"Kate Wilhelm - Day Of The Sharks" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wilhelm Kate)

she calls herself. Nothing willowy about her, nothing fat or slack. She has
long, smooth muscles in her legs; her stomach is as firm and flat as a boy's.
She wears white briefs and a halter, and rubber thongs on her feet. Bill is a
bit shorter than she is, thickly built, very powerful, with thick wrists and a
thick neck. Size seventeen. They are both so tanned that Gary feels he and
Veronica must both look like invalids.

"My God! Ghosts!" Shar cries, as Gary and Veronica get out of the car. She
embraces them with too much enthusiasm and warmth, and Gary can sense
Veronica's withdrawal. Next to Shar, Veronica appears used up, old. She is
only thirty-one, but she looks ill, as she is, and she looks frightened and
suspicious, and very tired. There are circles under her eyes; he feels guilty
that he has not seen them before, that only now, contrasting her with Shar
does he recognize the signs of illness, remember that this isn't simply a
vacation.

"Hey, it's good to see you," Bill says, putting his arm across Gary's back.
"Come on in. A drink is what you people need. And tomorrow we'll get out in
the sun and put some color in your cheeks."
It should be warm and friendly, but it isn't. It is like walking into a
scenario where every line has been rehearsed, the stage sets done by art
majors; even the sky has been given an extra touch of the brush. It is gaudy
now with sunset, the ambient light peach colored, and out back, visible
through a wall of sliding glass doors, the bay is brilliant, touched with
gold.

"Two hundred sixty-five thou," Bill says, waving his hand as they enter the
house where the furniture is either white or sleek, shiny black. He goes to a
bar and pours martinis already made up, and they sit down where they can watch
the lights on the bay. Between them and the golden water are red and yellow
flowering bushes, an Olympic-size swimming pool, a terrace with enough seating
and tables to serve as a cafe. "Too much, isn't it?" Bill says, grinning.
"Just too goddam much."

"Are you hungry?" Shar asks. "Dinner won't be until pretty late. We're having
a little party, buffet about ten. How about a sandwich, something to tide you
over?"

"Oh, Gary," Veronica says, stricken.

"No sweat," Bill says. "It's a business party. You know, people I owe. Just
happened to coincide. Don't feel you're interrupting anything."

Still, Veronica looks at Gary as if pleading with him; he shrugs. "It'll be
all right," he says, trying to make his impatience sound like patience. "She
hasn't been feeling very well," he adds, glancing at Shar.

"It won't be too much of a drag, I hope," Shar says lightly. "Wind us up and
watch us entertain. Isn't that right, Bill?"