"Laymon, Richard - InTheDark" - читать интересную книгу автора (Laymon Richard)

"You won't take _anything_?"
The other side of his mouth tilted up. "Your undying gratitude will be sufficient recompense, my dear."
She broke into laughter.
Brace grinned and drank his coffee.
After Jane had settled down, he said, "The thing now is to decipher the clue. 'At midnight, horse around.'"
"I don't suppose he means the obvious."
"The obvious?" Brace asked.
"You know, horse around. Like monkey around, goof around, mess around, _screw_ around."
"We might try it and see if an envelope turns up."
Jane knew she was blushing. She tried to laugh. "Hey, come on."
"I'm sorry. Forget I said that, okay? Anyway, I think you're right. The sort of horsing around that you're referring to is an activity, and he's probably trying to give you a location."
"Someplace where there's a horse," Jane said.
"I don't imagine he's trying to send you into the countryside to hunt out stables or a farm. This horse is probably here in town someplace."
"And not necessarily a _real_ horse," Jane added. 'Maybe just a place with 'horse' in its name, like the White Horse Inn, or . . . we could check the telephone directory and see what we can find."
"I don't think we'll have to hit the reference sources just yet. I think I might know where he wants you to go."









Chapter Four


After leaving Ezra's, they walked back to the library parking lot. "Why don't we take my car?" Brace said. "No point in both of us driving."
"Fine," Jane said, and followed him toward an old Ford near the end of the lot.
She felt jittery. Climbing into a car with Brace might be a big mistake. She'd decided to risk it, however, even before he had made the suggestion.
Because she agreed with his theory that the campus statue was probably where they would find the envelope. The campus was two miles from Ezra's, a fairly long walk but a quick drive, and she could think of no good reason to insist that they go in separate cars.
Only one reason existed: climbing into Brace's car would amount to surrendering control to him. If he turned out _not_ to be the good guy he seemed, Jane could be letting herself in for a world of pain.
She _wanted_ to trust him, though. She liked him, and hated the idea that he might be a threat.
Also, she figured there was at least one logical reason to trust him: if he had evil intentions, he could've nailed her earlier, when they were upstairs together in the library's stacks. A perfect place for an assault, but he'd behaved just fine.
There's no reason not to trust him, she reminded herself as she waited for Brace to unlock the passenger door.
_Except for the fact that he's a guy._
He opened the door, then ducked in and began to clear the seat of books, magazines, file folders, and loose papers. "We could take my car," Jane suggested.
"No, that's all right. This'll just take a minute."
"You aren't used to passengers, huh?"
"Sort of a loner."
_Oh, that's a wonderful sign_.
She surprised herself by saying, "Oh, great. I'm about to get in the car with a loner."
"Don't be afraid, my pretty."
"Very funny."
"Sorry." He stepped backward with the materials clutched to his chest. "Could you open that?" he asked, nodding at the rear door.
She opened it. Brace leaned in and dumped his collection onto the back seat. "All set," he said. He gestured for her to sit in the passenger seat.
Jane climbed in, and he shut the door for her. While he walked around the front, she leaned over and unlocked the driver's door. He pulled it open and climbed in.
"Excited?" he asked.
"A little, maybe. Mostly just nervous."
He started the car, put on the headlights, and began backing out of the parking space. Jane pulled the safety harness down across her chest and lap. She latched its buckle into place by her hip, then wondered if she might be safer without it. If she needed to make a quick getaway . . .