"Ann Maxwell - Risk unlimited 02 - Shadow and Silk" - читать интересную книгу автора (Maxwell Ann)

The rat paid no attention to the parasite. Caught between fight, flight, and the possibility of food, the rat waited.
Shane pursed his lips and blew a slow, steady stream of air in the rodentтАЩs direction.
The rat withdrew a foot, then turned and scuttled silently toward his lair beneath the peak of the low roof.
Shane resumed his millimeter crawl toward the edge of the roof, testing each tile in front of him as he went. He
turned his energy inward, shutting out all distracting thoughts, fearing nothing except betraying his own presence.
Another nine inches to go, then six.
Silent as the night itself, Shane flowed down the roof until the edge was an inch beyond the tips of his outspread
fingers.
He could hear the voices clearly now.
тАЮI heard you prowling a moment ago,тАЬ Dani said, her voice faintly accusing.
тАЮYes, Miss Warren.тАЬ
тАЮI told you I would be alone.тАЬ
тАЮSo you did. It was necessary for this worthless one to be certain of solitude.тАЬ
Shane eased forward again. With one eye, he could just catch sight of the top of DaniтАЩs head. She had dark,
lustrous hair. She must have been on the road for some time, since her hair appeared to have been cut most recently
with dull scissors or a camp knife.
Moving as slowly as a shadow changing in the moonlight, Shane went the last bit that allowed him to see the rest
of DaniтАЩs face. Her skin was smooth and clear, her features well formed. Her changeable hazel eyes were as dark as
night now.
He would have found her attractive at any time, but the intensity of her eyes as she watched Feng step out of the
shadows was compelling.
ThereтАЩs real force in this woman, Shane realized. Too damned bad that sheтАЩs naive enough to have put herself out
on the wrong end of a breaking limb.
But not naive enough to step completely out of the shadows. Not yet.
тАЮDo not fear, Miss Warren. It is only I, Feng.тАЬ
FengтАЩs wide smile revealed three stained, decayed teeth in the front of his mouth, legacy of a lifetime of holding
and smoking cigarettes through those same teeth.
Dani wasnтАЩt reassured by FengтАЩs smile. It reminded her of childhood jack-o-lantems and ghosts in graveyards.
It amazed Dani that an Asian with such a gap-toothed smile could have acquired excellent English. He pronounced
even the difficult consonants precisely, if slowly.
тАЮI recognize you,тАЬ Dani said. тАЮWhere is the silk?тАЬ
She made no attempt to hide her impatience. The longer she waited in such a relatively exposed place, the greater
the danger of discovery became.
 тАЮFeng is a man of his word,тАЬ he said.
He turned slightly. There was a metal tube slung across his back, held in place with a leather thong. The tube
seemed to glow, gathering light to itself just as the sacred palace had.
тАЮThe silk?тАЬ Dani asked.
тАЮAs you see.тАЬ
тАЮI see only a metal tube.тАЬ
Feng stopped a few feet away from her. He cocked his head, examining her from head to toe.
тАЮI see no hands holding money,тАЬ he countered.
Dani kept her fists shoved into the pockets of her coat. She hadnтАЩt like Feng in full daylight with people around.
She liked him even less in deepening twilight with no one around.
тАЮI have the money,тАЬ she said curtly.
тАЮWhere?тАЬ
тАЮClose by.тАЬ
Feng hissed through his stained teeth.
тАЮNo money. No silk,тАЬ he said with a bluntness he had learned from Westerners.
тАЮI havenтАЩt seen the silk yet.тАЬ
FengтАЩs narrowed, black glance darted around, probing shadows for any signs of watchers.