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they were . . . I took the case sight unseen, because I thought it would be an interesting legal challenge. I
have always been a civil rights lawyer, and I was convinced vampires had the same civil rights as other
people."
Mr. Floodgates. "Sure," I said.
"To deny them the right to live anywhere they wanted to, that was un-American, I thought," Hugo
continued. He sounded bitter and world-weary.
He hadn'tseen bitter, yet.
"But you know what, Sookie? Vampires aren't American. They aren't even black or Asian or Indian.
They aren't Rotarians or Baptists. They're all just plain vampires. That's their color and their religion and
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their nationality."
Well, that was what happened when a minority went underground for thousands of years. Duh.
"At the time, I thought if Stan Davis wanted to live on Green Valley Road, or in the Hundred-Acre
Wood, that was his right as an American. So I defended him against the neighborhood association, and I
won. I was real proud of myself. Then I got to know Isabel, and I took her to bed one night, feeling real
daring, really the big man, the emancipated thinker."
I stared at him, not blinking or saying a word.
"As you know, the sex is great, the best. I was in thrall to her, couldn't get enough. My practice suffered.
I started seeing clients only in the afternoon, because I couldn't get up in the morning. I couldn't make my
court dates in the morning. I couldn't leave Isabel after dark."
This sounded like an alcoholic's tale, to me. Hugo had become addicted to vampiric sex. I found the
concept fascinating and repellent.
"I started doing little jobs she found for me. This past month, I've been going over there and doing the
housekeeping chores, just so I can hang around Isabel. When she wanted me to bring the bowl of water
into the dining room, I was excited. Not at doing such a menial task I'm alawyer , for God's sake! But
because the Fellowship had called me, asked me if I could give them any insight into what the vampires
of Dallas intended to do. At the time they called, I was mad at Isabel. We'd had a fight about the way
she treated me. So I was open to listening to them. I'd heard your name pass between Stan and Isabel,
so I passed it on to the Fellowship. They have a guy who works for Anubis Air. He found out when Bill's
plane was coming in, and they tried to grab you at the airport so they could find out what the vamps
wanted with you. What they'd do to get you back. When I came in with the bowl of water, I heard Stan
or Bill call you by name, so I knew they'd missed you at the airport. I felt like I had something to tell
them, to make up for losing the bug I'd put in the conference room."
"You betrayed Isabel," I said. "And you betrayed me, though I'm human, like you."
"Yes," he said. He didn't look me in the eyes.
"What about Bethany Rogers?"
"The waitress?"
He was stalling. "The dead waitress," I said.
"They took her," he said, shaking his head from side to side, as if he were actually saying, No, they
couldn't have done what they did. "They took her, and I didn't know what they were going to do. I knew
she was the only one who'd seen Farrell with Godfrey, and I'd told them that. When I got up today and I
heard she'd been found dead, I just couldn't believe it."
"They abducted her after you told them she'd been at Stan's. After you told them she was the only true
witness."
"Yes, they must have."
"You called them last night."
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"Yes, I have a cell phone. I went out in the backyard and I called. I was really taking a chance, because
you know how well the vamps can hear, but I called." He was trying to convince himself that had been a
brave, bold thing to do. Place a phone call from vamp headquarters to lay the finger on poor, pathetic
Bethany, who'd ended up shot in an alley.
"She was shot after you betrayed her."
"Yes, I . . . I heard that on the news."
"Guess who did that, Hugo."
"I . . . just don't know."
"Sure you do, Hugo. She'd been an eyewitness. And she was a lesson, a lesson to the vampires: 'This is
what we'll do to people who work for you or make their living from you, if they go against the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]