"Laura Anne Gilman - Retrievers 02 - Curse the Dark" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gilman Laura Anne)

Peter Liverakos

Howard Shaw



And in the memory of Kath Lawrence, who reminded me to take those lifelines and hold on tight.

тАЬSecure YourselfтАЭ

Secure yourself to heaven.

Hold on tight, the night has come.

Fasten up your earthly burdens,

You have just begun.

Indigo Girls

Chapter One

"Next time," Sergei muttered out of the corner of his mouth, not taking his eyes off the security guard
leaning against a wall several paces ahead of them, "we're taking a boat."

"Sorry, okay?" Wren said, doing her best not to snap at him. "I'm trying. I really am." And she was. It
just wasn't helping.

Her partner's deep sigh was the only response she got. They'd had variations of this conversation ever
since she threw her bag into the cab outside her apartment that morning, and things had only slid downhill
since getting to the airport. If they could have gotten through all this quickly, and not given her so much
time to think about itтАж But, well, that wasn't going to happen. And the weird feeling of being stared at,
even though there wasn't anyone paying any attention to her, was just making things worse.

The line shuffled in place, people shifting bags and checking watches. Sergei took a small case out of his
suit coat pocket, opened it and removed a slender brown cigarette, then put the case away. He rolled the
cigarette between his thumb and forefinger, then started rotating it end to end, as though practicing for a
coin trick he already knew how to do.

Another person made it through the metal detector and escaped into the depths of the airport. There
was only one line feeding along roped-off lanes into seven different metal detectors, three of which were
currently out of service, with technicians standing around them looking puzzled and not a little annoyed.
One of the techs did something to a touch pad, and shrugged helplessly.
 I hate airports, Wren thought. As though overhearing her thought, Sergei flicked a glance sideways at
her, one dark brown eyebrow raised in inquiry over paler brown eyes. After ten years of working
together, he didn't have to say anything; the message came through loud and clear.Get it done .

"Right." It wasn't that he wasn't sympathetic. He was. She knew that. But it was her problem and she
was the one who had to deal with it. And sympathy didn't actually help. Adjusting her sweaty grip on her
brand-new carry-on (finest you could buy on sale on two days' notice), Wren closed her eyes and