"Zach Hughes - Mother Lode" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hughes Zach)

He lay down and assumed his mop pose, head between his legs.

"Well, if you can hold it, all right," she said. "However, I am not
accustomed to cleaning up after some hairy little bugger like you."

It was too early to go to bed. She had talked with no one other than the
taxi driver who had known her father. She was sure that John Kenner had
had his affairs in order, but she imagined that there'd be some matters
that would require her attention. At that moment her plans didn't go past
calling her father's bank and, if he'd had one, his attorney. She went into
the office and opened the middle drawer where her father had kept his
bank book. The bank balance was small, under two hundred standard
credits. The current power bill, unpaid, was stuck in the checkbook.

She began to explore other drawers in the desk. John Kenner had
prided himself on having a clear title to the house and three hundred acres
of reforested hills and rolling meadowlands. With New Earth becoming
more and more popular as a quiet haven, such retreats were accruing in
value. The Kenner place, should she decide to sell it, would bring a good
price.

There was a chrome steel strongbox in the bottom drawer. She
punched in her mother's birth date as the combination and the box
opened. The first piece of legal paper she opened was a copy of her father's
will. No surprises there. Everything had been left to Erin Elizabeth Kenner.
But under the will was a blue-wrapped mortgage on the house and land.
Less than a year ago John Kenner had borrowed to within a few thousand
credits of the value of his property. Instead of leaving his daughter a
valuable piece of real estate free and clear, John Kenner had left her a
sizable debt.

"So, Mr. Mop," she said to the dog, who had climbed to her lap and
then to the desk to lie there watching her as she riffled through the
drawers, "what is this?"

The doorbell rang. The dog leapt to the floor, barking.

"I hear, I hear," Erin said. She detoured past her bedroom, got her
regulation X&A hand weapon from her bag, held it behind her as she
walked to the side door which was the house's front door, facing west. It
was strictly illegal for her to have a Service issue hand weapon, but if every
retired X&A officer who had managed to hang onto a saffer were arrested,
the Service would have to work overtime to discover another planet to be
used as a prison for them. Bearing arms was still looked upon as one of the
personal freedoms, and saffers were, after all, inexpensive. X&A didn't
make too much effort to prevent the taking of one deadly souvenir by a
departing officer.

Erin looked through the viewer and saw a tall man, young of face. His
unruly brown hair was sprinkled with snowflakes. Mop was still barking