Page 56 (2/2)

"He needs blood," I said, uys carry units in this state?"

"No," the fatter of the two said, setting down his gear "But we got volume expanders and if he needs faster transport, the choppers all got blood" He took a look at Rick and at the blood on the floor and swore

"Call the chopper in," Jodi said "Get ’e his portable radio andme, so I put my arms down and stepped into the corner The EMTs were fast, starting IV lines, taking blood pressure Herbert alking around, his thu to thethe kinds of questions a cop asked in the field, questions medical professionals had no answers for Questions that cops asked when one of their oas injured in the line of duty If I hadn’t already figured out that Rick was an undercover cop, that would have decided it He was spying on the vamps for NOPD Did Troll know his relative was a cop?

It occurred to me that I had no car here, no visible ot here when they questioned me I’d have to tell the cops that I arrived with Rick Or walked The first lie would be easily disproved, the second wasn’t likely I really didn’t want to have to lie to Jodi, especially such a bad lie When Herbert’s back was turned, I casually slipped out of the house As soon as the shadows covered me, I broke into a dead run

I called for a Bluebird Cab on my cell, and was lucky that Rinaldo happened to be off froain, and so took extra precautions when I stripped and rinsednaked on the bank not far froe, I was totally exposed in thethis way instead of toward the flashing lights I heard several neighbors talking and spotted the closer to the action, but not letting it out of their sights either I hoped the distraction would keep theet the blood out, and I hoped I was successful before I was drained by insects or attracted every gator within ten ht assured me that my clothes and shoes were ed up Privateer Boulevard infor ht spot ry, shaky, sticky with blood and sweat, stinking of bayou, and hot, even with the wet clothing

I crossed Fisherman Boulevard and was almost back to the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park,harder than I expected,as if Beast had her claws in ed hi to control ht that was a from the back of a cab

"You look like shit, you do," he said, leaning out the open , one arh and tried to stand My back wanted to spas "And you’re a sweet talker, Rinaldo"

"That what ly Cajun the better he got to know uess You want stop at nearest fast-food joint for half dozen burger and three or two shake"

"Sounds delicious" I made it to the car "I’ot towel What you do, go for a bayou swiator in there, you know"

I eased into the car and quickly shut the door so the interior lights couldn’t pick out the tinge of bloody red all throughthe edges of the towel to catch the spreading damp "Home Food And not in that order," I said Overhead, the moon passed behind clouds, and thunder rumbled in the distance

Rinaldoup And boudin balls"

"I’ ht that was funny

I remembered what they were as soon as I bit into a fried boudin ball--spicy meat and sticky rice, shaped into a ball and fried in lard They were totally wonderful; I had six, each as big as e shakes, one order of fully loaded fries with chili and cheese, and two fried apple pies I treated Rinaldo to a burger and shake, and let him watch me eat as he drove He was fascinated

"Where you keep all that food?"

"I didn’t eat dinner tonight," I said, shrugging, shoving a handful of fries into ers "Fast metabolism"

"Like a damn race car, you is"

I chuckled and drained one of the shakes through a straith a long slurp of satisfaction

Rinaldo dropped me off down the street fro his towel I had insisted that I be allowed to wash it for hie inthe thin, washed-out blood soaked into it He charged ht fare, cash, and I paid it without de to keep my safe transportation happy As it was, if Jodi ever discovered and questioned him, Rinaldo would provide a lot of unusual inforle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>