"Smith, Guy N - Bats Out of Hell" - читать интересную книгу автора (Smith Guy N)

He stiffened slightly, and looked away.

'What's the matter?' there was concern in her voice.

'I... I'm afraid we'll have to postpone tonight, Susan. I'm sorry, but that's the way it is.'

'Why?' her smile vanished, replaced by an expression of disappointment and indignation. 'Why, Brian? A whole week now and you've done nothing but work round the clock. Okay, that was fair enough in the interests of science, but now . . . well, there's nothing more you can do.'

'You don't understand.'

'I understand you better than any woman,' she retorted. 'Better than Emma ever did.'

'There's no need to bring my wife into this.'

'Your ex-wife, Brian. You're divorced. Free. Or had you forgotten it?'

'No,' he drew deeply on the remains of his second cigarette. 'I hadn't forgotten it. But I still have work to do in spite of this... this disaster.'

'But you're going to write it off. Forget it.'

'As far as the world is concerned,' he spoke sharply, irritably. 'But I'm not forgetting it. Not ever. I've got to go into it deeper, for my own satisfaction if for no other reason.'

'But what about tonight?'

'I'm sorry. There's no way.'

She released his hand and turned away so that he could not see the tears welling up in her eyes. For the past two months they had been living together, something of which Haynes disapproved. Damn Haynes. Bacteriologists were entitled to lead their own private lives just as much as anybody else. She told herself that it was in the interests of science. Two people dedicated to a common cause, bound by love. Love? Did Brian Newman really love her? Lately she had been sleeping in his bungalow in Cannock whilst he had remained here in the laboratory. That was no kind of-life. Exceptional circumstances, certainly, but it didn't make her feel any better.

'I'm sorry, Sue,' stood behind her, his hands travelling up her body until they came to rest on her breasts beneath her nylon overall.

'How much longer before we're together again, Brian?'

'As soon as this business is over. A day or two at the most, the way these bats are dying.'

'I'll stop here with you. It's my rightful place by your side, sharing success and failure.'

'No,' he caught his breath audibly. 'I must see this through alone. Get your sleep. You need it'

'So do you.'

'I'll catch up on it afterwards. I'll take a few days off, and we'll spend 'em in bed together.'

This time they both laughed.

'All right,' she sighed. 'So long as you're telling me the truth.'

'Don't be silly,' he snapped.

'You have a reputation, Professor Newman.' She turned and wagged a finger at him in mock severity. 'And it is not solely concerned with viruses and bacteria, nor bats. Birds, other than the feathered variety, have retarded a promising career for you, and you know it. That's why you're working out here in this hell's half acre. Without all your affairs you'd probably be in the States now. Or Russia.'