"Bradley Denton - We Love Lydia Love" - читать интересную книгу автора (Denton Bradley)

that man is not me. I didnтАЩt do those things. WeтАЩre watching an imaginary past with
false faces and artificial voices.

Whoa. Sounds familiar.

Danny Daniels. CCA.

тАЬWhereтАЩd the tape come from?тАЭ I ask, turning back toward Lydia. But if
thereтАЩs an answer I donтАЩt hear it, because the fire, instead of dying, has jumped to
some paper and plastic in the pyramid. I can still smother it with the drapery if I
hurry.

But Lydia jumps down partway and jabs her lighter at my face, stopping me.
The yellow flame at the end of the barrel is two inches from my nose. The brim of
my hat scorches.

тАЬTell me the truth,тАЭ Lydia says.

A wisp of black smoke rises to the ceiling.

All right, then. The truth. Or as close as I can get.

тАЬIтАЩve never seen that girl before,тАЭ I say. тАЬDaniels faked that tape to split us
up.тАЭ

Just doing his job.

Right. This is the way things are supposed to be, and IтАЩm supposed to help
them along.

But I donтАЩt want to anymore, and I donтАЩt care if it costs me my album or my
face or my name. Looking at her now, I realize that I only care about one thing: I
love Lydia Love.

I know. So do I. But loving her isnтАЩt enough.

LydiaтАЩs upper lip pulls back from her teeth. тАЬWhy should Danny care who
IтАЩm with? He doesnтАЩt have a thing for me.тАЭ The flame waves before my eyes.

тАЬNo,тАЭ I say, тАЬbut CCA does.тАЭ

тАЬWhat тАФтАЭ Lydia begins, and then a deafening buzz buries her words.

ItтАЩs the smoke alarm. The pyramid shudders with the sound, and Lydia loses
her balance and pitches forward. My hat gets knocked off, and LydiaтАЩs flame bums
across my cheek as I catch her and fall backward. We hit the floor as pieces of the
pyramid crash down around us.

The video monitor is right before our eyes. The brown-haired girlтАЩs lips are
forming a name over and over again.