"Parker, Robert B. - Early Autumn" - читать интересную книгу автора (Parker Robert B)

She turned her head away and looked out my window, where it had gotten dark and shiny with the lights glistening off the rain.

I put the gun away and clasped my hands and rested my elbows on the arms of my chair and propped my chin. I let the chair tip back on its spring and I sat and waited.

"Mr. Spenser, do you have time to waste like this," she said.

"Yes, I do," I said.

"Well, I do not," she said and I lip-synched the words with her as she said them. That annoyed her.

"Don't you want the job?" she said.

"I don't know," I said. "I don't know what the job is."

"Well, I want some evidence of your qualifications before I discuss it with you."

"Hell, lady, I showed you my scar tissue and my gun. What else do you need?"

"This is a sensitive job. It is not a matter of guns. It involves a child."

"Maybe you should get hold of Dr. Spock."

Silence. She looked at my hands where my chin was resting.

"Your hands are very strong-looking," she said.

"Want to see me crack a walnut?" I said.

"Are you married?" she said.

"No."

She smiled again. It was a good one. Hundred, hundred-fifty watt. But I'd seen better. Susan could have smiled her right into the woodwork. She moved her body slightly in the chair. She remained trim and upright, but somehow a wiggle came through.

I said, "If you bat your eyes at me I'm calling a policewoman."

She wiggled again, without moving. How the hell does she do that?

"I've got to trust you," she said. "I have no one else. I must turn to you."

"Hard," I said. "Hard for a woman alone, I'll bet."

Wiggle. Smile. Sigh. "Yes, I've got to find someone to help me. Will it be you?" She leaned forward slightly. She moistened her lower lip. "Will you help me?"

"I would gather stars," I said, "out of the blue."

"Don't make fun of me," she said. "I'm desperate."

"What are you desperate about?"