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Danes. I could see his face pretty clearly now, and it wasn t a
pleasant sight.  You little bitch, he said, opening and closing his
fists. I was pretty sure what he wanted to close them around.
Now it was my turn to do some crowing. I had to make him
sufficiently angry to be heedless of what he said.  You blew it,
Farkas, I taunted him.  Beaten by a bunch of women.
He panted and snorted a little, but said nothing.
 Now what, Victor? Are you going to send James Harrington
to run Tonia down in the park again? Or shoot at her in her
study? Or hang around her back yard and spy on her? I decided
I might as well help Lester out, too.  Or maybe you ll get the
resident photographer to take some more candid shots.
Silence. By now I was seething. Damn it, Farkas, talk!
 Forget it, friend. It s all over. I ve beaten you. I ve got the
letters, your extortion notes, and the two phone calls you made
to Tonia. That seems like a lot of years in prison to me. And if
you re thinking of falling back on the burglary scam, you can
forget that, too. Your young accomplices have suddenly seen the
error of their ways. In fact, right about now they re returning
the stolen goods. You re alone, Victor. It s finished.
I let this sink in for a minute, before throwing him a bone.
 Of course, I added, as if the thought had only then occurred to
me,  I don t have to hand you over to the police.
 Oh? he asked, a sly tone coming into his voice.  Why not?
What do you want?
 Not much, I told him.  I just want you to stay away from
Tonia Konig. Far away. I m going to keep the letters and photos
and tapes in a safe place, and if I hear that she s so much as
sprained an ankle getting out of bed, I m going to assume it was
your doing.
He thought this over for a minute.  What else?
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 You re to stay away from Valerie Frazier, too. I don t want to
have to worry about you harassing her. So the same rules apply
to her as to Tonia. This thing is over, Victor.
Then he did something that completely surprised me he
threw back his head and laughed. Loudly and long. Fool that I
was, I attached no particular meaning to it, apart from Farkas
own brand of nuttiness.
But I still didn t have my answer. Why had he been
persecuting Tonia? Well, it didn t look as though I would get
it. I just couldn t make him talk. I had underestimated him
he wasn t what I had expected. He might be an addle-brained
misogynist, but he wasn t a wild-eyed maniac. In fact, he seemed
rather clever to me. And cool. Maybe too cool for a man whose
future was at stake. Damn it all, what did he know that I didn t?
I suddenly decided I had nothing to lose by asking.
 Why have you been trying to scare Tonia Konig half to
death? The next thought just popped into my head and out my
mouth before I had a chance to censor it:  Is someone holding
your leash, Victor?
There was no laughter this time. Had I hit the nail on
the head? I was so surprised that I didn t notice him moving
backwards toward the edge of the embankment. Abruptly he
turned and...disappeared. In a moment, the fog had swallowed
him.
 Shit! I yelled, running to the cliff edge and looking over.
The fog made it impossible to see more than what was directly
below me. I didn t dare follow him or send the girls. I heard sounds
of clumsy flight, a body falling heavily onto the rocks below, and
a series of splashes. Then, nothing.  Farkas! I shouted. Damn it
anyway, had he fallen over the edge and broken his neck?
When Gray appeared beside me, a dark shape in black
windbreaker and jeans, I thought my heart might stop. She
snapped her fingers, and the girls flanked her.  The man you
call Farkas has gone, she told me.
 Gone? Then he s all right?
 Apparently. He fled along the rocks. He will probably climb
the embankment closer to town, wait awhile, then come back
here for his car.
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 Damn! I swore.
 Why reproach yourself? Gray asked me shrugging.  You
told him the conditions under which he could remain free. What
reasonable man would ignore them?
What reasonable man, indeed?
The evening had an unfinished feel about it, like an
interrupted conversation. Well, what was I to do wait for Farkas
on Clover Point, hoping he d return for his car? Or go back to
Redfern Street and beard him in his den? And then what? Beat
on him? Demand to know what I was certain he was hiding from
me? With a sigh, I decided to let it go. Farkas had run away,
intimidated by my ferocious self. End of story.
I dropped Lester off at his new digs  a duplex on Fernwood
Street. Not very prepossessing, but at least it was safe.
 Looks like the guys aren t back yet, Lester said.  Funny, I
thought they d have finished long ago. Oh well, maybe they re
still getting their stuff from the old house. Or drinking. I could
use a few beers myself.
I guessed that was an invitation, and decided to decline.  You d
probably be better off with a good night s sleep, I suggested in a
motherly fashion.  By the way, it s a moot point now, but how do
you think the pictures will turn out?
 Real good, he said, patting his camera.  But I m sure glad
you won t need them.
 Well, that s what you buy insurance for, I said tritely.
 And those dogs  they were terrific, he said appreciatively.
 So were you, come to think of it. God, I m surprised Farkas
stood there and took all that from you. He yawned.  What
happens now, Caitlin?
 Beats me, I admitted.  If he stays away from Dr. Konig and
from Valerie Frazier, he has nothing to worry about.
Lester nodded.  Say, what did you mean about someone [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]