"Robb, J D - In Death 10 - Loyalty in Death (1)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Robb J D)

forgotten to look.
And if she had to flash the badge she'd tucked in her coat pocket at a gimlet-
eyed grifter looking to score the tourist, it didn't spoil the day.
Still, by the time she finally talked him into stopping for a hot drink and a
bite to eat, she'd decided it was imperative she outline some very specific do's
and don'ts. He was going to be on his own a great deal when he wasn't working,
she thought. He might have been twenty-three, but he had all the naive trust in
his fellow man of a sheltered five-year-old.
"Zeke." She warmed her hands on a bowl of lentil soup and tried not to think
about the soy-beef burger she'd spied on the menu. "We should talk about what
you're going to do while I'm working."
"I'll be building cabinets."
"Yeah, but my hours are ..." She gestured vaguely. "You never know. You'll be
spending a lot of time on your own, so -- "
"You don't have to worry about me." He grinned at her, spooned up his own soup.
"I've been off the farm before."
"You've never been here before."
He sat back, shot her the exasperated look brothers reserve for nagging sisters.
"I carry my money in my front pocket. I don't talk to the people who cart around
those cases full of wrist units and PPCs, and I don't move in to play that card
game like the one they had going on Fifth Avenue, even though it looks like
fun."
"It's a con. You can't win."
"Still looked like fun." But he wouldn't brood on it, not when she had that line
dug between her eyebrows. "I don't strike up conversations on the subway."
"Not with a chemi-head looking to score." She rolled her eyes. "Jesus, Zeke, the
guy was practically foaming at the mouth. Anyhow." She waved that away. "I don't
expect you to lock yourself into the apartment on your free time. I just want
you to be careful. It's a great city, but it eats people every day. I don't want
one of them to be you."
"I'll be careful."
"And you'll stick to the major tourist areas, carry your palm-link?"
"Yes, Mom." He grinned at her again, and looked so young Peabody's heart
stuttered. "So, you up for the Fly Over Manhattan tour?"
"Sure." She managed to smile instead of wince. "You bet. Soon as we're done
here." She took her time with the soup. "When are you supposed to get started on
this job?"
"Tomorrow. We set it all up before I left. They approved the plans, the
estimates. They paid for my transpo and expenses."
"You said they saw your work when they were out in Arizona on vacation?"
"She did." And just thinking of it had his pulse running a little faster. "She
bought one of the carvings I'd done for Camelback Cooperative Artworks. Then she
and Silvie -- I don't think you ever met Silvie, she's a glass artist. She was
running the co-op that day and she mentioned how I'd designed and built the
cabinets and counters and the displays. And then Mrs. Branson mentioned how she
and her husband were looking for a carpenter, and -- "
"What?" Peabody's head snapped up.
"They were looking for a carpenter, and -- "
"No, what was that name?" She grabbed his hand, clamped down. "Did you say
Branson?"