"Simon R. Green - Hawk and Fisher 2 - Winner Takes" - читать интересную книгу автора (Green Simon R)

streets. The Shambles was no poorer than anywhere else in the Northside, but it
was perhaps more open about it. Shadowy figures disappeared silently into
inconspicuous doorways as Hawk and Fisher approached.

"Adamant," said Fisher thoughtfully. "I know that name."

"You ought to," said Hawk. "A rising young star of the Reform Cause, by all
accounts. He's contesting the High Steppes district, against a hardline
Conservative Councilor.

He might just take it. Councilor Hardcastle isn't what you'd call popular."

Fisher sniffed, unimpressed. "If Adamant's so important, how did he end up with
us as his bodyguards?"

Hawk grunted unhappily. The last time he and Fisher had worked as bodyguards,
everything had gone wrong. Councilor Blackstone had been murdered, despite
their protection, and so had six other people. Important people. Hawk and Fisher
had caught the killer eventually, but that hadn't been enough to save their
reputation. They'd been in the doghouse with their superiors ever since. Not that
Hawk or Fisher gave a damn. They blamed themselves more than their superiors
ever could. They'd liked Blackstone.

"Well," said Fisher finally, "you've always said you wanted a chance to study an
election close-up, to see how it worked. It looks like you've got your chance after
all."

"Yeah," said Hawk. "Wait till you see Adamant in action, Isobel; he'll make a
believer out of you."

"It'll all end in tears," said Fisher.

They were halfway down Lower Bridge Street, not far from the High Steppes
boundary, when Hawk suddenly noticed how quiet it had become. It took him a
while to realize, being lost in his thoughts of actually working with a Reform
candidate, so the quiet hit him all the harder when it finally caught his attention.

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At first everything looked normal. The usual stalls lined the street, and the crowds
bustled back and forth, like any other day. But the sound of the crowd barely rose
above a murmur. The stall-holders stood quietly in their places, waiting patiently
for customers to come to them, instead of following their usual practice of
shouting and haranguing until the air itself echoed from the noise. The crowd
made its way from stall to stall with bowed heads and downcast eyes. No one
exclaimed at the prices, or browbeat the stall-holders, or tried to bargain for a
lower price. And strangest and most unsettling of all, no one stopped to speak to