"Molly Brown - Community Service" - читать интересную книгу автора (Brown Molly)

I opened the door, holding the Scotch bottle in one hand. It was only half
empty; I still had some way to go. "What do you want, Kopalski?"
"Looks like I've come at a bad time," he said, eyeing the bottle.
"You think there's any such thing as a good time?" I stepped aside to let
him pass. "Come on in."
He sat down at my kitchenette counter. "You okay, Nora?"
"I'm fine."
"It's just... you seem upset."
I took a long swig from the bottle. "Do I?"
"Maybe it's none of my business..."
"It isn't."
"But as your partner... and I hope... your friend..." He sighed and shook
his head. "Drinking alone out of a bottle is not what I'd call a good
sign."
"Kopalski, what I do on my night off in my own room is my own damn
business, okay? And for the record, it doesn't affect me." I held out my
hand to show him. "See? Steady as a rock. I could drink five gallons of
this stuff, it wouldn't be any different."
"Sounds like an even worse sign," he said.
"What do you want, Kopalski? Just tell me what you want, okay? And then
you can piss off outta here and leave me alone!"
He stood up. "I'm going."
Damn, I thought, why am I doing this? We got along fine when we were on
duty. I liked the guy. I put down the bottle and spread my arms to block
his way. "Look, I didn't mean that, okay? Sit back down, I'll make us some
coffee."
He nodded and sat down.
I went around behind the counter and started heating up some water. "So
what brings you knocking on my door tonight, Bruce?" I asked him, keeping
my voice light and casual so he'd know we were still friends. "Don't
usually see you on a night off."
"I knocked on your door because I wondered if you might like to go out for
a pizza or something," he said, looking away.
"Go out with you?" This wasn't the same as going for a drink at the end of
a shift; I wondered what he was getting at. "Why?"
"No reason," he said. "It's just that it's my birthday, and I felt like
maybe going out or something and I wondered if you'd like to come." He
threw up his hands. "Just forget it, okay? I'm sorry I bothered you." He
stood and started walking towards the door.
I glanced at the blank screen of my bedside computer. Jimmy would have
been off shift for hours now. I knew he wasn't going to write back. Not
ever. "Wait," I said.
Kopalski kept walking.
"Bruce!"
He stopped and turned around.
"Why didn't you tell me it was your birthday? I woulda got you a present
or something."
"Oh yeah?" His cheeks turned pink. "What would have got me?"
"Something cheap." I reached for my coat. "So where you wanna go?"
A week later we were called to a disturbance near the Heights, a housing