Devil Red by Joe R. Lansdale

Author:Joe R. Lansdale [Lansdale, Joe R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9780307595355
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published: 2011-03-14T23:00:00+00:00

35

Brett was sitting in the living room with me and Leonard and Marvin. Drake had gone away. It was after midnight and she was back from work. We told her what happened. My first thought was she’d finally decide it was time to ditch me. I was like a shit magnet. It always found me. No matter where I went, what I did, it came flying out of the air and landed on me.

Well, maybe there were things I did that attracted it.

Like breaking that guy’s knee, messing up his ribs.

But it wouldn’t matter. I could stay home in front of the TV and trouble would arrive in the form of a singing telegram. And if it didn’t find me, it would find Leonard, and that was the same as finding me.

“So, you were just minding your own business,” Brett said.

“Really,” Leonard said. “We were.”

“I believe you,” she said. “I’m on your side.”

“We’re the three musketeers,” I said. “Oh,” I said, looking at Marvin, “sorry to leave you out of the musketeer thing. In the book, there were actually four.”

“I don’t want to be a musketeer,” Marvin said.

“Now, come on,” Leonard said. “He didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. You can be a musketeer too.”

“I’m fine,” Marvin said.

“My sense of things,” Leonard said, “is that you really do want to be one, and just won’t admit it.”

“Actually,” Brett said, “I always wanted to be a Mouseketeer.”

“Oh, Christ,” I said, “is there any way some night I can get you to wear a set of mouse ears when we, you know—”

“Oh, hell yeah,” Brett said.

Brett went into the kitchen, came back with some corn chips and sodas, said, “Enjoy, this may be as housewifey as I get.”

We had at the chips and drinks. It was like a feeding frenzy at the zoo.

“So, the deal is,” Brett said, “you’re trying to find the connection between the vampires and the man in the trailer, Mini’s stepdad? And you’re thinking Mini’s money is part of the deal?”

“It makes sense,” Marvin said. “And I can tell Hap has kept our confidential rule and not mentioned any of this to you.”

“Oh, he never shuts up,” Brett said.

“Figured as much,” Marvin said.

“Want to hear what I think?”

“Might as well.”

“Maybe I should wear Leonard’s deerstalker since I’m giving my valued investigative opinion based on nothing but a hunch.” Leonard handed it to her and she put it on.

“Whoa,” Marvin said. “That looks good on you.”

“Hell, yeah,” I said. “Forget the mouse ears.”

“It looks all right,” Leonard said.

“The money is all coincidence,” Brett said. “It’s clouding your judgment. The law got Godzilla for the murder of that frat boy, but Mini, she got off the hook, and so did the others. They got their wrists slapped. Somewhere, someone’s bound to be mad about that, and it doesn’t have to do with them being vampires, or there being money involved, or even Ted Christopher being killed. With me so far?”

“We’re listening,” Marvin said.

“Wouldn’t you be mad someone killed someone you loved, and the batch of them got off by tattling?” Brett said.

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