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

She smiles over her shoulder and stops to chat with a group of men standing at
the sliding door to the Florida room.

Finally, Gary spots Veronica at a table by a man, clutching her glass tightly,
her eyes glazed in the way they do when she drinks more than a glass of wine.
He curses silently and turns to see Bill approaching with another man in tow.
Bill is red faced, perspiring heavily, and the grace that he displays when
sober is gone. He lumbers, stumbles into things, loses coordination in a way
that seems to suggest that his limbs have different reaction times. He wards
off a table before he is within reach, then hits it with his thigh, and
belatedly clutches a chair to steady himself. Gary moves closer to Veronica
and the unknown man; he doesn't want to talk to a drunken Bill.

"...density ratio so fouled up that no one knows what the hell they're going
to do. Six hundred units per acre. Now I ask you, does that sound too terrible
to you, a city girl? You know Chicago can handle that many people, what's the
difference?"

Veronica shakes her head helplessly. "Units?"

"Yep. They're saying no more than two fifty per acre. Two hundred fifty! What
kind of condo can you put up with only two fifty?"

Veronica looks almost desperate; relief relaxes her face when Gary draws near.
"Have you eaten yet?" he asks.

She stands up, nods to the man, and takes Gary's arm. Her fingers dig in
convulsively. "How long will this go on?" she whispers, as they walk toward
the buffet.

She looks and sounds terrible; she should go to bed. Her tension is almost a
palpable thing, electric. He feels that he could touch it, be burned by it.

Bill blocks their way, still with the tall man. "Gary, want you to meet Dwight
Scanlon, president of the development company I was telling you about. My good
friend, Gary Ingalls, and Veronica."

"Hear you're on your way to Grand Bahama," Dwight Scanlon says, taking Gary's
hand. "Lovely place. We've got a hotel over there, in fact. You have your
rooms reserved? Look, cancel them, why don't you? I've got this suite, nobody
in it, nobody scheduled for it until June. Yours for the taking."

Before Gary can refuse, Scanlon has turned to Veronica. "Have you seen the
moon coming up over that bay yet? What a sight!" He offers his arm; she puts
her hand on it tentatively, and they walk out together.

Bill downs his drink and runs his hand over his face. "Gotta turn on that air
conditioner pretty soon."

The air conditioner is on, but the house is jammed with guests, and waiters