"Lester Del Rey - Pursuit" - читать интересную книгу автора (Del Rey Lester)

She seemed surprised, but tried to smile. тАЬI thought I left you asleep, Will,тАЭ she said, in a tone that was
meant to be bantering. тАЬ 'Smatter, the fuse blow?тАЭ
He accepted the excuse for his presence in the basement. тАЬYeah, it did. You left the iron on. I wondered
what happened to you?тАЭ
тАЬNothing. Just shopping. There wasn't a bit of food in the place - and I must say, Will, you aren't much of
a housekeeper. I bought pounds of soap!тАЭ
He followed her up the stairs, and his key opened the door. He was still operating on the general belief
that they'd be least likely to spot him where they had already found. him once. If the girl had tipped them off,
then they had it figured out that he had run off, and probably wouldn't be back.
He hoped so, at any rate.
She was talking too briskly, and she was too careful not to mention that the iron was cool, with its cord
wrapped neatly around the handle. He offered no explanation, but let her babble on about the strange
coincidence of his being the Will Hawkes, and how she'd almost forgotten the childhood days.
тАЬHow come the Iba├▒ez?тАЭ he asked, finally.
тАЬStage name! I tried to make a go of the musicals, but it wasn't my line, I found. But the name stuck.тАЭ
тАЬAnd where'd you learn how to drug coffee that way?тАЭ
She didn't change expression. There was even a touch of a twinkle in her eye. тАЬWaitress in a combination
bar and restaurant. You needed the sleep, Will. And I guess I still feel as much of a mother to you as I did
when you used to get hurt, so long ago.тАЭ
She had things out of the bags now, and he saw that she had been doing a lot of shopping. There had still
been time enough to call the slim young man, though - or, he suddenly realized, the fat man. He had no more
reason to believe her an enemy than a friend. Then he corrected that. If she'd known enough to call the fat
man, and had been his friend, she could have told him things. She'd denied knowing anything, though.
He couldn't understand why he trusted her - and yet, somehow, he did. Even if he knew she'd called them,
he would still have to trust her. He was sure now that she was lying, and that she had been the girl at the door
- but that meant she'd been with the fat man. And the fat man had seemed to be his friend. Or, had the man
been set to lure him out, but miscalculated, and gotten only what had been meant for him?
His head was spinning, and he gave it up. He was a fool to trust her simply because the fear feeling
subsided around her - but he had nothing better to do than to follow his hunches, and then try to play the
odds as best he could.


тАЬCigarettes,тАЭ she said, handing him a pack of his brand. тАЬAnd for me. Shoe dye - your shoes need it, and I
couldn't find a shoe store. I did get a shirt though, and a tie. You'll find a hat in that bag. Size seven and a
quarter?тАЭ
 He nodded gratefully, and went in to change. His old shirt had caught most of the cat's blood, and he
needed a fresh one. There were a couple of spots on his trousers, but they'd do. And the sports jacket
matched well enough. He daubed the dye onto his shoes - one of the combined polish and dye things.
тАЬCold-cuts all right?тАЭ she asked, and he called back a vague answer that seemed to satisfy her. He was
staring at the shoe dye.
It worked fairly well, when he experimented. He daubed it onto his hair with a wisp of cotton. His hair
began to mat down, but he found that combing it out as he went along removed the worst of the wax and still
left some of the color. It worked better than it should have done.
He found a bottle of something that smelled of alcohol and belonged in her cosmetics, and began
removing most of the mess. By being careful, he got the wax and most of the dye smell off, while leaving his
hair darker.
тАЬBetter wash up,тАЭ she called.
There was a razor among the things she had bought. He daubed some of the dye on his upper lip, where
the stubble of a mustache was showing. It was easier there, if it didnтАЩt wash off in soap and water.