A Crying Shame (77 page)

Tammy had slept through the entire barrage.

Come here, Linda,” he said.

Obediently, she rose from the chair and walked to him. She opened his shirt and placed the palms of her hands on his bare chest, gently running her fingers through the thick mat of hair.
After all the men I have known, all the socially correct gentlemen who have asked me out, many proposing marriage . . . I wind up with a damned mercenary. Must be my mother's side of the family surfacing.”

Her shirt was still open, her breasts exposed to his mouth and tongue. Bending his head, he tasted each nipple.

I can't believe I'm doing this,” she said.
This is not like me at all.” She sighed a moaning yearning as he took a nipple into his mouth, tonguing its tautness.

Do we do it standing up?” he asked, his tongue moving on her skin.

No. But keep that thought in mind for later. It sounds interesting.”

 

Governor Parker went into a rage when he received the news of Poyson's tach team. He found it easier to blame Badon than the . . . creatures, so he soundly cursed the mercenary.

Colonel Jeansonne sat quietly in the office of the governor's mansion, listening to Parker vent his rage. He felt the loss much more keenly than Parker, for Poyson had been a personal friend. But the top trooper in Louisiana had seen death many times before and, as all lawmen must do everywhere, had hardened himself to the sight and thought . . . on the outside.

Jeansonne brought himself back from his thought trip. He had been recalling that just last summer he and Poyson had gone fishing together . . . had a good time.

... People in that area have been screaming for industry for years,” Parker was saying, visibly calming himself.
Now we have not one but two factories ready to come in, going to locate just above Fountain, and one just outside of Laclede itself. Employ several hundred people . . . and that's just at first. A thousand before they're through. God! Just let news of monsters break out and we can probably forget those factories. Just kiss them good-by, and who could blame them?” His eyes found Jeansonne.
What . . . are you going to tell the families of those troopers?”

For the time being—maybe forever, I don't know—the story we agreed upon: they died in a training exercise in the swamp; some high explosives detonated prematurely. Still looking for the bodies. 'Gator mauled Burt. I don't like it, but what else can we do if we're going to sit on the monster story?”

We could tell the truth,” Parker suggested, rubbing his face, his eyes, his temples. He'd had this damned headache for a week. Felt like crap.
It's going to surface sooner or later. Probably sooner. God, wouldn't Jennings love to get hold of this?”