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

"Terrific."
"Don't worry."
"You know what?" she whispered. "I'm not so sure we oughta keep going. I mean, it's pretty stupid. We don't know what this guy wants."
Brace halted and turned to face her. She wished she could _see_ his face. In the darkness, it looked like a gray smudge. He took hold of both her hands. "You don't really want to quit, do you?"
"No, but . . . it's getting scary again. We really _should_ quit. It's stupid not to."
"I tell you what. Suppose I go on ahead and check out the statue?"
"What am _I_ supposed to do?"
"Go back to where the lights are and wait for me. You should be safe there."
"And let you do the dirty work?"
"My pleasure, ma"am."
"No way. What if it's some sort of a trap?"
"All the more reason . . ."
"Oh, sure. I can't let you get hurt, or something, on account of me."
"Should we give it all up?"
"No, but . . ."
Brace squeezed her hands. "Let's go ahead, then. Money or not, it'd be a shame to come all the way out here and not get to see Crazy Horse. Especially since I risked my job to save him from oblivion."
"Okay."
He let go of one hand, but held on to the other as he turned around and led Jane deeper into the trees behind the building. Her heart was pounding very hard.
Nothing's going to happen, she told herself. Well find the envelope or we won't, and that'll be it. Nobody's going to ambush us.
In a loud voice that trembled only slightly, Jane announced, "If any shit _does_ go down, the game is over. I'll quit. End of his fun with me. So he'd better think twice before he pulls anything cute."
"That's telling him," Brace said.
"I meant every word of it."
"Do you think he's near enough to hear what you said?"
She felt a tremor slide up her spine. "Jeez, I sure hope not."
Brace laughed softly.
"I'm glad you find me amusing. Maybe I should hire out for parties."
"If you want to know the truth," he said, "I think this whole business is great. It's like you and I have teamed up for a treasure-hunting adventure. There's mystery, suspense, excitement, untold riches in the offing, the possibility of danger and romance . . . It's wonderful, in a way."
_Possibility of romance?_
_With me?_
_Who do you _think_ he means?_
Jane blushed. She was glad that Brace couldn't see it in the darkness.
"If he murders us under the statue of Crazy Horse tonight," she said, "we can die happy in the knowledge that he gave us a few such precious moments."
She heard Brace laugh again.
Then he halted. Jane stepped closer to his side. She felt his arm brush against her. "The light's off," he whispered.
"What?"
"There's supposed to be a spotlight on the gate. For security."
"Where?"
He pointed straight ahead. Squinting through the darkness, Jane found a vague shape that she supposed might be a high, chainlink fence beyond the trunks of several trees. She couldn't see through the fence. Nor could she see a gate.
"That's where the statue is?" she asked. "In there?"
"That's where they put it."
"Are you sure there's supposed to be a light?"
"It's always on at night. I mean, I don't keep track of it, but I've seen it often enough when I've been around campus after dark. You can see it from the quad when you walk past the science building."
"And tonight it's out."
"I don't see a light, do you?"
"No."
"I'd say our friend has been here," Brace said.
"Yeah," Jane muttered. "And added a little darkness to the game."