Sucker Punch (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter #27) - Laurell K. Hamilton Page 0,88

and I knew if he rushed me now, I would be a little less quick, a little less focused, which meant it was a luxury I couldn’t afford.

My voice was almost neutral as I said, “Then let’s head back to the sheriff’s station.”

“After you,” he said.

I smiled. “Let’s go together but not too close until we have witnesses again.”

“Agreed,” he said.

We started walking through the trees back toward the road, the police station, and the witnesses who would keep us both from doing something the other one would regret. I wasn’t a sociopath like Olaf, or even one like Edward, but I had my moments, because part of me thought about shooting Olaf where no one could see us. If I lied and said he’d attacked me, I could probably sell it. The fact that I even thought that said just how much I wanted to be free of my Moriarty. Fucking nicknames.

30

DEPUTY RICO BROUGHT Bobby’s clothes and took over guard duty, so Duke felt he could go home for food and a little rest. Everyone seemed convinced that Rico could hold the fort, even Newman, though he said quietly to me, “Whatever I think of him as a person, he can handle guarding Bobby for a couple of hours.”

“I thought you didn’t like him back at the house,” I said.

“He’s one of Haley’s ex-boyfriends.”

“Oh,” I said, because I couldn’t think of anything else to say.

“He cheated on her. He cheats on all of them, but he never seems to run out of women to date.”

“Fresh meat,” I said.

Olaf spoke from too far away to have heard our conversation. I’d forgotten about his new supersecret hearing. “I will bet that it is not just women who do not know his reputation.”

Newman looked startled but didn’t ask how Olaf had heard us. He knew that Otto Jeffries had popped positive for lycanthropy after the case in Washington State. “You’re right, but I don’t understand it. I mean, he’s good-looking, but not that good.”

“No one is that good-looking,” I said.

Olaf stalked toward us on those long legs that just seemed to eat up distance. “Most women will believe a handsome man when he lies.”

“Most men do the same thing for beautiful women, and the same thing goes for the gay community on both sides of the aisle,” I said.

Olaf nodded as he towered over both of us. “I will concede that beauty distracts everyone.”

“Thank you,” I said, and meant it. When we’d first met, he’d have been pissed if I’d tried to bring men down to the same level that he thought women deserved.

“You’re both right. I saw it enough when I was a regular cop. Women believe that they will be the one that a bad man will reform for, that he’ll never beat me like he did his ex-wife or cheat on me like he did on the last girlfriend. The women believe that it’s the other woman’s fault and not the man’s. He just needs the right woman in his life, and that will be them,” Newman said. “No matter how many times he has cheated on others, he will not cheat on them, because their love is true.”

“Just like some men want to be a white knight for every damsel in distress they meet, because they believe they’ll be the one that can save them from their terrible lives. They will be strong enough to succeed where all the other boyfriends failed,” I said.

Olaf nodded. “The women take advantage of the men’s good intentions.”

“And men like Rico use the women they date,” I said.

Kaitlin came up behind us and said, “Amen to that.”

We turned to her. “I didn’t know you were one of his exes,” Newman said.

“It’s all right. He’s charmed most of the dating-age females in the county by now.” She grinned and shook her head, managing to look both embarrassed and genuinely amused.

“I’ve always believed that if someone was too good at charming me, he’d had a lot of practice, and when he got tired of me, he’d be just as charming to the next one,” I said.

“Well, you’re right about that.” Kaitlin frowned. “I’ve seen your Jean-Claude being interviewed on TV. He looks pretty darn charming.”

It was my turn to grin. “It was one of the reasons I refused to date him at first. He’d had six hundred years of practice at being a ladies’ man. He was so smooth that I instantly distrusted his motives.”

“You were right to distrust him,” Olaf said.

I frowned up