"David G. Hartwell - Year's Best SF 8" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hartwell David G)

тАЬAre you a spy? How did you get my phone number?тАЭ
тАЬIтАЩm not a spy. I got your phone number from your phone.тАЭ
тАЬThen I know you. You must be that tall foreign man who gave me your battery. Where are you?тАЭ
тАЬLook outside the store. See me on the bench?тАЭ She turned where she stood, and he waved his
fingertips. тАЬThatтАЩs right, itтАЩs me,тАЭ he declared to her. тАЬI canтАЩt believe IтАЩm really going through with this.
You just stand there, okay? IтАЩm going to run in there and buy you a wedding ring.тАЭ
тАЬDonтАЩt do that.тАЭ She glanced cautiously at Dad and Uncle, then stepped closer to the bulletproof
glass. тАЬYes, I do see you. I remember you.тАЭ
She was looking straight at him. Their eyes met. They were connecting. A hot torrent ran up his
spine. тАЬYou are looking straight at me.тАЭ
тАЬYouтАЩre very handsome.тАЭ

It wasnтАЩt hard to elope. Young women had been eloping since the dawn of time. Elopement with
eager phone support was a snap. He followed her to the hotel, a posh place that swarmed with limos and
videocams. He brought her a bag with a big hat, sunglasses, and a cheap Mexican wedding dress. He
sneaked into the womenтАЩs restroomтАФthey never put videocams there, due to the complaintsтАФand he
left the bag in a stall. She went in, came out in new clothes with her hair loose, and walked straight out of
the hotel and into his car.
They couldnтАЩt speak together without their phones, but that turned out to be surprisingly
advantageous, as further discussion was not on their minds. Unlike Lola, who was always complaining
that he should open up and relateтАФтАЬYouтАЩre a plumber,тАЭ she would tell him, тАЬhow deep and mysterious is
a plumber supposed to be?тАЭтАФthe new woman in his life had needs that were very straightforward. She
liked to walk in parks without a police escort. She liked to thoughtfully peruse the goods in Mideastern
ethnic groceries. And she liked to make love to him. She was nineteen years old, and the willing sacrifice
of her chastity had really burned the bridges for his little refugee. Once she got fully briefed about what
went inside where, she was in the mood to tame the demon. She had big, jagged, sobbing, alarming,
romantic, brink-of-the-grave things going on, with long, swoony kisses, and heel-drumming, and
clutching-and-clawing.
When they were too weak, and too raw, and too tingling to make love anymore, then she would
cook, very badly. She was on her phone constantly, talking to her people. These confidantes of hers
were obviously women, because she asked them for Persian cooking tips. She would sink with
triumphant delight into cheery chatter as the Basmati rice burned.
He longed to take her out to eat; to show her to everyone, to the whole world; really, besides the
sex, no act could have made him happierтАФbut she was undocumented, and sooner or later some
security geek was sure to check on that. People did things like that to people nowadays. To contemplate
such things threw a thorny darkness over their whole affair, so, mostly, he didnтАЩt think. He took time off
work, and he spent every moment that he could in her radiant presence, and she did what a pretty girl
could do to lift a manтАЩs darkened spirits, which was plenty. More than he had ever had from anyone.

After ten days of golden, unsullied bliss, ten days of bread and jug wine, ten days when the
nightingales sang in chorus and the reddest of roses bloomed outside the boudoir, there came a knock on
his door, and it was three cops.
 тАЬHello, Mr. Hernandez,тАЭ said the smallest of the trio. тАЬI would be Agent Portillo from Homeland
Security, and these would be two of my distinguished associates. Might we come in?тАЭ
тАЬWould there be a problem?тАЭ said Felix.
тАЬYes there would!тАЭ said Portillo. тАЬThere might be rather less of a problem if my associates here could
search your apartment.тАЭ Portillo offered up a handheld screen. тАЬA young woman named Batool Kadivar?
Would we be recognizing Miss Batool Kadivar?тАЭ
тАЬI canтАЩt even pronounce that,тАЭ Felix said. тАЬBut I guess youтАЩd better come in,тАЭ for Agent PortilloтАЩs
associates were already well on their way. Men of their ilk were not prepared to take no for an answer.