"John E. Stith - All for Naught" - читать интересную книгу автора (Stith John E)

bag blew up in the woman's face, hammering her body backward into
the seat. The air bag reached a knitting needle, and suddenly
the bag exploded like an enormous balloon.
Nick hadn't heard anything that loud since he'd forgotten
his earmuffs at the target practice range. The woman looked like
she'd never heard anything that loud.
***
Several miles away, a midnight-blue van pulled out of an
alley garage which bore a sign saying, "Major Opportunity
Business." The unmarked van knocked an old man and his shopping
cart out of the way as it pulled onto the street.
***
Across town, a switch activated, and the automatic garage
door on an expensive house rolled slowly upward. Ed Taylor
walked forward, preoccupied, as the door rose. He avoided the
bike lying in his path as he straightened his tie. Ed was a big
man, with broad shoulders, a pot belly, and thinning hair.
If the garage door had worked properly, his head would have
passed just under the bottom of the door. Instead, the door
suddenly reversed just as Ed reached it, and his forehead smacked
soundly against the descending edge.
"Damn it!" he said.
Ed struggled, pushing up on the door to get it to quit
closing. Finally the door responded and started up again,
resuming its interrupted path. Ed muttered and rubbed his
forehead as he walked toward the rolled up newspaper lying near
the front hedge. Behind him, the garage door continued rising
without stopping, until finally the wood began to splinter and
break under the constant pressure. A window popped loose from
its surroundings and fell to the concrete, smashing thoroughly as
it hit.
Oblivious, Ed stooped to grab his morning paper. Just as
his fingers almost touched it, the paper jerked out of his reach.
For the first time, Ed noticed that tied to the paper was a
string leading into the hedge.
"Damn it, you kids. That's not funny!"
Watching from the window, Ed's son Alex grinned.
Ed took another step and reached for the paper again. It
jerked away again. This time Ed moved faster, trying to reach it
before the string yanked it away again. By now he was right next
to the hedge.
Ed didn't get another chance to grab the paper. Suddenly a
thick arm reached through the hedge and grabbed him, pulling him
off-balance into the hedge.
On the other side of the hedge, Ed found no neighborhood
children. Instead, two large, strong men met him. One of them,
who sported large tattoos up and down both arms, had a small
aerosol can stuck in one pocket. The other man had flaming red
hair cut tent style. Ed's unsuccessful struggle lasted only
seconds before they had him pinned to the ground. A second later