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

"You mean, like you don't want to rule out that it might've been done behind your back by one of your alternate personalities?"
"That's about right."
"Okay. Well, here goes." She thumbed the button of her switchblade. The knife jumped slightly as the blade sprang out and locked. She slipped its tip under the envelope's flap and slashed the top seam.
To free her hand, she reached forward and set the knife on the edge of a bookshelf. Then she spread open the envelope. Inside was a folded sheet of lined paper. She removed it, unfolded it, and pursed her lips.
"Whoa," Brace said. "Looks like you've earned a raise."
Jane slipped the hundred-dollar bill aside and read the handwritten message aloud.
"'My dear Jane, Congratulations! You've taken your first, minor step on the road to fun and riches. More is waiting. Do you have the will to proceed? I hope so. At midnight, horse around. You'll be glad you did. Yours, MOG.'"









Chapter Three


When Jane finished reading the note, Brace said, "Looks like the game's still on."
She nodded. She felt _awfully_ strange.
"You don't have any idea who's doing this?" Brace asked.
"No idea at all."
"He's generous."
"Let's get out of here," Jane muttered. She tucked the message and money back into the envelope, then picked up her knife. "Keep your eyes open, okay? He might be up here."
"Hope so. Maybe he'll give _me_ a hundred bucks."
"As long as that's _all_ he does . . ."
Brace stayed at her side as she walked the remaining length of the aisle, turned around and headed back. He said nothing. He seemed watchful and tense.
He's worried, Jane realized. That was good. It confirmed her own take on the situation: anyone who would write such notes and give away that much money to a stranger was certainly abnormal -- possibly dangerous.
_You'd think he might want to see my reactions._
_Is he watching us? Hiding up here?_
If he was lurking in the stacks, however, he succeeded in staying out of sight. And he made no sounds. Jane only heard herself and Brace as they walked the old, noisy floorboards.
_Maybe he's waiting in the stairwell._
She grew more tense as they approached the stairwell door. Moving ahead of her, Brace opened it. Nobody leaped out. While he waited, Jane stepped over to the panel of light switches. She flicked one after another, dropping sections of the room into darkness until no light was left except for the glow from the stairwell.
Jane hurried over to Brace. It was good to have him holding the door open for her.
Instead of starting down the stairs, she waited for him to shut the door.
"Do you want me to go first?" he asked.
"If you go first, I'll have to take up the rear."
"Ah." Smiling slightly, he shifted _Youngblood Hawke_ into his right hand, took Jane gently by the forearm with his left, and turned her around.
"I hate this sort of thing," she said as they started down the stairs.
"What sort of thing?"
"Feeling spooked. Being afraid somebody might jump out at me. I'm not usually such a chicken."
"You have every right to feel nervous. I'd be pretty shaken up, too, if somebody was sending me anonymous notes. Money or no money, it's weird."
At the bottom of the stairs, Brace let go of Jane's arm and swung open the door.
She hurried into the bright lights and kept moving, wanting to put distance between her back and the stairway to the stacks. When she heard the door bump shut, she whirled around and smiled at Brace. "Thanks for the moral support," she said.
"My pleasure." He raised the novel. "Will you let me check out the book? I know we're past closing time, but . . ."
"Happy to."
She took up her position behind the circulation desk. Brace stepped to the other side.
"I really am grateful," she said as he slid the book toward her.
He handed over his library card, "What are you going to do about midnight?" he asked.