Blink and You Die. Lauren Child

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ daughter of the Australian and sometime employee of the Count. Lorelei was a law unto herself, that was beyond doubt now. She had gone rogue, betrayed the Count twice (there would be no third chance) and was hell-bent on raining havoc and destruction on those who strayed across her path – which put Ruby well and truly in the firing line.

      Then of course there was the mole, the double agent, the traitor, puppet master, bad egg, bad apple … Call them what you liked, someone was pulling the strings; the question was, who?

      And the Count was scared.

      Not exactly a soothing thought. What kind of soul could make a soulless monster tremble?

      The girl on the TV was getting twitchy: she was beginning to feel sure something was lurking out there in the darkness.

      Ruby got up and went over to her own window and stood there looking out into the black. Somewhere something evil lurked. It was a big wild world and this dark soul could be a thousand miles away. They could be watching from Mars or they might be just around the next bend in the Dry River Road. However, what seemed most likely of all, was that this enemy was already within and stalking the corridors of Spectrum.

      The sixty-four-thousand dollar question was:

      This dark soul, could it really be LB?

      HQ was on high alert, Spectrum 1 was in charge of the investigating team, security had been ramped up to carmine level, protection at Spectrum 8 had never been higher, but it was hard to feel reassured. After all, how does one protect oneself when the evil lies on the inside? From the safety of Green-Wood House, Ruby considered her options.

      When you are written large on a psychopath’s hit list, do you:

      A: Stay indoors, turn the locks, switch off the lights, hide under the covers and wait for someone else to do something?

      B: Brush up on your kung fu moves, wrap up warm, get out there, root out trouble and save yourself?

      She tapped her pencil against her head.

      The idea of being a sitting duck until another agent pulled the clues together, identified the mole and rounded up these murderers was not an appealing one.

      ‘Sit tight’ was a Spectrum watchword, but as far as Ruby could tell, this was no time to be taking orders from Spectrum.

      She smiled sadly.

      It could only be option two.

      Death or glory, she thought.

       Meanwhile – some eleven and a half years ago …

       … the guy lying on the side of the road looked up at the old man and saw the fear in his face.

       ‘Am I … alive?’

       The old man nodded. ‘It would seem so.’

       ‘You … OK …?’ stammered the guy. ‘You … look … like you’re … gonna … faint.’

      The old man was shrugging off his jacket. He pulled a penknife from his pocket and he began cutting at the sleeve of his own shirt, tearing it right off and wrapping it around the bleeding guy’s leg.

       ‘My name, should you be wondering, is Lenny Rivers.’ He was working quickly but methodically, binding the wound tight, trying to stop all that blood leaking onto the road.

       ‘Pleased to … meet … you … Len …’

       ‘So what hit you friend, a truck?’ The poor guy was a real mess, the worst thing Lenny had ever seen, except for that time when he’d found a hunter who’d been attacked by a bear. That fella hadn’t made it. ‘Was it one of those haulage trucks smashed into you?’ he asked.

       The guy smiled faintly. ‘The fun … the funny thing … is … I … don’t re-mem-ber.’

       ‘Musta been going at a fair old lick,’ Lenny tutted. ‘Either didn’t see you or just decided to leave you for dead.’

       ‘I guess,’ said the injured guy, his eyes closing slowly.

       ‘Hang in there,’ said Lenny, more to himself than to the half-dead fellow lying there on the ground. He’d do what he could, but this poor soul’s ticket was punched, Lenny Rivers was sure of that.

       ‘So what do they call you?’ Lenny asked.

       One thing Lenny Rivers knew for a certainty was, he’d want to hear his name spoken aloud one final time if he was about to float heavenwards. But the wounded man was already slipping away, his focus gone. ‘Hey there son, don’t leave me, tell me what you go by.’ Lenny gently tapped the injured man’s bloodstained cheek. ‘Stick with me pal, you must have a name, right?’

       The guy’s eyelids flickered and opened one last time. He was staring beyond Lenny as if his eyes saw some other figure standing behind him. ‘Loveday,’ he said. ‘It was Morgan … Loveday.’

      

      THE SOAP RANG IN THE BATHROOM the next morning and Ruby spat out her toothpaste and picked up.

      ‘So what were you going to tell me?’ asked Clancy. Ruby could hear his little sister Olive in the background, talking to someone.

      ‘Who’s there with you?’ asked Ruby.

      ‘Olive,’ said Clancy.

      ‘But who’s she talking to?’ asked Ruby.

      ‘Buttercup,’ said Clancy.

      Silence.

      ‘Her doll,’ said Clancy.

      Ruby listened for a moment. ‘Jeepers,’ she said.

      ‘Exactly,’ said Clancy. ‘So what were you going to tell me?’

      ‘Well, I’m not going to say it over the phone, am I, buster?’

      ‘Of course you’re not, bozo. I was wondering if you’d like the pleasure of my company, plus if I have to listen to more of this dolly talk I’m gonna go crazy.’

      ‘Anyone would,’ said Ruby. ‘Is she like this most days?’

      ‘Try every day,’ said Clancy.

      ‘I’ll meet you in a half hour, usual place.’

      The usual place was the tree on Amster. They met there when they wanted to be completely alone and out of sight. It was December and the tree’s СКАЧАТЬ