thorazine with whatever other medication you had in you was accidental. We did not harm you on purpose."
I could argue with that, but I decided not to. "So where do we go from here?"
"We have both your guns," Gaynor said. "Without a weapon you are a small woman in the care of big, strong men."
I smiled then. "I'm used to being the smallest kid on the block, Harry."
He looked pained. "Harold or Gaynor, never Harry."
I shrugged. "Fine.