Night and Day by Ken White Read Free Book Online

of scorched
ebony, topped off with a gleaming shaved head and a neatly trimmed goatee. It’s an imposing
look, and one that Joshua uses to his advantage.
    “No, nothing like that,” Holstein said quickly. “We’re here about a case.”
    “A case,” Joshua repeated. He walked past them and sat on the corner of my desk.
“Intriguing. One of my cases or one of yours?”
    “Ours,” Holstein said. “I’m sure you’re not aware of it yet, but the corpses of two vampires
were found in a van this morning outside Uptown District station.”
    “I heard,” Joshua said.
    At Holstein’s frown, he continued, “Al Ferrer gave me a call about it before I left home this
evening. Just a heads up, since I was acquainted with both of the victims.”
    “Mr. Cross and Mr. Ponittzo,” Holstein said.
    “That’s right,” Joshua said, folding his arms across his chest. “Of course, if you want my
opinion, it’s no loss. They were parasites, both of them. Exploiting weakness, pandering to base
hungers. The only unfortunate thing is that their places will be taken by scum more like them
than not.”
    Holstein nodded. “Mr. Thomas, could I ask when you last saw the victims?”
    Joshua frowned. “I haven’t seen Jeremy Cross for a year, maybe a year and a half. Ponittzo .
. .” He looked back at me. “What was it, Charlie, three months ago that Ponittzo was here?
You met him, remember?”
    I nodded. “About three months, I guess.”
    Joshua turned back to Holstein and Martinez. “Ponittzo had been an investor in a client’s
business. The business had, sadly, failed, and Ponittzo was making some unpleasant noises
about getting his money back. Threats. I invited him here to meet with my client and discuss it.”
    “I see,” Holstein said slowly. “And I’m sure you were able to straighten out the situation.”
    “Of course,” Joshua replied. “I made it clear to Ponittzo that if he didn’t stop making
trouble for my client, I’d arrange to have him and his bloodfather, Jeremy Cross, nailed to a tree
in time to catch the sunrise.”
    As Holstein’s mouth fell open, Joshua laughed. “I’m joking, of course. We handled the
affair in a businesslike fashion to everyone’s satisfaction and parted on amicable terms.”
    Holstein laughed nervously. “You had me going there for a minute.”
    “I’m sure I did,” Joshua said without a smile. “So what else do you need from me,
gentlemen?”
    “I think that’ll do it,” Holstein replied. He looked at Martinez. “Anything, Burt?”
    Martinez shook his head. “We got what we came for.”
    “Then that’s it,” Joshua said, standing. “Say hello to Al for me when you see him. I’m sure
you can find your own way out.” He turned to me and said, “You’re out late tonight, Charlie.”
    Behind him, I saw Holstein bare his teeth. When he noticed me staring at him, he worked
his mouth into a humorless smile, then turned and walked out of the office, Martinez behind him.
    “Things took a little longer uptown than I thought they would.”
    Joshua nodded. “Yes, I imagine Uptown station was bedlam. Did you do what you needed
to?”
    “I’ll call Downtown station in the morning and make sure B&P dropped off the Klinger
girl’s body,” I said. “No joy with the Stein investigation either, though I might have some luck
in the next week or so if things pan out.”
    “Drop the file on my desk so I can get up to speed when I come in tomorrow evening,” he
said. “You happen to do anything on the Jedron Marsch case today?”
    I shook my head. “No time. I’ll start looking around in the morning after I get MaryAnn
Klinger taken care of. Doesn’t look like Jedron is going to require a lot of tracking.”
    “No rush. It’s really just a favor for Lou Carpenter. The kid’s been lifting five or ten bucks
a night from the register at Carpenter’s and Lou wants to throw a good scare into him. Pick him
up, I’ll deliver him to Lou. Lou will slap him around a