"Lawrence Watt - Evans - One of the Boys" - читать интересную книгу автора (Watt-Evans Lawrence)

up the ceiling panel, found his duffel bag, and hauled it down; he pulled out his shirt and jeans, then
carefully stripped off his gleaming brass-plated armor and tucked it away.

It was late; for a moment he considered keeping on Captain Cosmos’s gleaming black boots, but then he
caught himself.

Unforgivable carelessness! He must never let his guard down; enemies could be lurking anywhere. Any
clue to his true identity could be dangerous.

Though he wasn’t exactly sure how. It was just part of the way this costumed hero stuff was done.

The boots went in the bag, and the sneakers from K-Mart went on his feet.

On the stairs at his building that dark-haired woman from A-21 leaned out and watched as he climbed to
his own apartment. She did that a lot; didn’t she have anything better to do than watch her neighbors?

Or was she only watching him?. Did she suspect that he had secrets?

He sighed as he unlocked his door.
He stepped into his living room, into the welcoming warmth and humidity, into the familiar smells from his
kitchen, and he relaxed.

It was a slow weekend; he patrolled the city solo most of Saturday and didn’t see a thing. The police
radio in his helmet didn’t mention anything but speeders.

Well, that was no surprise. You couldn’t expect to fight monsters or crazed cultists every day. Once or
twice a year something like that would come along and make the whole business worthwhile, but usually,
he didn’t have anything to do that the ordinary police couldn’t have handled, if they’d had the time and
manpower.

Sunday he and Mr. Swift met up for lunch at Ernie’s, and afterward went down to the Projects off 14th
and nailed a couple of small-time dealers; the punks ran at the sight of the Captain, and Swift was there
to trip them up. Red didn’t show.

“I think he’s got a date,” Swift said.

The Captain nodded. Swift threw him a glance. “You got any hot prospects for the evening?”

“No,” the Captain said.

“Spending the evening rereading Dickens, or something?” Swift smiled indulgently. “C’mon, Captain,
”fess up—you’re the type who’d rather pick up a book than a girl. Or maybe you’ve got a wife and
kiddies waiting at home?“

“I don’t talk about my private life, Mr. Swift,” the Captain said. “You know that.”

At the police station the booking sergeant remarked, “It took two of you to catch these guys?”

“Slow day,” the Captain said with a shrug. He threw a look at Swift, who smiled approvingly.