Teaser. Burt Weissbourd
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Название: Teaser
Автор: Burt Weissbourd
Издательство: Ingram
Жанр: Триллеры
Серия: The Corey Logan Novels #2
isbn: 9781940207841
isbn:
“I’ve been thinking about that, too. “ Maisie waited. “You remember that sixties Italian movie, Theorem, the one Verlaine made us watch with him because it was ‘a game changer.’” Maisie made her what-a-scuz face—eyes wide, lips pursed, tip of her tongue out.
Aaron grinned. “I do remember the movie. Yeah. Kinda strange but sexy.”
“That’s the one. Okay. You remember how the guy comes out of nowhere—a mysterious stranger known only as “the visitor”—no money, no family, no past, no nothing. And before he’s done, he gets it on with every member of the family, male and female. And he changes all of their lives. Jimmy and Star remind me of that guy. What if my dad sent them?”
“It’s possible, I dunno.”
“What if he did?” And what if her weird life changed for the better because of it? “What if my dad did that?” she asked, again.
“Maybe he did,” he turned to face her, “but until we know for sure, Maise, let’s go slow. Let’s be careful. I mean it’s okay if you want to be with them, and you can do what you want when it comes to sex—you know that’s our rule. But the coke turns me off.”
“If you hang in with me, I’ll stay away from the coke. I need you for this. Don’t ruin it.” She touched the nape of his neck, suddenly worried. “Okay?”
“Okay, yeah.” Aaron turned the thin, gold ring in his left ear. “Hey, there’s Billy.”
“Will,” she corrected him. She sat up, waved Will over.
“What’s happening?” Will sat down in a big lounge chair.
“Real life,” Maisie laughed.
“Are you high?”
“Coming down,” Aaron explained.
“You been at Star’s?”
“Uh-huh,” Aaron said.
Will saw their faces change. Maisie was up and in the ladies room before Abe and Corey got through the door.
“What are you doing here?” Will asked. He was standing, physically separating his parents from his friend.
“Looking for you,” Corey explained. “How are you, Aaron?”
“Okay. Yeah. Fine.” Aaron stood, shook hands with Abe. “Gotta check on Maisie. She’s not feeling too hot. Give me a sec?” He was off to the restrooms. Abe and Corey sat.
“Sorry, Will,” Abe said. “But we wanted to talk with your friends.”
“It’s really embarrassing.” He was still standing. “I wish you weren’t here.”
“Will, I’m sorry, but we were talking about Aaron, and Maisie, and Star, and we started to worry,” Corey explained. “Look, is it alright with you if I talk with Aaron and Maisie? I want to check out this Star person, make sure she’s okay.”
“I’d guess they’re long gone, mom.” He sighed, frustrated. “They split.”
“Right. Stupid of me. Billy, do you have Star’s address?”
“Mom, back off, okay? Just leave me alone.” He went toward the door, two steps, then turned back. “And call me Will.”
Maisie had her hand stuck in the back pocket of Aaron’s jeans and his arm hung over her shoulders. Aaron’s fingers lightly brushed across her left breast as he walked her to her front door. Across the street, in the shadows, Teaser was watching, invisible. He liked the big, old wooden house on Federal, liked it more than the rutty Chinaboy’s shiny, new one. He chewed on a plastic toothpick, the kind he used because it didn’t break up into little splinters. When Aaron and Maisie kissed on the doorstep, he turned away. He looked back at them, and they were still doing it. He felt the dryness in his throat. Teaser ran his tongue between his teeth. When he watched Maisie, he thought he could actually feel his scar.
“Dinner,” Maisie’s mother, Amber, called out, pressing the intercom button to Maisie’s room. “In the garden room, honey.” Their house was grey, with white trim and a white porch. It sat back from the street, on Federal, several blocks north of Aloha. Maisie could walk to Olympic—down to Tenth then north to the campus. Their home was built in 1921, and it had six bedrooms. Maisie’s was on the third floor, as far as possible from everything.
“Gotta go,” Maisie said to Aaron. “I’m going to find out tonight. Whatever it takes. Think about tomorrow. You and me at Star’s, all afternoon. Think about that.” She punched off her phone.
The garden room was named after the perennial garden that swept around the southeast corner of the house. The room had a country feel: pine farmhouse table, exposed beams, walls of windows with small panes separated by freshly painted white mullions. Tonight Amber was serving coq au vin. She was forty-eight, and plainly the source of Maisie’s sexual allure. Amber was a classic, Jewish beauty: full-breasts, black hair, fine features. When she relaxed, Amber was radiant. She wore a long denim skirt and a colorful peasant blouse. Verlaine had been Amber’s mentor, almost nine years ago, when she came from Stanford’s Symbolic Systems program to manage a project at Microsoft. They were married in 2008.
“How was school today?” Verlaine asked. He was young-looking for sixty-three, with a rower’s muscular upper body, wire-rimmed glasses and curly, grey hair. Verlaine wore a grey herringbone jacket over a black cashmere turtleneck sweater.
“Fine,” Maisie muttered, caught herself, and thinking of her mission, took a friendlier tack. “We’re reading Oedipus, maybe we can talk about it later?”
“Oedipus, yes. Anytime, Maisie.”
“That’d be great. Listen is it okay if I stay out late with Aaron Wednesday? Thursday’s a holiday, we’re going to a party and—”
“No problem,” Verlaine said, putting a hand on Maisie’s forearm as he turned toward her. “Just remember how we roll, babe—a designated driver and safe sex.”
Maisie winced, barely keeping her tongue in her mouth. He was such a scuz. “Do we have to talk about that?”
“Your responsibility?”
Maisie nodded.
“Do Aaron’s parents approve?” Amber asked.
“Isn’t that between Aaron and his parents?” Maisie asked, a little too sharply. Since her mom had started on the psycho meds, as Maisie called them, Amber’s ideas sometimes popped out before she thought about them. Maisie hurried a smile.
Verlaine smiled back. “I’m sure they’ve worked it out.” He tasted the coq au vin. “It’s wonderful.” He bowed his head toward his wife.
Maisie saw her moment. “Mom, I’ve got a question.” She hesitated. “I need you to help me with something.”
“Of СКАЧАТЬ