Snider gave him a look that said: We’re going to have a long talk soon. Right now Joe did not care in the least.
“We got your grandmother dead,” said Charley, thinking aloud while he looked at Kate. “But so far the other Southerlands are still alive, though some are damaged. We got Gruner dead. And now we got Walworth dead, right out of the building where Gruner was the doorman. This Corday is still missing. This Winter that you and Johnny describe is nowhere.”
“Try finding Leroy Poach,” said Joe, and giggled. The giggle had a strange sound.
“I think you better check in here yourself,” Charley told him.
“No.” Kate pressed his hand. “He’s going to come home with me and sack out there.”
“Thanks,” said Joe. “I will.”
The elevator stopped at Judy’s floor and they got out. Two rooms down, the hall had police bodyguards.
“Daddy still glowers at you,” Kate said. “He’ll glower worse when I bring you back home. And then I’ll punch him in the nose.” Now first she and then Joe were laughing uncontrollably. Snider shook his head and walked off somewhere. A nurse came to stand looking at them doubtfully. When they had done their best to try to look like decent visitors, the nurse said: “You can go in now, if you’re quiet. She’s been asking and asking for you.”
Snider reappeared from somewhere to follow them in silently. There was only one bed in the room, with a pale Judy lying in it. In a chair nearby Johnny sat in his bathrobe. Judy sat up with a jerk as they came in.
“We’re all right,” Kate got out. Johnny sprang up to give her his handless hug. She looked over his robed shoulder at Joe, appealing for some way to communicate the rest.
Joe tossed Judy a wink. “I have the feeling the good guys are going to be all right now.”
The pale girl couldn’t help herself. “Dr. Corday too?”
Joe could feel eyes boring into the back of his neck. The ears of Homicide would be tuned in like dish antennas. What did he care? He was going to marry into quite a wad of money soon. “Him especially,” Joe said, and winked again. “He can take care of himself. If I was him I’d be going back to Europe as soon as I could.”
“The airports will be watched,” Judy worried weakly.
“There are night flights, aren’t there?” Kate commented. Let Homicide try to make something out of that. And Joe could hear Charley Snider’s shoeleather creaking quietly out of the room.
“Oh, Kate,” said pale Judy from her bed, “are you really all right now?”
“I think so. Listen, Jude. You and I are going to have a lot of things to compare notes on, when we get the chance.”
“Oh, yes. Yes, we are.”
“And then,” said Kate, “I think we’d all benefit from a winter vacation somewhere.”
“Great weather to go south,” Joe put in.
Judy took thought. “Yes, going somewhere to rest up sounds like fun. Only…”
“What?”
“Maybe not south…they say the off-season is a great time to visit Europe.” Judy’s eyes had begun to glow, to dance a little. With one finger she picked at a spot, a tiny pimple maybe, on her throat.
THE END
About The Author
Fred Saberhagen is widely published in many areas of speculative fiction. He is best known for his Berserker, Swords, and Dracula series. Less known is his myth based series Books of the Gods. In addition Fred wrote a number of non-series fantasy and science fiction novels and a great number of short stories. For more information on Fred visit his website: www.fredsaberhagen.com
Table of Contents
Credits
Saberhagen’s Dracula Series
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
About The Author
