Dead But Not Forgotten Read Online Free

official.”
    She’d switched their bags of civilian clothes, the ones they usually kept in the other (crashed) cruiser, into the new ride. That was what he liked best about Kenya, he thought.
    Forward planning.

    Kevin had been to Dallas before—he wasn’t some hillbilly—but it was a shock coming out of the relative peace of Bon Temps, or even Shreveport. You could see the glow on the horizon long before the city itself materialized, as if it were permanently on fire. Once the buildings began appearing, it was the neon-clad ones first. There was some new downtown hotel with a moving-screen exterior; it was showing random screensaver patterns of pulses and colors, and it was mesmerizing as he took the downtown exit.
    â€œTurn right up here,” Kenya told him. If she was impressed by the lights and the traffic (which was considerable, though it was nearly midnight) she didn’t say so. “Well, this looks like Hipster Central.”
    It did. The Bat’s Wing was in one of those derelict chic neighborhoods that ten years ago would have been crack houses and gang graffiti and today was devoted to herbal shops, stores that specialized in fancy hats, tea rooms, and—just up ahead—a tattoo parlor that no self-respecting biker would ever walk into. Kevin expected it got a brisk trade from sorority girls and soccer moms. Maybe stockbrokers.
    The Bat’s Wing was two doors down from the tattoo place, which was probably ideal for them both. It had generous parking that was nevertheless completely full, so Kevin eased the cruiser into an illegal space, because cops never ticketed cruisers even if they were out of their own jurisdiction, and no business ever dared tow them.
    The building itself was a windowless black-painted cube with a painting of a bat flight in red silhouettes that started small at one corner and exploded into huge wings at the upper diagonal. The neon sign just had a bat silhouette that flapped its wings. Kevin could hear the pump of music through the walls.
    â€œExpensive crowd in there,” Kenya said, nodding toward the cars; she was right, the lot was full of shine and polish, and every single vehicle cost at least three times their annual salary, probably more. Still, he thought she’d fit right in. Kenya’s civilian clothes included a close-fitting pair of jeans that hugged her curves and a tight black shirt under a leather jacket. She looked hot and dangerous.
    There were no clothes in the world that could make Kevin look buff and chiseled, but he’d done all right. As usual, all eyes would be on Kenya, and that was good. People tended to underestimate him, and it made it much easier to watch her back. He just blended into the woodwork in a place like this. He’d be lucky if people didn’t try to order drinks from him.
    â€œKevin.” Kenya’s tone was calm and level, but it had some weight to it, and he blinked and focused on her. “You sure you want to do this?”
    â€œThat asshole back at Hardee’s knew something,” he said. “I figure it’s something we ought to know if we plan to catch Glick before he does worse than he already did. I know it’s not our jurisdiction . . .”
    â€œHe rammed you with a truck,” she said calmly. “That makes it my jurisdiction. And you’re right. I don’t figure the Dallas police would put this at the top of their to-do list; they got plenty of bad stuff going on around here.”
    â€œIt’s weird. I can get past Glick killing a person. I just can’t get past him killing that cat.”
    â€œYou saw Marie’s house. That cat could have died of embarrassment.” She smiled, and looked ten years younger. He couldn’t help but grin back. “If the vampires are trying to cover something up, then we’re the only ones who know about it right now. Plus, we drove a long way for nothing if we don’t at least get a