[Southern Vamp 07] - All Together Dead 英文资料.pdf

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS There are a few people I’ve thanked before and need to thank again: Robin Burcell, former cop and present writer, and FBI Agent George Fong, who were great about answering my questions about security and bomb disposal. I appreciate the input of Sam Saucedo, the former newscaster and now writer, who explained a few things about border politics to me. I also need to thank S. J. Rozan, who was happy to answer my questions about architecture, though the vampire part was a distinct shock. I may have misused the information given me, but it was in a good cause. As always, I owe a great debt to my friend Toni L. P. Kelner, who read my first draft without laughin in my face. And my new continuity person, Debi Murray, gets a tip of the hat; from now on if I make mistakes, I have someone to blame. I owe a lot to the many wonderful readers who visit my website () and leave messages of encouragement and interest. Beverly Batillo, my fan club president, has given me a boost many a time when I was down in the dumps. 1 T HE SHREVEPORT VAMPIRE BAR WOULD BE OPENING late tonight. I was runnin behind, and I’d automatically gone to the front door, the public door, only to be halted by a neatly lettered sign, red Gothic script on white cardboard: WE’LL BE READY TO GREET YOU WITH 第 1 页 共 216 页 / 原版英语阅读网 A BITE TONIGHT, AT EIGHT O’CLOCK. PLEASE EXCUSE OUR DELAYED OPENING. It was signed “The Staff of Fangtasia.” It was the third week in September, so the red neon FANGTASIA sign was already on. The sky was almost pitch-black. I stood with one foot inside my car for a minute, enjoying the mild evening and the faint, dry smell of vampire that lingered around the club. Then I drove around to the back and parked beside several other cars lined up at the employee entrance. I was only five minutes late, but it looked like everyone