"William W Johnstone - Ashes 32 - Destiny in the Ashes (txt)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Johnstone William W)

Riley held up his hands, a look of horror on his face. "Oh, no.
Certainly not! Engaging in the black market is a capital offense, madam."

"Then what do you mean?" Coop asked.

"It's just that there are certain stores and restaurants, owned by
prominent people, that still have plenty of goods. The prices are
extremely high, of course, but"-he spread his arms wide-"that should
pose no problem for you people from the SUSA."

Harley took the keys and they walked toward the elevators. "By prominent
people, I'll bet you dollars to doughnuts he meant Claire Osterman and
her government cronies."

From behind them, Riley called out, "I'm afraid you'll have to take the
stairs. The elevators have been shut down due to scarcity of electricity."

"Great," Jersey said, hoisting a forty-pound crate onto her shoulders.
"Ten flights of stairs."

"Look at it this way," Coop said, following her up the stairs. "It's a
great way to get your legs in shape."

Jersey glanced back over her shoulder. "And just what's wrong with the
shape of my legs now?"

Harley shook his head and smiled. "Uh-oh, Coop. You know there's no way
to answer that without getting into major trouble."

"Don't I know it!" Coop agreed.

On their floor, the team spread out and each took a different room,
leaving a large two-bedroom suite in the center of the floor to use as
their conference room.

Once they'd all unpacked their gear, they met in the con-

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33

ference room. Harley Reno paced the room as he talked, while the others
took seats on chairs and couches spread around the room.

"First, we need to set some ground rules for our search for El Farrar
and his men," he said.

"Besides shoot first and ask questions later, what do we need to know?"
Coop asked, a lazy grin on his face.