Sucker Punch (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter 27)

“I’ll confess, then.”

“To murder?” I asked.

“Yes, if it will save Bobby. I should have fought Muriel years ago and taken him in. He should have been our son, not Ray’s, and then he’d have never gone on that damn safari and gotten attacked by that witch doctor leopard. He’d be ours, and I’d have a son, but instead I let Muriel have her way like I always do, and now here we are.”

He confessed to killing Ray Marchand. He would not implicate his wife. When Edward pressed him, he said, “I love Muriel. I’ve always loved her.”

By the time we’d heard his confession, I couldn’t decide if Muriel had committed the murder without him, or if neither of them had done it. Either way, I knew Todd hadn’t, but we took his confession anyway. It would save Bobby’s life, and because Todd was human, they’d have to collect evidence before his murder trial. He had time, and he’d get a lawyer, which was something that most supernaturals never got. The lawyer Micah had recommended for Bobby was still on a plane trying to get here, though she had been filing paperwork on Bobby’s behalf. None of it would have been in time to save his life, though she was trying to use it as a jumping-off point for some sort of legal precedent to help the next supernatural citizen caught in the warrant system. Legal precedents are great, but they often don’t save the person involved at the beginning of the fight.

We’d meet Leduc back at his office, because legally I had to let Bobby out of the cage since it was currently my warrant. The warrant wouldn’t even be canceled. It would just be postponed while the legal sides of the equation argued among themselves.

My phone rang, and the caller ID said it was Newman, so I answered. “How’s Carmichael?”

“Dead. He never woke up from the drug overdose. Did you get enough from Babington to save Bobby?”

“Full confession,” I said.

“Thank God. Thank God.” He sounded beyond exhausted, and it was as if hearing his voice let me suddenly feel how tired I was, too.

“We’re going to give Bobby the good news,” I said.

“He’s free, but his uncle killed his father, so is that good news?”

“I don’t have to kill him, so yeah, that’s good news, or at least the best we’re going to get out of this mess.”

Newman sighed on his end of the phone. “The doctor wants to talk to me. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Do you want me to wait for you to let Bobby out?”

“No, it’s your warrant now, Blake. You do the honors. I’d like to drive him home though.”

“Understood.”

“Gotta go,” Newman said, and hung up.

I turned to Olaf and Edward. “Carmichael’s suicide attempt was a success apparently.”

“Two dead,” Edward said.

“At least it’s not three. Let’s go tell Bobby he’s a free wereleopard.”

“We’re not going to get to kill anyone, are we?” Olaf asked. He sounded sullen.

Edward and I both told him no. You wouldn’t think that someone who’s nea

rly seven feet tall could pout, but you’d be wrong. Olaf pouted all the way back to Hanuman.

72

WE COULD HEAR Leduc yelling at someone when the three of us stepped up onto the little porch outside the office.

“The lawyer is here,” Olaf said.

“You can hear what he’s saying?” I asked.

“And what she is saying.”

“I believe you can hear it’s a woman, but how do you know the woman is the lawyer?” I asked.