"Ann Maxwell - Risk Unlimited 01 - The Ruby" - читать интересную книгу автора (Maxwell Ann)

came another man. The second man was taller and dressed all in black. Even at this distance, he appeared stooped but
powerful.
Cruz didn’t identify Redpath’s welcoming committee until he moved toward the plane. Sergeant-Major Ranulph
Gillespie was huge. He was also a former operator and instructor in the British Army’s 22nd Special Air Services
Regiment, a professional soldier, and one of the most deadly counterterrorists in the world.
The sergeant-major stowed his passengers in the backseat of the Mercedes, climbed aboard, and headed at a
sedate pace down the shimmering runway toward Karroo’s headquarters.
With a small catlike sound of satisfaction, Redpath turned to Cruz. Her generous mouth turned down as she looked
at him. In his dirty jeans and sweat-darkened blue work shirt, Cruz looked like a hard-rock miner at the end of his shift,
rather than the highly educated, thoroughly trained operative he was. His hair was streaked with grit, he hadn’t shaved
for several days, and he needed a bath. The pale, glittering slits of blue that were his eyes warned that he was not a
happy camper at the moment.
That made two of them.
Cruz noted the thinning of Redpath’s mouth and the narrowing of her eyes. He didn’t need a road map to know
what was bothering her. Redpath required a minimum level of personal cleanliness in her employees. At the moment,
Cruz was well below her standard.
„I’m off duty,“ he said shortly. „Remember?“
„I could have called Carson Walker, I suppose,“ Redpath said.
„But you want your best, right? So you’ll have to take me the way you find me. And so will our client.“
Redpath shrugged. „Even if you were willing – “
„Which I’m not.“
„ – to clean up, it’s too late,“ she finished, ignoring the interruption.
Cruz glanced toward the Mercedes. It was still too far away to make out the sex, much less the facial features of the
passenger.
„Who is it this time?“ Cruz asked sardonically. „I hope it’s not the lovely president of the Philippines again.“
„She can afford us.“
„I know she’s a powerful personage, and I know she’s trying to recover the fortune her predecessor invested in
Italian footwear, but she’s a major pain in the ass.“
„How do you think women get to be president. 7 “ Redpath retorted. „Or ambassador, for that matter. I made lots of
people unhappy along the way.“
„You still do.“
„Thank you.“ Redpath bared her teeth in a smile. „But the specimen coming closer with each breath isn’t a female
politician. He’s from the artistic side of the political spectrum.“
„Bloody wonderful,“ Cruz said under his breath. „They’re the worst. What is he, a ballerina. 7 “
„Our potential client is a curator of art for the new Russian federation.“
„Does he have a name. 7 “
Though Redpath didn’t move, Cruz sensed that she was bracing herself.
„Aleksy Novikov,“ Redpath said with outward calm.
„Christ!“
Redpath waited for the rest of the explosion.
„Are you aware that Novikov and I have what is politely called a history. 7 “ Cruz asked after a time.
„Your paths crossed while you were with the FBI,“ Redpath said casually.
Her tone said that it didn’t matter.
„Paths crossed,“ Cruz repeated. „Yeah. Right. I spent six months chasing Novikov’s charismatic ass all over Silicon
Valley.“
„Your approach was very creative.“
„Not enough to get the job done.“
„I disagree. Novikov was sent back home.“
„I would rather have given him a permanent home in a federal pen,“ Cruz retorted. „Novikov’s passport said he was
a cultural attache with the consulate in San Francisco, but we caught him with all kinds of classified material, as well as