"Lavene, Joyce & Jim - Mask of the Stranger" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lavene Joyce)

"Are you all right?" Ellis asked, handing her a napkin, waiting for the terrible sound of her retching to cease.

She had forgotten that he was right behind her but accepted the towel thankfully.

"I'm fine," she told him brightly. "I guess I just wasn't ready for almond vegetables."

"I'd be glad to drive you home, Dr. Lloyd," he offered. He held her jacket that she had left in the lab and she slipped her arms into the sleeves quickly.

"It's freezing out here," she sped by his question. "But it's just what I needed. I feel much better now."

"You look awful, Doctor." He coughed and lowered his head, feeling like a fool. "I mean, you're very pale."

"It's just a virus," she told him. "I might stay home tomorrow."

They walked in silence to her car and he waited while she got in and started up the cold engine.

"That might be a good idea," he counseled, watching her fasten her seatbelt across a body that he privately thought needed a few more pounds and someone to hold in the night.

"Thank you, Ellis." She felt better with the darkness on her face, the light from the buildings obscured by the car. "I really appreciate your help."

"No problem, Doctor," he replied. "I'd like to...I mean, I was wondering -- "

"Yes?" she asked quietly from the safety of her shadows.

"I just, well, have a good evening, Dr. Lloyd," he finished, stammering over the words. It just wasn't the right time. She was sick. Any fool could see that. It would be better later.

"You too, Ellis," she returned and set the little car in motion, closing the window as she drove out of the parking lot.

Snow had begun to fall lightly across the darkened city scape. The roads were clear, though, and salted heavily so that traffic was no more hazardous than usual. The windshield wipers slapped noisily across the cold glass and the lights from the oncoming cars seemed too bright.

Dread began to settle in heavily, weighing her limbs, making her drive around the block where she lived three times before finally stopping in front of her apartment building. She had been in such a hurry to leave Dr. Abrahms and the lab only to come home to her nightmare.

Kelsey waited in the car with the engine running, watching the snowflakes fall and dissolve on the windshield. Counting them to keep her mind occupied.

There were still lights on in the foyer of her building. A couple, arms linked around each other, laughing with their heads tucked down close together, spilled out on the sidewalk. A woman with a little girl in a pretty red coat thanked the doorman with a smile as he held the door for her. A taxi stopped outside the door and a man in a dark suit darted out into the street.

Maybe if she waited, she considered, until that door opened again. She could make a run for it. The stalker wouldn't dare try to harm her if she was in a crowd of people. It was too obvious. He liked things quiet and secret.

She shut off the engine and the car began to get cold.

There were still a lot of people out on the street, cars whizzing by despite the snow becoming heavier as the night darkened. The deli on the corner was still packed with people and the coffee shop beside it had a good crowd. There was a man between them collecting spare change as the people hurried by on the sidewalk.

Like a caged animal, she waited, eyes trained on that door, waiting for the beginning movement of its opening. Her hand flexed on the door handle. Her muscles bunched for the run through the street.

Finally, she could see the doorman's bottle-green coat coming closer to the steam covered glass door and she started to open the door to the car.

The glass doors opened and she grasped her purse firmly in her hand, waiting until she saw the doorman's round, smiling face. He opened the door and held it for the couple that started out, seeing a slight figure run from across the street. He held the door as a car honked its horn and the traffic serged around the woman.

"Good evening, Dr. Lloyd." The doorman smiled at her.