Скачать книгу

McCreary, slipping into his shell again.

      For years, Austin had used his reputation as a recluse to serve his own purposes. Austin didn’t like people poking into his business or his personal life and asking a lot of questions he didn’t want to answer.

      The underlying problem was that Austin himself didn’t have the one answer he needed. Had Katia ever loved him, and if she had, why would she have left?

      Austin felt that his adult life had begun that day at LaGuardia. He’d been abandoned, and he’d felt adrift all this time. She’d left a dull ache in his heart that had never completely gone away. It was his pain that told him he’d found true love with Katia. She hadn’t been just a high school romance. What they’d had was real and he knew he’d never find it with anyone else.

      He didn’t know how to respond to the simplest questions, the kind people ask at parties and gatherings, because they always brought back memories of Katia and the plans they’d made for a future together. “Are you married? Do you have children? How’s your business?”

      Though he replied with platitudes, the true answers were troubling, even to him. “I’m not married. She left me. I don’t want children except with Katia, but I can’t forgive her for leaving me. I hate my business. Running my father’s company is boring and unfulfilling.”

      In truth, Austin felt as if he was sleepwalking through his life. Being numb to his heartbreak was his only coping skill.

      But today, Katia had come back. He had to give her credit. She didn’t slink around town, find a place to live, get a job or whatever it was she was here for and then let him find out she was in town. She’d rushed right in.

      She’d come to his house and crashed his party. If he hadn’t gotten angry, he might have been able to question her and learn everything he wanted to know. Katia had grit, all right. She had enough for the two of them.

      “So are you going to follow her and see where she went?” Daisy asked.

      “Isn’t that illegal?”

      “You could just cruise by Mrs. Beabots’s a bit slower than you usually do on your way to the plant,” Daisy suggested.

      “The plant!” Austin checked his watch. “I’m due there in twenty minutes.”

      “I know.” Daisy reached behind her and grabbed his car keys and his briefcase from the entry table. “I assume you’re taking the ’89 Corvette?”

      “Why would you think that?” he asked.

      “Because it’s the one you moved out of the carriage house and put in the driveway this morning,” Daisy replied in the assuaging tone she used to remind him that she was a better conscience than the one in his head.

      “Oh, right.” He took the keys and briefcase. “I’ll be home at six as usual.”

      “Dinner will be ready,” Daisy replied with a smile. “Steak and butternut squash.”

      “Great.”

      He went over to his black convertible, wondering if he should put the top up. If he saw Katia as he passed Mrs. Beabots’s house, would he want her to see him? Should he wave to her as if nothing had happened? Should he stop and talk to her? Maybe he should apologize about the calling-the-police thing. Was she deeply offended by that, or did she even care? He turned on the ignition and backed out of the drive. Daisy stepped back into the house and shut the front door.

      Austin’s head was filled with so many questions he thought it would burst.

       The heck with it. Probably best to let sleeping dogs...totally alone.

      Austin drove down the block, turned left on Iris Avenue and decided to take another route to the plant.

      Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

      Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

      Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

      Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAgEBLAEsAAD/4RbeRXhpZgAATU0AKgAAAAgABwESAAMAAAABAAEAAAEaAAUA AAABAAAAYgEbAAUAAAABAAAAagEoAAMAAAABAAIAAAExAAIAAAAcAAAAcgEyAAIAAAAUAAAAjodp AAQAAAABAAAApAAAANAALcbAAAAnEAAtxsAAACcQQWRvYmUgUGhvdG9zaG9wIENTMiBXaW5kb3dz ADIwMTU6MDM6MzAgMTA6MTg6MjYAAAAAA6ABAAMAAAABAAEAAKACAAQAAAABAAAGS6ADAAQAAAAB AAAKAAAAAAAAAAAGAQMAAwAAAAEABgAAARoABQAAAAEAAAEeARsABQAAAAEAAAEmASgAAwAAAAEA AgAAAgEABAAAAAEAAAEuAgIABAAAAAEAABWoAAAAAAAAAEgAAAABAAAASAAAAAH/2P/gABBKRklG AAECAABIAEgAAP/tAAxBZG9iZV9DTQAB/+4ADkFkb2JlAGSAAAAAAf/bAIQADAgICAkIDAkJDBEL CgsRFQ8MDA8VGBMTFRMTGBEMDAwMDAwRDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAENCwsN Dg0QDg4QFA4ODhQUDg4ODhQRDAwMDAwREQwMDAwMDBEMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwM DAwM/8AAEQgAoABlAwEiAAIRAQMRAf/dAAQAB//EAT8AAAEFAQEBAQEBAAAAAAAAAAMAAQIEBQYH CAkKCwEAAQUBAQEBAQEAAAAAAAAAAQACAwQFBgcICQoLEAABBAEDAgQCBQcGCAUDDDMBAAIRAwQh EjEFQVFhEyJxgTIGFJGhsUIjJBVSwWIzNHKC0UMHJZJT8OHxY3M1FqKygyZEk1RkRcKjdDYX0lXi ZfKzhMPTdePzRieUpIW0lcTU5PSltcXV5fVWZnaGlqa2xtbm9jdHV2d3h5ent8fX5/cRAAICAQIE BAMEBQYHBwYFNQEAAhEDITESBEFRYXEiEwUygZEUobFCI8FS0fAzJGLhcoKSQ1MVY3M08SUGFqKy gwcmNcLSRJNUoxdkRVU2dGXi8rOEw9N14/NGlKSFtJXE1OT0pbXF1eX1VmZ2hpamtsbW5vYnN0dX Z3eHl6e3x//aAAwDAQACEQMRAD8AzEzhLSE6R4KrMrn+hfY4mqp9g3bZY0uG6DZs9o+lsY96ZuLl OjbRa7dt2wxxnc021x7fz6m+oz/g1c6fWL8h9NnUHdOqBY7fvLWlz7asZ/sFlXurpusv3f6Kiz1P Tq/SJotOJjXV9RsF+Ra6t9Lrw0VMYTWzIse3Ic7Y+v6H6P8A0n5nperZGzEWo3Fyn7dtFrt23bDH Gd49SuNP8JWPUZ/ISbi5T9uyi12/bthjjO8b6tvt/wAKwb6/31edWWVZ7x1dzjhuZ9lDbTOSxwc5 tlLTe19dlVH87T/2n/o/857FOmqmzLOMetW4zBVVazIuefT3vFX6sXUZFuyzH9f0v+D9HI/waSnO bjZT9uyi12/bthjjO8b6tvt/wrPfX++iVY2U8N2UWO37dsMcZ9Qbqtvt/wAK33V/vqzSx1hw3ftV 9deVca7A64tsx6/+0uRez19nvp9R9jN/6n/M/wA5aiV1ezKd+1yPsr7G1NN0G5ldRsx7MWMj/C2f oP8AgvU/R/4ShAqabcbJft2U2O37dsMcZ3jdVt0/wrR+j/fW30nHuOIzbU8l5BENOu/+bjT/AAke xUaGb7Wsf1WylvoUXb3WnaLHj34ci/8AR20M3tre/wDP/R3/AGT1PUWh06zbgUv9d99lrAQ31nNL HGtlk7a3vt/VH2fZneuynfbXZ6X6NOx7rZbM3v2s0QX3D0zPgo5VxrcKxoIlVr7Zof2MKwDTARq1 vWZ6iSp+/Zv+SSm93w8fojhH7H//0MxI8FSLHg7S0h3EQZ10TFj527TuOkQZkqsytFltQd6bsRmT Y552lzrA47mmuuoNqe1v885lv/gX56LcPs5Hr9KYyTA3Ou1Ir9zfbZ7ffZVmf1P0f8yq59avIDqw 5trHAsIB3Bw97S3+U36SJX1DqjCW15Fwc525wGpLgA3cZafo1sY3+orA2Yiubamv2O6Yze0wW7r5 Ja11Txo/87J23f8Asuk26mQ39msLu7d14J2Vu9XTf/pP1p/+i/mv5pSHVOsEw3JunUwInQBruGfu tUT1DqdltdpusfdRPp2bQXtBGx8O2fR9yKlNsqP/AHmMdsDXWe68e2PQc76f+Gyn12f+AKTLamxu 6aw7S0Ok3iSGQ9v0vY66xzL/AOR/N/QsSHVOsOaWjJuc0DXQHQz+ds3fnJqM7qLN7677gXOdZY4E mXWEOfY+Qfc/02+5IqZi6lv0+nMOzb6km8fRZ+l3e79H6rz6/wDwX0Fs9NsDcSsnEraJG4E2iS0F lnL/AG+pb7/+C/mlkjqvWNsjKuhvJgaaabnbP+qWpgW5V+Gx977LQwkN3cDRrPD9xrEce62WzW6g HOc1sguDRJ41Vcy6ksdz2Kfqj7W5Rhp2gATBifBUN10bodtJgGDBKmM6YaN0z2HbsSUf0uw2bXbR HugxB05SR9w1t0Tw+L//0S1X0X2+g0GovI2WkCC4DTexu17fU/416Ddk312OqeytrmO1DRGoAbyD 5bkZ2NTgZIuuJcwHdRW0e5xHG9/0GemqV1rrrX2v+k8knwV6MIE6RFeTzeTNmjGpTkMl7CX6Hj/3 K7r9x/mauZADI1Pb2p32PY4B+PWwiSGGvZyT+b7VPp99dGWy2wlrQ17Q9oksc9j6q7mt/wCBse21 Hw3YENrzrRaysBjPa8hrXes9/ovA3e211Vn83v8Af+i/wnrExiP0R9iIZcsh/PEEn9KWmn7zUba4 jeMepzK9HRXDRJMNft9vu+imF+omio7REFgj5tb7VpUZWAD+kNfp2UYlVlWx4BNT8f7Vv9P6b9tV 79//ABf+FUGO6M01NIDmAOFj3753BtzdQxnubZacV9P+j/0f86lUf3PwXGWTSuY+2fi0TaYG6iog tgSzQgezcG/Qd7m/56RvJ3E01e4R9DQeYb9FXqrumH033NqDvTbuqi0sa/7TvsYz3O/R/s97vz/p /wDDoGWenDHazFG6yRLzu3aG31PpNDXV2s+z+l7vZs+h/OpVH9z8EGeUC/fvTi+Y2istsa4+pjsa 5/uAfWRHg5jHolefewe0MAndEGBru9rd21WLX4F1zLbL2ltePRU2stsO6xlIqfuO

Скачать книгу