Sucker Punch (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter 27)

36

“THAT WAS CLEVER,” Olaf said as we walked across the parking lot.

“What?” I asked.

He looked at me. “Do not be falsely modest, Anita. You made the doctor falter in his anger and listen to us.”

“I thought you were just teasing him because you didn’t like him at first,” Newman said.

“I wasn’t sure which way it was going to go either, honestly, but I was hoping I’d find a way to slow him down. Sometimes if you can trip people up verbally, it’s just like a foot sweep in a fight. You can make them stumble or lose their balance, and then you can move into the opening.”

“Were you this good verbally when we met?” Olaf asked.

“No, not even close.”

“Good. I did not like the thought that my hatred of women caused me to miss that much of your skill set.”

“You hate women, and you just told that to a woman?” Newman said.

“I’m aware of how Otto feels about women,” I said.

“We have no secrets from each other,” Olaf said, looking down at me.

I met his eyes, shrugged, and said, “I guess we don’t.”

“I feel like I’m missing something,” Newman said.

“Oh, you’re missing tons of stuff, but it won’t help save Bobby’s life, so let’s just focus on that,” I said.

Newman hesitated outside his Jeep and then finally shook his head. “Keep your secrets. Today I don’t care. Just help me find the real killer so I don’t have to murder Bobby.”

“It’s not murder, Newman,” I said.

“If I pull the trigger on Bobby knowing he didn’t do it, badge, warrant, legal system, none of it matters, Blake. If I kill him knowing he’s innocent, then I know it’s morally wrong, and that makes it murder in my book.”

“We are not the murderers here, Newman. Whoever framed Bobby is the murderer.”

“You will be the method of murder, not the murderer,” Olaf said.

That made Newman and me both look at Olaf. “What?” Newman asked.

“At the sheriff’s office, you said the murderer was using you to complete their crime. That makes you the method of murder, or the weapon that the murderer is using to kill his second victim, but you are not the murderer,” Olaf said.

“He’s right,” I said.

“I will not be the weapon they use to kill Bobby.”

“Then let’s find out whodunit,” I said.

“How?” Newman asked.

“Ah, there’s the rub,” I said.

37

SHERIFF LEDUC MET us at the door to his office. “What the hell did you do? I got a call from a lawyer named Amanda Brooks telling me that we can’t execute her client.”

“It’s a gray area, Duke. If Bobby is just going to sit in the cell for a while, then maybe he needs legal representation?” Newman said.