"Kristine Kathryn Rusch - The Room of Lost Souls" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rusch Kristine Kathryn)

one.тАЭ

тАЬShe wants me to recover her father,тАЭ I say, even though IтАЩve told
Nola this when I first contacted her through the outpost networks. тАЬShe
thinks heтАЩs in the Room of Lost Souls.тАЭ

Nola nods just enough to confuse me. That tiny movement could
mean she knows heтАЩs in the Room or that she has heard of this daughterтАЩs
whim before. Or it could simply be an acknowledgement of what I have to
say.

тАЬWhy does she want him?тАЭ Nola asks. тАЬShe never knew him.тАЭ

And I had neglected to ask that question. Or maybe it wasnтАЩt neglect
at all. If I knew, I wouldnтАЩt have taken the job, and the job hadтАФin the
endтАФintrigued me.

тАЬItтАЩs not my concern,тАЭ I say. тАЬIтАЩm just supposed to find him.тАЭ

тАЬYou wonтАЩt find him,тАЭ Nola says. тАЬHeтАЩs long gone.тАЭ
 тАЬHow did you know him?тАЭ I ask, trying to get the conversation away
from my job and back to her.

That small smile has returned. тАЬThe way most women knew him.тАЭ

тАЬYou were lovers.тАЭ

She nods. For a moment, her gaze rests somewhere to the left of
me, and I know sheтАЩs not seeing me or the booth or any part of Number
Four. SheтАЩs lost in the past with Ewing Trekov.

тАЬYou make it sound like he had a lot of lovers,тАЭ I say.

Her eyes focus and move toward me. When they rest on me, they
hold a bit of contempt. She knows what IтАЩm doing, and she doesnтАЩt like it.
She wants to control this conversation.

тАЬA lot of lovers,тАЭ she says, тАЬa lot of wives, and more children than he
could keep track of.тАЭ

Maybe thatтАЩs where the disapproval comes from. Riya Trekov isnтАЩt
special in NolaтАЩs eyes.

тАЬHe didnтАЩt care about family?тАЭ I ask.

Nola shrugs. тАЬThe man I knew didnтАЩt have time for relationships. Not
long ones, anyway. His entire life was about the wars and the entire sector.
He saw lives the way we see starsтАФsomething far away and yet precious.
Individual lives meant something to him only for a few weeks. Then he
moved on.тАЭ