A Crying Shame (79 page)

Yeah.” Parker sighed. He reached for the aspirin bottle and took four of them.
I suppose. Oh hell, yes. You know that. Bit here, bit there, dab out of this program, that program, that budget. Hell, it would be twenty years before it was discovered. If it ever was. That's not the point. A mercenary! A goddamned mercenary. Damn it, has Tammy called in?”

Jeansonne grinned.
Tammy isn't going to phone anything in. She's in heat.”

How can you grin at a time like this?”

'Cause you been trying to get her panties off for three years, and the expression on your face is of extreme irritation, that's why.”

The two men had known each other since grade-school days. Had married high-school sweethearts, and socialized often.

Parker slowly returned the grin.
Yeah. Badon thinks I'm saving my political career. Hell with him. He—like a lot of professional fighting men—isn't very smart when it comes to politics. If he was, he'd know I'm winding down my last year of my second term. Can't run again. And I have—as you damned well know—publicly announced with my hand raised that I will never, ever, under any circumstances run for public office again. Ever! Never!”

His phone buzzed and the governor jerked it up. He listened for a moment, his face paling. The pain in his head intensified, pounding as though it were about to burst wide open.
Jesus!” he whispered.
All right. Thanks. Keep me informed.” He slammed the phone into the cradle.

Don't tell me.” Jeansonne wanted to pound on the desk in anger and helpless frustration.
Let me guess. The Links?”

You got it. A woman was abducted by those . . . things. Her male . . . companion, for want of a better word, was killed, torn to bits. Like Paul Breaux. Parts of him eaten. And Blackwell's reporter, a Craig Gardner, is missing. His jeep was found on Despair Plantation, not too far from the mansion. Need I say more? Oh, yes, old friend, we have troubles.”

Gardner probably followed us out there, tucked his jeep in a turn-row, and was slipping up to the house to snoop around when the Links got him. Damn, they were close all the time. All around us.” He was thoughtful for a few seconds.
Remember . . . Badon said he thought he heard a scream?”