Night and Day (Book 2): Bleeding Sky Read Free Page B

“Omaha’s a steak town, old buddy. But
I do have a local steakhouse that will fry me up some okra if I ask real
nice.” He paused. “To answer your poorly-disguised question, I’m not a
vamp.”
    I
laughed. “Always quick on the uptake.”
    “And
you were always as subtle as a battering ram.”
    “So
how’s Omaha? Still in the gun business?”
    “Nah,
I’m a consultant now,” he said. “Personnel management, hiring practices,
benefits, that kind of thing. Omaha’s a hopping town, Charlie. You have to
come check it out some time.”
    “Yeah,
if I can ever get some time off from work.”
    “Heard
you’re a private eye now. Get tired of the cop thing?”
    “The
cop thing isn’t what it was,” I said. “Human cops don’t get to do a whole
lot of real police work these days. I had an opportunity to go a different
way and took it.”
    “Yeah,
I know things are different in the outside areas.”
    “Outside
areas?”
    “Border
areas, coastal areas. We call them the outside areas. Here in the middle of
the country, Areas Six and Seven, things are almost back to normal. There
are vamps, sure, but not as many and not as oppressive. They do their thing,
we do ours.”
    “You
make Omaha sound pretty good,” I said with a laugh.
    “Yeah,
I like it. I travel a lot for work, and it’s centrally located. Short plane
rides to the rest of the country.”
    “I
do have to admit, this is kind of unexpected, you calling out of the
blue.”
    “Not
exactly out of the blue,” he replied. “I’m gonna be flying down there
tomorrow morning for work. Did a little snooping around, found out you were
still kicking, figured we could get together for a drink and some
laughs.”
    I
hadn’t seen him in almost twenty years. Mrs. Dillon and her missing ring
could wait another day. “Sounds good. When do you get in?”
    “About
7:30 your time. I’m staying at the Hiatt-Regency. Is that close to
you?”
    “It’s
in midtown. Fifteen minute drive.”
    “Great,”
he said. “Figure I should hit the hotel by nine, unpack, change, give the
client an hour of face time. There a restaurant in the hotel?”
    “Couple.
Nice sit-down place and a sports bar.”
    “Sports
bar,” he said. “I’m gonna be with clients at sit-down restaurants all week,
perusing the wine list. On my own time, I’d rather have a burger and a
beer.” He paused. “How’s 11:30?”
    “Works
for me. So who are you consulting for here?”
    “We’ll
talk tomorrow,” he said. “Right now, I need to get some sleep so I don’t
space out with the client.”
    “Sounds
like a plan. I’ll see you at 11:30. I’ll be the guy in the all-purpose black
suit.”
    “If
I beat you there, I’ll let them know to keep an eye out for an undertaker.
See you then.” He hung up.
    It
would be interesting to catch up with Shuster. And just as interesting to
find out what was happening in the rest of the country.
    I
watch news on TV and read the paper, so I’m as up to date on current events
as you can be these days. But I’m pretty sure I’m not seeing all the news,
just what the Vees see fit to share. I might see or read something about an
apartment fire in Omaha or San Francisco, but nothing about how life is
there, how it compares to here. And I haven’t had the time, or frankly, the
inclination to travel.
    My
parents both died before the war. No brothers or sisters. I had a few
college buddies, a few friends from the Army like Shuster. But I’d lived
here in the city for almost twenty years. My friends and my life were here.
I did some traveling before the war, a week in New York, couple of weeks
with a girlfriend in Calgary for the Stampede. If I had the time, I could
travel, at least within the U.S., but it would just be for sightseeing. And
when you run your own business, sightseeing costs you business and
money.
    I
hung up the phone, checked the locks on the door, stuck my pistol under my