"Nightworld 8 - Black Dawn" - читать интересную книгу автора (Smith Lisa J)

But she was taken by surprise, and she had to swallow hard before speaking roughly. "I don't know what you're talking about, but at least you've dropped the weepy-weepy act. You were really bad at it."

"I thought I was very good," Sylvia said and added a pinch of something to the incense burner. "I'm sure the officers thought so, too."

Once again, Maggie was startled. This wasn't going at all as she expected. Sylvia was so calm, so much at ease. ' So much in control of the situation.

Not anymore, Maggie thought.

She just admitted it was an act. All that chokey stuff while she was talking about Miles ...

Fury uncoiled in Maggie's stomach like a snake.

She took three fast steps forward. "You know why I'm here. I want to know what really happened to my brother."

"I told youФ
"You told a bunch of lies! I don't know what the truth is. The only thing I do know is that Miles would never make a stupid mistake like not buckling his harness. Look, if you did something dumb-if he's lying out there hurt or something, and you were too scared to admit it you'd better tell me right now." It was the first time she'd put into words a reason for Sylvia to be lying.

Sylvia looked up.

Maggie was startled. In the light of the single candle by the incense burner, Sylvia's eyes were not violet but a more reddish color, like amethyst. They were large and clear and the light seemed to play in them, quivering.

"Is that what you think happened?" Sylvia asked softly.

"I said, I don't know what happened!" Maggie felt dizzy suddenly, and fought it, glaring into Sylvia's strange eyes. "Maybe you had a fight or something. Maybe you've got some other boyfriend. Maybe you weren't even out climbing on Halloween in the first place. All I know is that you lied and that there's no body to find. And I want to know the truth!"
Sylvia looked back steadily, the candlelight dancing in her purple eyes. "You know what your brother told me about you?" she asked musingly. "Two things. The first was that you never gave up.

He said, `Maggie's no rocket scientist, but once she gets hold of something she's just like a little bull terrier.' And the second was that you were a complete sucker for anybody in trouble. A real bleeding heart."

She added a few fingernail-sized chips of smooth bark to the mixture that was smoking in the incense burner.

"Which is too bad," she went on thoughtfully. "Strong-willed and compassionate: that's a real recipe for disaster."

Maggie had had it.

"What happened to Miles? What did you do to him?"

Sylvia laughed, a little secret laugh. "I'm afraid you couldn't guess if you spent the rest of your short life trying." She shook her head. "It was too bad, actually. I liked him. We could have been good together."

Maggie wanted to know one thing. "Is he dead?" "I told you, you'll never find out. Not even when you go where you're going."

Maggie stared at her, trying to make sense of this. She couldn't. When she spoke it was in a level voice, staring into Sylvia's eyes.

"I don't know what your problem is-maybe you're crazy or something. But I'm telling you right now, if you've done anything to my brother, I am going to kill you."

She'd never said anything like this before, but now it came out quite naturally, with force and conviction. She was so angry that all she could see was Sylvia's face. Her stomach was knotted and she actually felt a burning in her middle, as if there were a glowing fire there.

"Now," she said, "are you going to tell me what happened to him?"

Sylvia sighed, spoke quietly. "No."