"Yvonne Navarro - One Among Millions" - читать интересную книгу автора (Navarro Yvonne)

Of course not.
Open your legs.
Walters was the last of the two to go out the front door. She didn't know why the
tense words came, but when he looked back at her, all she could say was, "He wants
the twins."
He nodded. "I know." Before she could close the door, he reached back through
the opening and placed his fingers lightly on her wrist тАФ a speed search for the hot
pulse of life just below the skin? тАФ then glanced surreptitiously towards his partner's
retreating back, as though he were her colleague in some great and secret
conspiracy. "I'll be in touch," he whispered.
I will fill you with blood and fire.
Sondra slammed the front door and stood trembling with anticipation and terror.


The babies were bathed and fed and put down for the night. They lay crowded
against each other in the playpen тАФ she couldn't afford a crib тАФ content and quiet,
like two halves of a whole. Sondra watched them for a while, knowing they wouldn't
close their eyes for hours, wondering what they'd be like when they grew up. Right
now they were small for their age, but would they catch up later? Go through one of
those amazing growth spurts that parents were always crowing about and
paediatricians predicted with nauseating regularity? She wished she could think of a
way to keep them small and safe for ever, by her side and without the sweet,
dangerous offering of the rest of the world.
After a while she went into the bathroom and stared at herself in the mirror. Her
image was shell-shocked and pale, a thin face with prominent cheekbones and a
nondescript nose, hazel eyes undercut with purple shadows of exhaustion. Budget
shopping and constant worrying had made her gaunt and graceless, left her mouth an
oversized flesh-coloured slash across the bottom part of her face. Even her brown
hair was nothing special тАФ cut to shoulder length, then falling into a stupid wave that
made the ends go in all directions. What was it about her that drew them? Why her?
"Because you are one among millions, Sondra."
She spun with a slow-motion movement that felt like she was trying to turn
underwater. "You!"
Officer Walters gave her a handsome smile. "I told you I'dтАж be in touch."
Sondra took a step backward, felt the sharp edge of the cheap drawer pull dig
into her spine. For a moment she thought it was teeth and her knees tried to buckle;
she locked her muscles and felt behind her for reassurance тАФ an old, bent brass
handle, that's all. "How-how did you get in?"
"The door was unlocked."
"That's impossible," she said hotly. "I didn'tтАФ"
He was standing in front of her before she had time to form her next word, the
width of the room no more than a blink between them. Whatever she was going to
say broke off when his hand, cool and white and alarmingly powerful, reached up to
cup her jaw. His thumb skated delicately along the line of bone, then skipped up to
trace her lips. "I think you left it open for meтАж"
"No!"
"Didn't you?" Walters leaned over her, his face only an inch away. His breath was
thick and meaty but not unpleasant, a cool, unnatural draught against her cheeks. He
looked different than he had earlier, as if the chunky, donut-plied town cop were
only a costume he donned to give stereotypical service to the public job and