"Elrod, P N - Jack Fleming - The Vampire Files 01 - Bloodlist" - читать интересную книгу автора (Elrod P N)

The man's heart and lungs were thundering in my ears like a train. All
my senses were sharp and new and wonderful. I could even smell the
blood, an exciting scent when mixed with the sour tang of fear. On his
thick, rough neck the skin seemed oddly transparent where the large vein
pulsed. First it disturbed, then it tantalized. My mouth sagged open,
dry and aching with sudden thirst. I felt drawn to it like a cat to
milk.

He gagged and his bladder let go as my lips brushed his throat, then he
passed out.

I jerked back, wondering what the hell I was trying to do. Pushing away
until I no longer touched him, I lay facedown in the spiky grass,
shaking like a fever victim until the thirst faded.

With a hand under each arm, I dragged him backward over the irregular
clumps of grass and sand to his car. I felt strong enough to carry him,
but didn't relish coming into contact with his wet pants. Fortunately
the key was in the ignition, so I was spared a search of his lower
pockets. I opened the passenger door and stuffed him inside.

My mind was more or less functioning again and full of questions. Who
this stranger was and why he wanted to kill me seemed like good ones to
start with, so I picked his coat pocket and went through his wallet.

The driver's license was issued to a Fred Sanderson of Cicero.

The name might have been fake, it meant nothing to me, but the town
struck a sour note in my general memory. A bare ten years had passed
since the Capone gang invaded the place and took over. Big Al was in
jail now, gone but not forgotten if Sanderson was any example.

Except for five dollars and the phone number of someone named Elsie,
there was nothing informative in the wallet. I unbuckled Sanderson's
belt and slipped it from his well-muscled waist. He was heavy, but in
solid condition. As I'd thought, the leather strip had been specially
constructed to overlap on the inside. Working it open, I took careful
count and transferred the five hundred dollars hidden there into my own
pants pocket without a single pang of conscience. After what he'd put me
through he owed me, and I needed the operating funds.

I looked long and hard at his face. The heavy jaw and thick lips were
frustratingly familiar, but nothing clicked in my memory.

It was very bright now, the sky all strange with the sun and stars
shining improbably together. It was confusing until I realized it was
the moon that was flooding the place with such brilliance. Like
icewater, fear spread out in my guts and left me shaking at the edges.
The night was too bright, it was wrong, totally wrong.