The Boxer and the Spy
- Автор: Паркер Роберт Браун
- Год: 2008
- Язык: английский
- Год: Philomel Books
- ISBN: 978-0-399-24775-0
- Жанр: Другие детективы
Электронная книга - «The Boxer and the Spy». Краткое содержание книги:
“Not that many kids knew I was interested in steroids,” Terry said.
“Tank,” Abby said. “And Suzi and Bev, we were talking by the Wall that day. You talked with Nancy Fortin.”
“Yeah.”
“Anybody else?”
“I don’t think so,” Terry said.
“Then it must have been one of them,” Abby said.
“Why would they tell Kip Carter?” Terry said.
“To get in good with him,” Abby said. “The question is: Why would he care?”
“Maybe he’s juicing,” Terry said. “And he’s afraid he’ll get caught.”
“How are we going to find out?” Abby said.
Love that “we,” Terry thought.
“I guess we’ll have to ask,” he said.
Chapter 14
They were hanging on the Wall.
“I never said anything to Carter,” Tank said.
“You’re sure?” Terry said. “Maybe when you were asking around about steroids?”
“I didn’t ask,” Tank said. “I just kinda looked and listened, you know.”
“Is he one of the guys on ’roids?” Terry said.
Tank gave an elaborate shrug.
“Look at him,” Tank said.
Terry nodded.
“And Nancy Fortin says she doesn’t even know who Kip Carter is,” he said.
“Everybody knows who he is,” Tank said.
“Nancy’s in her own world,” Terry said.
“He was freakin’ all-state,” Tank said.
Terry shrugged. Abby came across the common from the library and joined them on the Wall. She held out a package of Altoid mints, which she liked and no one else could stand.
“Mint?” she said.
Terry shook his head.
“No thanks,” Tank said. “Take the enamel off your teeth, I think.”
Abby smiled at him.
“Sissy,” she said.
“You talked to Suzi and Bev?” Terry said.
Abby popped a mint into her mouth. She nodded.
“Yes,” she said. “Neither of them said anything to Kip Carter All-American.”
“You believe them?” Terry said. “Maybe they wanted to score some points with the big man on campus?”
Abby laughed.
“Terry,” she said, “most of the girls in school don’t like Kip Carter All-American. He’s always trying to cop a feel in the halls. You wear a loose top, he’s always trying to get a peek down your front.”
“Doesn’t make him a bad person,” Tank said.
“Oh Tank, oink!” Abby said. “Suzi’s got no interest in him. He’s creepy.”
“How ’bout Bev?” Terry said.
“She says he’s never spoken to her.”
“Lotta people ain’t spoken to Bev,” Tank said.
“I know,” Abby said. “Poor Bev, she’s such a Goody Two-shoes.”
“So how’d he know,” Terry said. “If nobody told him, how’d he know.”
They were quiet, sitting three in a row on the Wall. Abby was between the two boys, swinging her legs, and Terry liked how her jeans tightened over her thighs as she moved. He liked the strong smell of mint on her breath when she spoke.
“No kids told him,” Abby said.
“That’s what we’re saying,” Tank said.
“No,” Terry said. “We’re saying nobody told him.”
“What’s the difference?”
Terry looked at Abby.
“Some adults knew,” Abby said.
“Bullard knew,” Terry said.
“And the secretary in the nurse’s office,” Abby said.
Tank got it. He was excited. He wasn’t used to getting things quickly.
“And the librarian,” Tank said. “You was asking her about some steroid stuff, I remember.”
“Why would they tell Kip Carter All-American?” Abby said.
“I don’t know,” Terry said.
“Maybe if we found out,” Abby said, “we might know a lot.”
There it is again, Terry thought, “we”!
Chapter 15
They were walking on the beach, which they liked to do. The weather was overcast, the wind was damp, and the surface of the ocean was gray and rough looking. There was something exciting about it, they thought. And if they dressed warmly, it was fun.
“You think it really was a grown-up that told Kip Carter All-American about you?” Abby said.
“Kids say they didn’t,” Terry said.
“But kids don’t always admit stuff,” Abby said.
“Neither do grown-ups,” Terry said.
“True,” Abby said. “So how are we going to find out?”
“Well,” Terry said. “I suppose first thing is, we don’t trust anybody.”
“Except each other,” Abby said.
“Except that,” Terry said. “We don’t know who’s talking to who, or why. So we keep our mouths shut.” He smiled. “Except if we’re kissing.”
“I’ll keep that in mind when we start,” Abby said.
“We will,” Terry said, “sooner or later.”
He always felt a little scared when he mentioned things like that to her. They were so good now, being best friends, it was as if he might spoil something.
“Probably,” Abby said.
He hadn’t spoiled it!
“And we only tell anything to each other,” Terry said.
Abby nodded.
“That won’t help us find out anything,” Abby said.
“I know.”
They continued walking. Now it was raining a little. The beach was empty. It was one of the reasons they liked to walk in bad weather. They had it to themselves. Without saying anything, they had both chosen to walk away from the place where Jason Green’s body had washed up. The wind had gotten stronger, and Abby took his arm and pressed against him as if for shelter. The harbor was getting rougher with the strengthening wind and the red channel buoys were tossing from side to side.
As they walked, he felt the pressure inside him. He always felt it when he was with Abby. He was thrilled to be with her. But he knew there had to be something more and he wasn’t sure what would happen to them if they took the next step toward something more. What if the something more didn’t work so well, and it meant they couldn’t be friends anymore.
It would kill me, he thought.
“We could follow him,” Terry said.
“Kip Carter All-American?”
“Yes.”
“What would that prove?”
“If he spent a lot of time talking to the librarian or the secretary in the nurse’s office or Mr. Bullard, maybe we’d know something.”
“You don’t think it’s the librarian or the secretary,” Abby said. “Do you?”
“No.”
“You think it’s Mr. Bullard.”
Terry shrugged.
“Mr. Bullard also told me to stop messing around with this stuff,” Terry said.
Abby nodded.
“And you think we’ll catch Kip Carter All-American hanging out with Bullard?” she said. “What’ll that do for us?”
“I don’t know,” Terry said. “I just don’t know what else to do.”
The wind was driving the rain at a small slant. Terry liked it. There was something exciting or romantic or something about rain.
“How about he’s got his license and his father bought him a car and we can’t even drive yet,” Abby said. “How do we follow him if he drives?”
“We can follow him in school,” Terry said.
“But what about after?”
“I guess all we can do is follow him where we can,” Terry said.
Abby smiled.
“It’s not much of a plan,” she said.
“No,” Terry said. “It isn’t.”
“But I suppose it’s better than no plan,” Abby said.
“Yes,” Terry said. “It is.”