Nightside 09 - The Unnatural Inquirer by Simon R. Green

Author:Simon R. Green [Green, Simon R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, General, Contemporary, Private Investigators, Mystery & Detective, London (England), Noir Fiction, Tabloid Newspapers, London, Missing Persons, England, Private Investigators - England - London, Taylor; John (Fictitious Character)
ISBN: 9780441015580
Google: _hZELG2iEH0C
Amazon: 0441016677
Publisher: Ace
Published: 2008-12-30T05:00:00+00:00

“Hell yes! No oversized iguana is going to intimidate me! Besides, never let anything distract you from following the story. First thing they teach you at the Unnatural Inquirer. Right after how to fill out an expenses claim and next-of-kin forms.” She looked at me consideringly. “You couldn’t just kill it, could you?”

“I think an awful lot of very well-connected people would be exceedingly upset.”

“That’s never stopped you before.”

“True. But a T. rex is too damned special to kill unless I absolutely have to.”

“So what do we do? Call in some of your more dangerous friends and allies for backup? Shotgun Suzie? Razor Eddie? The Grey Eidolon?”

“No,” I said. “I solve my own problems.”

I studied the artificial jungle, hot and sweaty and stinking under its artificial sun. Flies buzzed hungrily, along with foot-long dragonflies and other less familiar insects. The jungle on its own would be hard enough to take, even without the T. rex. I could see it more clearly now, shifting its weight slowly from one great leg to the other, its long tail twitching restlessly. It stood there, huge and menacing, waiting for me to try something. Waiting for its chance. There was no sign of the Collector’s door; but it couldn’t be far. The cage wasn’t that big

I smiled slowly. The T. rex would know where the door was. It would know it was important. So it would put itself between me and the door. Which meant

My smile widened as I looked at the T. rex’s massive legs, and then at the space between them.

“That is a really unpleasant smile,” said Bettie. “Whatever you’re thinking, please stop it.”

“I have a plan,” I said.

“I’m really not going to like it, am I?”

“How fast can you run?” I said.

“Oh, no,” she said. “You’re not suggesting

”

“Oh, yes I am,” I said.

I marched back to the cage bars, Bettie moving unhappily along with me. The T. rex stepped out into the open, grinning at me with its terrible jaws. The feeding arms high up on the barrel chest clutched spasmodically at the air. I reached into my coat-pocket and took out a flashbang. I gestured for Bettie to cover her eyes and ears, then tossed the flashbang into the cage. The T.

rex started forward. I closed my eyes, covered my ears, and turned my head away, and the flashbang exploded, filling the world with a fierce incandescent glare. I could still see it through my clenched-shut eyes. The T. rex screamed like a steam whistle. I turned back, grabbed Bettie’s hand, and we squeezed quickly between the steel bars. Designed to keep the T. rex in, not people out. The T. rex stamped its great feet up and down, swinging its wedge-shaped head back and forth, trying to shake off the pain in its dazzled eyes. And I ran straight at the creature, with Bettie pounding gamely along at my side.

The heat hit me like a blast furnace, and the stench was almost unbearable. The T. rex knew we were coming, but it was too confused to place us.

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