Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Colletion_ Books 6-10 - Laurell K. Hamilton [789]
White steps led up to the round door like one of those cartoon tongues that spill out of mouths and go tumbling downstairs. The steps weren’t wide enough for us to walk side by side, so Edward moved a couple of steps ahead. Neither of the men behind us protested, so we kept moving.
It had been so long since I carried a purse instead of a fanny pack that it felt awkward on my shoulder. I had to keep a hand on it to keep it from swinging around. I’d put it on the left shoulder, leaving my right hand uncompromised out of habit. Not that I had anything left to draw or pull or whatever. But it was always good to have your strong hand empty, just in case. So Edward and Dolph had always told me.
At the top of the porch in a spill of bright yellow light, they told us to stop. We stopped. They moved up to flank us and move a little back to either side. I didn’t understand what they were doing at first, until the door opened and another man pointed the same kind of submachine gun at us. Muscle Man and Glasses had moved out of his line of fire and moved so they wouldn’t catch him in their fire line. It is not easy to use three submachine guns in that small a space without crossing your own men, but they made it look easy, very smooth. The other men had carried an extra clip for the sub guns in a thigh holster, but this one had two clips at his waist.
The man in the door was African American and tall, like Olaf’s height, very six foot plus. He was also completely bald just like Olaf. If they ever met, they’d look like light and dark versions of each other.
“What took so long?” he asked; his voice matched the body, deep.
“They were carrying a lot of hardware,” Muscle Man said.
The new guy was smirking at me. “From the way Russell talked I expected you to look like Amanda. You’re just a little bitch.”
“Amanda the Amazon that came to Ted’s house?” I asked.
He nodded.
I shrugged. “I wouldn’t believe much that Russell said.”
“He said you broke his nose, kicked him in the balls, and beat his head in with a piece of wood.”
“Everything but the last bit. If I’d beaten his head in, he’d be dead.”
“What’s the holdup, Simon?” Muscle Man asked.
“Deuce is having some trouble locating the wand.”
“Deuce would have trouble keeping track of his head if it wasn’t attached,” Muscle Man said.
“True, but we still wait.” He was looking at both of us, the gun held easily in his big hands. “What’s with the sunglasses, bitch?”
I let the name calling go. They had all the guns. “They look cool,” I said.
He laughed then, a warm growly sound. A nice laugh if he hadn’t been armed.
“What about you, Ted? I hear you are a bad dude.”
Edward transformed into Ted, like a magician deciding he was going to have to perform after all. “I’m a bounty hunter. I kill monsters.”
Simon looked at him, and there was something about the way he did it that said the Ted act wasn’t fooling him. “Van Cleef recognized your picture, Undertaker.”
Undertaker?
Ted smiled and shook his head. “I don’t know anybody named Van Cleef.”
Simon just looked at Glasses. Edward had time to turn his head so he took the blow on his shoulder. He moved a step, but didn’t fall. Simon gave another look. Glasses hit his knee, and Edward collapsed onto one knee.
“We only need the girl up and running,” Simon said. “So I’ll ask you this just once, do you know Van Cleef?”
I stood there, not sure what to do. We were so totally covered by the guns, and the priority had to be getting the children out. So no heroics until they were safe. If we died, I wasn’t a hundred percent sure that Bernardo and Olaf would risk their lives to get them out. So I stood there and looked at Edward kneeling on the porch, waiting for him to give me some kind of sign what I was supposed to do.
Edward looked up at Simon. “Yes.”
“Yes, what, asshole?