Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Colletion_ Books 6-10 - Laurell K. Hamilton [583]
I opened my eyes and looked at him. He was sitting in the chair that had probably been brought up for the uniform guarding the door. The uniformed officer was nowhere to be seen. Only Edward leaned against the far wall, hands behind his back. He was watching my face, watching me, as if he’d memorize my fear. “I made it through three patients before I had to leave the room. How many did you see before you had to go outside, Marks?”
“I didn’t have to leave the fucking room.”
“Doctor Evans said that no one has made it through the room, all the way through the room without having to run out. That means you didn’t make it either, Marks. So piss off.”
He was on his feet now. “You . . . you witch.” He spat the last word at me as if it were the worst insult he could come up with.
“Don’t you mean bitch?” I said. I was feeling better out here in the hallway. Trading insults with Marks was a cakewalk compared to my other choices.
“I said what I meant.”
“If you don’t know the difference between a real witch and an animator, no wonder you haven’t caught the thing that’s doing this.”
“What do you mean ‘thing’?” he asked.
“Thing, thing, monster.”
“The Feds think it’s a serial mutilator,” he said.
I glanced at Edward. “Nice of someone to tell me what the Feds said.”
Edward didn’t look guilty in the least. He was pleasant, unreadable, and I turned my attention back to Marks. “Then why aren’t there any tool marks from the skinning?”
Marks glanced down the corridor where a nurse was pushing a small cart. “We don’t discuss an ongoing investigation in the open, where anyone can hear us.”
“Fine, then after I’ve gone back in there and looked at the last three . . . bodies, we’ll go someplace more private and talk about the case.”
I think he paled just a bit. “You’re going back in there?”
“The victims are the clues, Lieutenant. You know that.”
“We can take you to the crime scenes,” he said. It was the nicest thing he’d ever said to me.
“Great, and I need to see them, but right this moment we’re here and the only possible clues are inside that room.” My breathing had returned to normal and the sick sweat had dried on my forehead. Maybe I was a touch pale myself, but I was mobile and felt almost normal.
I walked into the middle of the hall and motioned Edward over to me, as if I had something for his ears alone. He pushed away from the wall and came toward me. When he was close enough, I faked a low kick. He looked down for just an instant, reacting to it, and the second, higher kick caught him in the jaw. He went backwards hard. He had his arms up to defend his face. He knew enough to defend the vital areas, and worry about standing later.
My heart was thudding in my chest, not from exertion, but from adrenaline. I’d never used my new-found Kenpo skills in a fight. Trying it out for real for the very first time on Edward was probably not my best idea, but hey, it had worked. Though truthfully, I was a little surprised it had worked that easily. In the back of my head a voice wondered if Edward had let me take him down. The front of my head said that he had too much ego for that. I believed the second voice. I stayed where I was in a modified horse stance. It was pretty much the only stance I knew well enough to go back to once a kick was launched. I had my fists up, waiting, but didn’t move in.
When Edward figured out I wasn’t going to do anything else, he lowered his arm and stared at me. “What the hell was that?” There was blood on his lower lip.
“I’ve been taking Kenpo,” I said.
“Kenpo?”
“It’s sort of like Tae-kwon-do with fewer kicks and more fluid movements, a lot of hand work.”
“A black belt in Judo wasn’t enough?” he asked, and it was Ted’s voice asking.
“Judo’s great exercise, but it’s not great for self-defense. You have to close with the bad guy and grapple. This