"Kristine Smith - Kilian 1 - Code Of Conduct" - читать интересную книгу автора (Smith Kristine)

ago. I stink of death.
It drives people away. People I thought I could count on." The rain had intensified,
sluicing down the windows as though they sat beneath a waterfall. "The knives are
out for me this time. I can't fight alone."

Jani watched the rain. The statement that Evan was only forty-two, that he'd live to
fight another day, remarry and father his own Cabinet if he so desired, didn't seem
appropriate. Death altered that scenario. It raised imposing questions. Questions of
coping, closure, setting the record straight. And I know all about that, don't I?

She heard Evan stir beside her.

"I believe Lyssa was murdered, too, you see," he said. "I think since we're on
speaking terms with
the idomeni again, someone wants me out of the picture. That's why I need a friend."
He reached out
to her, his hand hovering above hers without touching. "A friend who can find out
what happened."

"You want to take me back to Earth with you?"

"I need your help, Jan. I need a friend who knows me, knows the idomeni, and
knows where the
bones are buried."

I buried some of those bones, Jani thought as she watched Evan's hand. It shook.
Very slightly. Did
she make him that nervous? Or was he in that much trouble?

"I know what we had didn't end well," he said as he let his hand rest on the seat near
her knee.
"Do you hold a grudge?"
"No."

"I didn't think so. You're not the type. You follow your own rules, your own code.
You're tough, but you're fair."

"You haven't known me for a long time. I may have changed."

Evan continued as though she hadn't spoken. "For my part, I'd show how much I
trust you by placing
my career in your hands. All I ask is that, as events warrant, you proceed with
caution."

"That would be a first for me, don't you think?" Jani studied her distorted reflection
in her cup's
polished surface. "You really want to take me back to Earth?"

"You have to go somewhere. My blonde mentioned I blew your situation here."