"John Varley - Anthology - Super Heroes - Various Authors" - читать интересную книгу автора (Varley John)

ago in the Boston Herald, might have been
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planted as part of an elaborate AJC trap. He dismissed that idea because
Colonel Constitution was running the AJC operation, and "elaborate"
became a synonym for "confused" when used in reference to anything he did.
The new fence was classic Conny, yet Revenant remained vigilant just in
case Constitution had come up with an original idea for once.
If Blessed Haven had maintained a computer listing of its tenants and
Revenant had known about it, he could have solved the problem of
determining which of the two dozen apartments in the new complex housed
the Hopkins family. As he approached the building, weaving his way
through the cars in the church parking lot, he started by eliminating
apartments connected to patios or balconies where he saw toys unsuited to a
boy or someone of Nathan's age. Crouching in the shadow of the BMW
owned by the judge who had signed the restraining order, he also eliminated
the dark apartments that looked vacant because they lacked shades on the
windows.
Moving on, lest the hiss of the car's quickly flattening tire attract
attention, Revenant slipped his knife back into the top of his right boot and
worked around to the far side of the complex. Apartment 14 seemed a likely
suspect, as it had a light on, but no toys on the patio in front of it. He took
pride in his deductive ability, then he drew close enough to see a small tag
on the doorjamb, just above the doorbell, that read "Hopkins, Jeanette," in a
small, orderly hand.
He spent his irritation by raking the lock open with his lockpicks in less
than five seconds and slipping into the dimly lit apartment. He closed the
door behind him, then flipped the flag lock to give himself a second or two
of extra time to escape if someone tried to enter the apartment. He set the
heavy pack he had been carrying down in the middle of the living room
floor, then crouched and just listened.
The living room and kitchenette were separated by a half-wall. Off to the
right a narrow corridor led past a closet to the bathroom—the source of the
light in the apartment—and on to two bedrooms. Revenant expected he
would find Nathan in one of them, but something didn't feel quite right. He
couldn't place it; then he saw a brief flash of light coming from beneath
Michael A. Stackpole
the hall closet door and heard a faint snatch of a hummed tune.
Glancing back out the window and seeing no one, Revenant moved to the
closet door. He jiggled the knob, then opened the door. The little light inside
snapped off, and Revenant recognized the sound of a comic book flapping
shut. In the light that slipped from the bathroom into the closet he saw the
comic and a flashlight head down into an empty boot; then a little boy
looked up at him.
"Who are you?"
Revenant squatted down. "I'm here to take you to help your sister."
The boy's blue eyes grew wide. "Are you an angel?"
In spite of himself, Revenant laughed. He knew that was the first time and
likely the last anyone would ever make that particular mistake about him.
"What makes you ask that?"
The boy smiled innocently. ' 'I asked Reverend Sunnington to let me go to