"Kristine Kathryn Rusch - The Disappeared" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rusch Kristine Kathryn)

bouquet. Beneath the greenery, her hands found a cool vase, a bubble chip
embedded in the glass keeping the water's temperature constant.
She buried her face in the flowers, glad for the momonetary camouflage. She
had
no idea when she would see flowers again.
"Thank you," she said, her voice trembling. She turned away, made herself put
the flowers on the table she kept beneath the gilt-edged mirror in her entry.
Simon slipped his hands around her waist. "You all right?"
She wanted to lean against him, to tell him the truth, to let him share all
of
this тАФ the fears, the uncertainty. But she didn't dare. He couldn't know
anything.
"I'm tired," she said, and she wasn't lying. She hadn't slept in the past
eight
days.
"Big case?"
She nodded. "Difficult one."
"Let me know when you're able to talk about it."
She could see his familiar face in the mirror beside her strained one. Even
when
she tried to look normal, she couldn't. The bags beneath her eyes hadn't been
there a month ago. Neither had the worry lines beside her mouth.
He watched her watch herself, and she could tell from the set of his jaw, the
slight crease on his forehead, that he was seeing more than he should have
been.
"This case is tearing you apart," he said softly.
"Some cases do that."
"I don't like it."
She nodded and turned in his arms, trying to memorize the feel of him, the
comfort he gave her, comfort that would soon be gone. "I have to meet a
client,"
she said.
"I'll take you."
"No." She made herself smile again, wondering if the expression looked as
fake
as it felt. "I need a little time alone before I go, to regroup."
He caressed her cheek with the back of his hand, then kissed her. She lingered
a
moment too long, caught between the urge to cling and the necessity of
pushing
him away.
"I love you," she said as she ended the kiss.
"I love you too." He smiled. "There's a spa down in the L.A. basin. It's
supposed to be the absolute best. I'll take you there when this is all over."
"Sounds good," she said, making no promises. She couldn't bear to make
another
false promise.
He still didn't move away. She resisted the urge to look at the
two-hundred-year-old clock that sat on the living room mantel.
"Kat," he said. "You need time away. Maybe we could meet after you see your