"Alexander Jablokov - Dead Man" - читать интересную книгу автора (Jablokov Alexander)

I grabbed him and pulled him out of his seat. He was surprisingly heavy and
fleshy, not the bag of bones I had expected. тАЬBarnaby, this is serious! I need to find
him.тАЭ

тАЬYou always were a miserable shit,тАЭ Barnaby said. тАЬI took you in, showed
you the ropes, kept you alive ... I didnтАЩt have to, you know that? I didnтАЩt have to.тАЭ

He stopped talking then, because he couldnтАЩt breathe. His glasses had fallen
back to his chest. His white hair stood straight up. His eyes looked past me, like I
wasnтАЩt even there, like I wasnтАЩt choking the life out of him.

I let him drop back into his chair. My mother hadnтАЩt wanted me to come here.
SheтАЩd been worried that IтАЩd ... what? Tie Barnaby down and torture him for the
information? Kill him?

Parents have such strange ideas about their kids sometimes.

I pulled open the front door and almost fell over the two dead plants in
flowerpots that stood on the front step. IтАЩd forgotten that a suburban front door is
purely symbolic, and that I had actually entered through the garage.

тАЬWait, wait, wait.тАЭ He shuffled after me. тАЬIan....тАЭ

I turned and waited.

тАЬIan. I didnтАЩt mean ... itтАЩs good to see you.тАЭ

тАЬItтАЩs good to see you too, Barnaby.тАЭ

He put his hand on my upper arm and looked at me. Was he remembering the
first time he had really looked into my face, while I lay screaming on a lawn in the
night?

Probably not. He was probably, again, trying to remember who I was.
 тАЬYou need it?тАЭ he said.

тАЬI wouldnтАЩt have come here to bug you otherwise.тАЭ

тАЬYouтАЩre not bugging me,тАЭ he murmured, then took a deep breath. тАЬYou know
what? All my career, IтАЩve gotten rid of bodies. They were nothing. Leftovers. And
IтАЩm not leaving this one. IтАЩm not going up. Too much of meтАЩs gone already, for one
thing. I waited too long. I wouldnтАЩt want to live forever with only this much
personality left. But itтАЩs more than that. This sack oтАЩ crap is me. It doesnтАЩt just hang
off my brain like a string of snot. ItтАЩs me.тАЭ

тАЬGot it.тАЭ

тАЬI gave him good cover: Dennis Nadel. Don Don to his friends.тАЭ

тАЬDon Don?тАЭ