The Timer Game. Susan Smith Arnout
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Название: The Timer Game
Автор: Susan Smith Arnout
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Приключения: прочее
isbn: 9780007390786
isbn:
‘They’d fight,’ Katie said. ‘Not gerbils. Those fighter things. Those T things.’
Jeanne nodded. ‘So we figured out a way to fool the brown fur into thinking the white fur was okay. It’s called breaking the immunity barrier and it’s a pretty big deal.’
Katie grinned and Jeanne reached across the table and gave her a high-five.
‘Great, you did great,’ Grace said. She hesitated and took a sip of coffee. ‘Honey, you know how we had to leave Party Savers yesterday?’
Katie’s eyes warily shot up. ‘You want to put the treat in my shoe?’
Grace took the curled balloon off the table, lifted Katie’s feet easily onto her lap, and pried apart a tiny pocket on the shoe. There were two secret pockets on each shoe, flat and sealed with Velcro, where Katie liked to stash emergency treats. Grace reached in and pulled out a dime.
‘Something bad happened yesterday. At work.’
She felt a small tremor run through Katie’s foot. She sealed the dime back up and opened the next pocket. Bubble gum. She closed the pocket and opened one on the other shoe. It was empty. She rolled the small pink balloon and stuffed it carefully into the pocket, sealing the Velcro, taking her time.
‘That’s why I got the bruise. I’m fine. That’s the thing. I’m okay.’
Katie’s eyes dilated to almost black. Grace knew it was Katie’s oldest fear, losing the only parent she’d ever known.
‘A man hurt some people –’
‘No! I won’t hear!’ She clamped her hands against her ears.
‘– and Mommy ended up having to hurt him.’
‘NO!’ Katie scrambled out of her seat and flung herself into Grace’s lap, her small arms tight. Grace held her and could feel her heart beat.
‘Don’t talk. Don’t.’
‘I won’t. But somebody might at school. That’s why I brought it up.’
‘What happened?’
Here it was. In a perfect world, no terrified kids ran screaming out of schools, no splintered car bombs mangled babies, no planes crashed into buildings crumpling into a blue sky.
‘Some people died yesterday.’
‘Oh.’ It was a wail, low and heartrending.
‘Mommy’s fine.’
‘Daddy died.’
‘It wasn’t like that, honey.’
‘No, no,’ Katie moaned. ‘Daddy died. You can’t die, you can’t.’
Grace murmured over and over like a song, a prayer, ‘It’s okay, Katie, it’s okay, everything’s fine, Mommy’s fine, nothing bad’s going to happen.’
Another lie.
Grace stopped at the post office on Cañon and mailed Katie’s letter, feeling a sharp stab of anxiety. Katie should have nothing more important to worry about than holding Yin by his neck so he didn’t nip her during Show and Tell, not thinking about whether something terrible would happen to her mother.
He’s coming for you.
Not if Grace could find him first.
The vehicle-processing storage facility was across from Lindbergh Field on Aerodrive. Grace parked, identified herself to the guard on duty, and told him what she needed.
‘Can’t miss it. It’s outside around back.’
The taco van was wrapped in a tent of visqueen supported by a wooden frame. It was a mideighties modified Volkswagen, originally dark blue, layered with grime and paint. She caught the reek of stove grease and Super Glue.
‘Grace.’ Paul stepped around the van, gripping a bologna sandwich. ‘You okay?’
‘Little shaky. Nice.’ She surveyed the tent. ‘Christo should be worried.’
‘He is,’ Paul said mildly. ‘Looks just like the Reichstag after he wrapped it in silver fabric, only smaller and cheesier.’
He took a bite of sandwich and his eyes went to the bruise on her jaw.
‘It’s taking what? Twenty pouches to print it?’ The police Super Glue came in foil pouches, simple to use, but costly on something this big.
‘Nah, the bean counters wouldn’t approve that, even on this one. I got creative. Used aluminum pie pans at each corner with a couple of vaporizers and squeezed out Super Glue I bought at Long’s Drug. Everybody wins.’
‘Yeah, right, except Eddie Loud.’
‘Hey, he’s the whacked-out bad guy, Grace. Not you.’
Looking at the tent made her realize what Paul wasn’t saying. How much the department was putting into processing this one. And the reason why.
‘Not many senators’ sons drive taco vans and wind up dead.’
‘You can play this one through any way you want, Grace, but it’s still going to stink. We should have good prints by late afternoon.’
‘What do you expect to find?’
‘At this point? I’m not sure.’ His jowls sagged and his eyes drooped, his usual look after a good night’s sleep. ‘I heard the first toxes from the ME said Loud was cranked.’
‘Makes sense.’ Grace had a flash of Eddie’s jangly energy. ‘Mind if I take a look?’
‘Have at it. There is something you might find interesting.’ Paul put down his sandwich and positioned his face against the cloudy plastic, looking through the window into the dim interior. Grace squinted next to him. She made out vague shapes, open chip bags, the stove. Soft white particles dusted the grill and cabinets.
‘What am I looking at?’
Paul pointed at something through the filmy visqueen and Grace took another look.
‘The kitchen timer? Is that it?’ It was a small white timer with big black numbers, sitting on the counter next to an open bag of taco shells. Grace had used an almost identical one that morning playing the Timer Game.
Paul shook his head. ‘No, that.’
She still didn’t see it.
‘Loud was wired.’ Paul pulled a Dr Pepper out of his jacket and drank.
‘Wired. What СКАЧАТЬ