Peter Decker 3-Book Thriller Collection

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Faye Kellerman

Год написания книги

2019

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“Both are niggers. Clementine is pretty light from what I hear. I’ve never seen him.”

She picked up her food and took another bite. “Can you get me a Coke?”

He handed her a twenty. “Buy your own.”

“You’re a real big-timer, Decker.” She pouted. Then she broke into a smile. “So I did all right, huh?”

“Not bad. Where’d you get the names from?”

“Here and there. You check out Pode yet?”

“No. Tell me about him.”

“Don’t know anything other than what I told you,” she said. “Just that he takes fuck pictures on the side—young kids—boys as well as girls. Lots of chicken hawks out here.”

Decker pulled out the snapshot of Doe Two—Joan.

“Ever seen this girl, Kiki?”

The adolescent’s eyes widened.

“Yeah.”

It was Decker’s turn to grin.

“Who is she?”

“Countess Dracula. They call her that because of her teeth. She’s kinky, Decker, real kinky.”

“Tell me about her.”

“I don’t know anything really. Just talk on the streets. They say stay away from her. I haven’t heard about her in a while.”

“That’s cause she’s dead, Kiki. You don’t have to be worried about her anymore. C’mon. What do you know?”

“Dead?”

“Yes.”

“This have to do with the girl you were asking about?”

“What do you know about the Countess?”

Kiki sighed.

“Man, I’m really thirsty. And hungry, too. I dunno if they can change a twenty.”

“What do you want?”

“Make it a number six this time, with lots of cheese and garlic. And a large Coke.”

He got up and returned with her order. It smelled toxic. She bit into the hot dog, chewed, then wiped her mouth and took a sip of soda.

“What can I tell you? She’s a weirdo. Or was a weirdo. She’s really dead, huh?”

Probably, he thought.

“Yes,” he answered.

“You know, I hear Clementine knew her before she got real weird. I bet he could tell you a bunch about her.”

“You’re stalling,” he said.

“Decker, I don’t know anything for sure. She was bad and did weird things, or so they say.”

“What weird things?”

“Just weird things.”

“Like what?”

The girl brought her face close to his. Her breath stank.

“They say she snared dupes, ya know? Maybe some illegals who she threatened to expose to Immigration. She’d do kinky things with them—make ’em fuck dogs or eat dead rats. They say she cut up animals and drank their blood.”

A real sweetheart, he thought. What could that have to do with Lindsey?

Kiki pulled away from him, sweating profusely.

“I talk too much.”

“What else?”

“I don’t know anything more.”

“And Clementine was her pimp?”

“I dunno. Maybe they had a thing goin’.”

“Did she photograph her parties?”

“Shit, I dunno.”

“I’m a pervert,” he said. “Where do I get ahold of kinky films?”

“I dunno.”

“C’mon!”