Archiwum
- Index
- Bevarly Elizabeth Czas na dziecko Jeszcze jedna szansa
- Bevarly Elizabeth Kiedy Eryk spotkał Jayne
- 141.Lowell Elizabeth Miłosna pieœń dla Kruka
- Winfrey Elizabeth Więcej niż przyjaźń
- Elizabeth Ann Scarborough Last Refuge
- Elizabeth Power Dom milionera
- Elizabeth Lowell Krajobrazy miłości
- 1. Trzy siostry Mallery Susan Randka w ciemno
- Hawksley Elizabeth PrĂłba
- Wright Austin Tony i Susan (pdf)
- zanotowane.pl
- doc.pisz.pl
- pdf.pisz.pl
- docucrime.xlx.pl
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
stood motionless until it stopped and the house was once again quiet, then she moved through the empty
rooms.
The heat pump clicked on. As she entered the vaulted hallway that led to the back of the house, she saw
a wedge of weak gray light lying across the black granite floor. She walked closer and pushed on the
partially opened door.
Sam lay on top of the rumpled bedcovers. He was unshaven, his chest was bare, and his jeans were
open in a vee at the waist. One elbow was crooked behind his head. His other arm lay listlessly at his
side while he stared up at the ceiling with hollow eyes.
On the side of the bed, a young woman sat in bra and panties filing a fingernail with an emery board. She
was dark-haired and beautiful, with full breasts and long thin legs. She saw Susannah before Sam did. As
she jumped up from the edge of the bed, her emery board hung in midair like a conductor's baton. Sam's
gaze traveled from the ceiling to Susannah. He didn't show a flicker of expression.
She breathed in the thick, stale scent of marijuana and sex. Her stomach curled. A layer of dust covered
the black lacquered furniture. The blinds were shut tight against the outside world. On the floor around
the bed abandoned food cartons were mixed with dirty dishes. The painting Sam had bought her leaned
with its face against the wall, a hole the size of a fist punched through the canvas.
"Get out of here," she said harshly to the woman.
The woman opened her mouth to protest, but apparently decided Susannah was too formidable to
oppose. She glanced hesitantly toward Sam. He paid no attention to her; his gaze remained fixed on
Susannah.
Susannah was dimly aware of the woman scrambling to get into her clothes and stumbling past her. Only
when she heard the sound of the front door closing did she step farther into the room. "What are you
doing to yourself?"
He turned his head to the ceiling.
She kicked away a damp bath towel. "Hiding is a coward's game. It won't solve anything."
"Unless you want to fuck, get out of here."
She didn't flinch from his vulgarity, even though the thought of going to bed with him repelled her. It
wasn't just that he was sleeping with other women; she simply could no longer bear the idea of his touch.
"Your mother is worried about you. We're all worried."
"Sure you are."
He sounded like a surly little boy. Whatever lingering elements of respect she had held for him crumbled
away. His childishness, his infidelity, his self-pity had all diminished him.
"Are you going to spend the rest of your life sulking because you didn't get your way?"
For a moment he didn't move, but then he began to lever himself slowly out of bed. The dim light coming
through the windows cast a blue-black shadow over his unshaven jaw. His hair was tousled, his arms
hung at his sides. He began moving toward her, and she could feel his rage. She told herself not to
underestimate him.
"You're not anything without me," he sneered.
"Do you have any idea how tired I am of dealing with your hostility?"
His nostrils flared and his hard dark eyes glittered with anger. "You're nothing, you hear me? You were
an uptight socialite when I met you, and that's still what you are. Except now you're an uptight socialite
playing at being a working girl."
The words hurt. She told herself they weren't true she didn't believe them but she was insecure
enough that they still pricked.
"Madam President," he scoffed. "You think you've made so many contributions to SysVal. What a
fucking joke. SysVal was always mine! You were so goddamn laughable the other night, I could hardly
believe it. Talking about 'mission' and 'adventure' like you invented the words. Jesus, I wanted to puke."
She opened her mouth to defend herself, only to discover that she had no urge to do so. He was as
pathetic as an overindulged child.
"I came to see if you were all right," she said. "Now that I know it's just self-pity bothering you, I'm
leaving."
She turned to go, but he snatched her arm. "You got one more chance. I'm giving you one more chance
to come with me."
"On a new adventure?" she shot back scornfully.
"Yeah. A new one. A better one. As soon as the word got out that I was leaving SysVal, every investor
in this country wanted a piece of me. They're standing in line begging me to take their money. I'm the
golden boy, babe. The goddamn dream child of capitalism."
His words sounded like braggadocio, but she knew they were true. An investor had even tried calling her
that morning in hopes of locating him. She shook off his grasp. "You don't have the vaguest idea what the
real adventure is. It's not just starting something that's for kids. The real adventure is seeing it through.
You bailed out at the toughest part, Sam. In your marriage and in your job."
For a moment she thought he was going to hit her, but she didn't flinch. Sam was a bully, and bullies had
to be faced down.
"Get out of here," he said contemptuously. "Get out of here and learn what life's all about. Maybe then I
might take you back."
She stared at him for one long moment. "I'm not coming back. Not ever."
Turning away from him, she left the house. As she stepped out into the cool, eucalyptus-scented air, she
felt a sense of release. Whatever bonds of love and need had been tying her to Sam were finally
destroyed. She was done forever with loving little boys.
Chapter 30
P r e v i o u s T o p
N e x t
Hal Lundeen, SysVal's head of security, was one of the company's few employees over the age of forty.
A former Oakland city cop, he was a confirmed pessimist who believed that no matter how bad a
situation was, it could only get worse. The hunt for SysVal's saboteur was proving his adage.
It was December now, and he had been driving himself hard since October, when Susannah Faulconer
had first called him into her office and told him about the sabotaged ROM chip. Every piece of evidence
Lundeen had been able to gather pointed to Edward Fiella, He even thought he knew how the switch had
been made. Fiella had apparently spilled a cup of coffee just as the messenger had arrived to pick up the
ROM chip instructions that were to be delivered to Dayle-Wells. That's when the substitution had taken
place. Unfortunately, finding Fiella had proved a lot more difficult than any of them had ever imagined.
Lundeen looked uncomfortable as he took a seat and gazed at the woman behind the desk. She wasn't
going to be at all happy with what he had to tell her. "I'm afraid I've got some bad news about Fiella."
"Terrific," she muttered. "Did you lose him again?"
"Not exactly. We finally traced him to Philadelphia. Unfortunately, we were about ten days too late."
"He took off again?"
"No. Uh& he's dead."
"Dead!"
"Yeah. He was killed in an auto accident ten days ago."
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]