"Simon Hawke - The Nine Lives of Catseye Gomez" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hawke Simon)

best friends, but how do you turn down a dying man's request? Especially when it was the best friend you'd
ever had?
"Like Paul said, Gomez, we're not talking about any firm commitments here. We're just talking about getting
to know each other, and if it doesn't work out, we'll just part company with no hard feelings and I'll take you
anywhere you want to go. It's up to you. What do you say?"
I sighed. "Well, what can I say? It's for Paulie. And if Paulie thought you were worth getting to know, then I
guess that's good enough for me. But I do what I damned well please and I sure as hell ain't no pet."
"That goes without saying," Solo replied. "Like I said, no strings. We'll just spend some time talking about
our old friend and see where, if anywhere, it goes from there. You call the shots."
"Sounds fair enough," I said. It was for Paulie. Besides, I was always a good judge of character, and there
was something about this guy Solo that I liked from the beginning. "Okay. Where to?"
"I've got a rented car," he said, jerking his head back toward the lot. "We'll drop it off at the Albuquerque
airport and catch the next plane back to Denver."
"Denver?" I said.
"Yeah, it's where I live," said Solo. "Don't worry, you get a round-trip anytime you want it."
"Denver?" I said again. I'd never even considered leaving Santa Fe. I'd never been anywhere else. I didn't know
anything about Denver, except that it was in Colorado. I didn't even know what this guy Solo did for a living.
"What do you do in Denver? You mentioned something about criminology?"
"I'm commissioner of police."
"A cop, eh?" I said. I couldn't help it. I thought about Mike Hammer and Pat Chambers, the police captain
who'd been Hammer's closest friend. Ironic? Maybe. Fate? Who the hell knew.
"Yeah," said Solo. "Hope you haven't got anything against cops."
I smiled. "Aren't they supposed to be the good guys?"
"We're supposed to be," said Solo. "I like to think we try, anyway."
I nodded. "Yeah, well, all anyone can do it try. Denver, huh?"
"Yeah. Denver."
"What the hell. I've never been to Denver."
I glanced back toward the grave and thought, Paulie, I sure hope you know what you're doing. I said a silent
goodbye and went with Solo to his car. We got in and he turned the key, activating the thaumaturgic battery.
The rental hummed to quiet life and rose about two feet off the ground. Solo turned it around and we softly
skimmed off toward Albuquerque. For a while, neither of us spoke. It felt a little awkward, I guess, and neither
of us was really certain what to say. We were each doing a favor for a dead man, a man who'd meant a lot to
us. What we'd mean to each other, if anything, remained to be seen.
Like I said before, life tends to throw you a curve every now and then. Most of the time, you can't really see it
coming, but you roll with the punches and try your best to land on your feet. But then, I'm a cat, and cats
always land on their feet. A low rumble of thunder echoed through the sky like a growl as we left the
cemetery behind.
Denver, Colorado. A new town. New turf. Maybe a new beginning for an old trooper. Anyway, we'd soon find
out.

Two

THE flight to Denver taught me a thing or two about perspective. I'd always thought of myself as a cat who's
been around, but though I knew every street and alleyway in Santa Fe like the back of my paw, I learned that
I never had any idea of just how much was out there that I didn't know. Oh, I'd read a book or two and
watched TV with Paulie, but knowing there's a lot more out there beyond your city limits is not the same as
actually seeing it for yourself. Especially from the sky. And I learned something else, as well. I hated flying.
If God had meant for me to fly, he would've given me wings, or at least arranged for the thaumageneticist who
designed me to do it. I knew about airplanes, of course, I'm not a moron, but I'd never actually flown in one
before and it gave me the willies. The planes they use now, for the most part, are still the same ones that