"Kristine Kathryn Rusch - Death on D Street" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rusch Kristine Kathryn)

тАЬSorry to wake ya,тАЭ he said, тАЬbut Doc sent me. We got a holy hell of a mess on D Street.тАЭ

D Street was the closest thing we had to a red light district. Three whorehouses and a few independents
all lined up in a row. When I was sheriff, I restricted the hookers to that area. I'd learned that getting rid
of them was impossible, not to mention unpopular. When men got time away from the mines, they
wanted some affection, even if they had to pay for it.

тАЬWhere's Sheriff Muller?тАЭ I asked.

тАЬCouldn't roust him.тАЭ

тАЬDrunk again?тАЭ I glanced up the stairs. The baby was still crying. The floorboards creaked as Ginny
walked with her, trying to quiet her.

тАЬSmelled like it,тАЭ Travis said.

тАЬWhat kind of mess?тАЭ

тАЬSomebody killed Jeanne.тАЭ

I stepped onto the porch and pulled the door closed. тАЬWhile she was servicing him?тАЭ

тАЬJesus, Will, how'm I supposed to know?тАЭ

I shook my head and strode down the street. The dust was caked thanks to the summer heat, the wagon
ruts treacherous in the darkness. The air was cool now, almost coldтАФone of the benefits of being in the
mountainsтАФbut by dawn the heat would be creeping back, oppressive and overwhelming.

D Street was three blocks over and two down. I walked along Main Street. Most of the saloons were
still open. Music filtered out of O'HalleransтАФsomeone was banging on the town's only piano. A few
drunks were collapsed on the wooden sidewalk, leaning against the building, and I knew who they were.

I'd lived in Hope's Pass since it was founded, eight years before. I'd stumbled through here, looking to
make my own fortune mining for silver. I lasted a month underground in the dark, candle burning away
the oxygen, cave-ins a constant threat. Even though the pay was pretty good, I realized there were other
ways to make money.

The town needed a sheriff and I volunteered, setting my own pay so high that no one in their right mind
would meet it. But in those early days of what would become known as the Comstock Lode, no one was
in their right mind.

They paid me more than I was worth for six years. Then Ginny came to town with little Sam and enough
money to set up a dressmaking business. Four months later, we were married and I had resigned as
sheriff. I felt it wasn't right to be dragged out of bed at all hours to calm down drunken miners or settle
disputes over one of the town's whores. I ran for mayor and won; then I appointed Johann Muller as the
new sheriff which was, I think, the worst decision I'd ever made.
 D Street was down two blocks from Main, at the very edge of the mountainside. The ground was
treacherous hereтАФsubject to floods in heavy rains. The buildings here had washed away more than once.
There were other problems as well. Mine shafts had been dug underneath this entire area of Hope's Pass,