Gone in the Night. Mary-Jane Riley
Чтение книги онлайн.
Читать онлайн книгу Gone in the Night - Mary-Jane Riley страница 6
Название: Gone in the Night
Автор: Mary-Jane Riley
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Приключения: прочее
isbn: 9780008340254
isbn:
It was dirty, mud-splattered. The windows were open halfway. He peered inside. The floor was littered with empty sandwich packets, beer cans, tissues. There was an old, hairy blanket on the passenger seat. It smelled of damp and dog.
He pulled on the driver’s door. His hand bloody hurt. It opened. He leaned across and pulled down the sun visor. A bunch of keys fell onto the floor. He thanked fuck country people were so trusting.
As he jammed the key into the ignition, something made him stop. Listen. He clamped his lips together so he wasn’t hearing the chattering of his teeth. He slowed his breathing, told himself to be calm. There it was. A faint sound. Was it a motorboat? Coming from the island perhaps? His heart began to jump in his chest, and he turned the key in the ignition.
A noise like a giant clearing his throat came from the engine.
He turned the key again – so hard it could have broken off.
The engine turned over once, twice.
Cold sweat was dripping into his eyes.
It fired. He said a thank you to a god he hadn’t believed in for a very long time.
Without waiting to listen, or even to look to see if anyone was coming for him, he released the handbrake and pushed his foot hard on the accelerator.
He hadn’t turned the lights on, and the corner came up too quickly. He turned, hard. Made it round on two wheels, tyres screeching. The Land Rover bounced back onto four, he was thrown out of his seat, then back down. He breathed again.
Where were the lights? Where were the fucking lights? It was so dark. No moon. No stars. No street lights. No more comforting lights from the pub.
He looked down for a likely looking switch.
Where the fuck was it? Where the—
There. Light.
He looked up to see a pair of eyes in front of the windscreen reflected in the headlights.
He screamed and slammed on the brake, wrenched the steering wheel first one way, then the other.
The Land Rover lurched across the road, hitting the hedge on one side. Somewhere in his subconscious he heard the side of the vehicle being scratched by thorns, twigs, branches. Then, before he could think any more, the Land Rover was thrust, skidding, to the other side of the road.
A tree loomed in front of him. Once more he hit the brake.
He felt himself being propelled forward. Tried to throw himself across the seats. Slammed into the dashboard. His head thrown backwards then forwards. He was weightless. Felt a shower of glass. Time stretched, contracted, stretched again. Something trickled down the side of his face and into the corner of his mouth.
Rick’s last thought was of his sister.
The deer, unharmed, trotted off into the forest.
The sky was alive with a shower of red and green and yellow sparks as one rocket after another exploded in the night air. Beyond the lake, Catherine wheels crackled and whistled and Roman candles fizzed and hummed. Watching from behind the French windows, men and women in party clothes holding champagne glasses oo-ed and ah-ed their appreciation, grateful the wind had died down so they could enjoy the display. Alex Devlin sipped her warm tap water and wished she was at home, tucked up in bed with her hot water bottle.
‘Enjoying the fireworks?’
Alex turned to see a man looking down at her, a smile on his face. Mid-forties, she reckoned, swept-back black hair with wings of grey. Soft crow’s feet at the corners of his eyes. Laughter lines by his mouth. Could be anger lines, of course. All this she registered in a couple of seconds.
‘They’re very impressive,’ she said, carefully.
He raised an eyebrow. ‘Hmm. Does that mean “impressive but a waste of money”?’
A smile tugged at the corners of Alex’s mouth. ‘You may say that, I couldn’t possibly comment.’ She turned back to watch more of the display. More rockets exploding in the air. She could feel the man’s eyes on her.
‘I saw you earlier. With someone. It looked as though you were having an argument.’
‘Really?’ She wasn’t sure how to react. She wanted to ask why he was watching her and what business it was of his, but she didn’t.
‘I know it’s none of my business …’
Ah.
‘But I was watching you …’
Right.
‘Only because I was worried …’
Of course you were.
‘Worried?’
He shrugged. ‘I don’t like to see couples arguing. It can lead to all sorts of things.’
‘“All sorts of things”?’
‘I’m sorry. I’m digging myself into a hole, aren’t I?’ He smiled wryly.
Alex laughed, the tension slipping from her shoulders. ‘Just a bit.’
‘Tell me.’
‘What?’
‘About the man you were arguing with.’
‘Why?’
‘So I know who I’m competing with.’
‘“Competing with”?’ Alex still tried not to smile. The arrogance of the man. She turned to look at him properly. Beautifully cut suit, blue tie, blue handkerchief poking out from the breast pocket, but yes, grey eyes. Wolfish.
‘Drink?’
‘Drink?’ She was confused at the sudden change of subject.
He nodded to her empty glass. ‘More champagne?’
‘I’m drinking water.’
‘Are you sure I can’t tempt you? You look as though you might need a glass.’
‘Really?’ She didn’t look that shaken, surely. Still, she did feel as though she could do with some alcohol at this particular moment. Sod it. ‘Okay. Why not?’ Now she did allow herself to smile fully at him.
He clicked his fingers and a woman, impeccably dressed in a white shirt and tight black skirt, glided towards СКАЧАТЬ