Мэри Кларк - Молчаливая ночь [with w_cat]

• Название: Молчаливая ночь [with w_cat]
• Автор: Мэри Кларк
• Жанр: Детектив

Вниманию читателей предлагается книга Кларк Мэри "Молчаливая ночь".

Каждый абзац текста, на английском языке, снабжен ссылкой на литературный перевод.

Книга предназначена для учащихся старший классов школ, лицеев и гимназий, а также для широкого круга лиц, интересующихся английской литературой и совершенствующих свою языковую подготовку.

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Повесть «Молчаливая ночь» — небольшая не только по объему, но и по времени действия. Основные события умещаются на семи часовом отрезке в канун Рождества, но накал страстей столь острый, что книга прочитывается на едином дыхании. Ординарные люди, ощутившие чужую беду, как собственную, пытаются сделать все от них зависящее, чтобы вернуть в семью потерявшегося мальчика по имени Брайан.

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[571] “That’s what we’ll be saying, Michael,” Catherine said determinedly. “Dad is going to make it and Brian is going to be found.”

[572] The reporter with the Bonardi family said, “Back to you at the news desk, Tony.”

[573] “Thanks, Ted. Glad to hear that it’s going so well. That’s the kind of Christmas story we want to be able to tell.” The anchor’s smile vanished. “There is still no trace of Mario Bonardi’s assailant, Jimmy Siddons, who was awaiting trial for the murder of a police officer. Police sources are quoted as saying that he may be planning to meet his girlfriend, Paige Laronde, in Mexico. Airports, train stations, and bus terminals are under heavy surveillance. It was nearly three years ago, while making his escape after an armed robbery, that Siddons shot and fatally wounded Officer William Grasso, who had stopped him for a traffic violation. Siddons is known to be armed and should be considered extremely dangerous.”

[574] As the anchorman spoke, Jimmy Siddons’s mug shots were flashed on the screen.

[575] “He looks mean,” Michael observed as he studied the cold eyes and sneering lips of the escaped prisoner.

[576] “He certainly does,” Barbara Cavanaugh agreed. Then she looked at her grandson’s face. “Mike, why don’t you close your eyes and rest for a little while?” she suggested.

[577] He shook his head. “I don’t want to go to sleep.”

[578] It was one minute of eleven. The newscaster was saying, “In an update, we have no further information about the whereabouts of seven-year-old Brian Dornan, who has been missing since shortly after five o’clock today.

“On this very special evening, we ask you to continue to pray that Brian is safely returned to his family, and wish you and all of your loved ones a very Merry Christmas.”

[579] In an hour it will be Christmas, Catherine thought. Brian, you have to come back, you have to be found. You have to be with me in the morning when we go see Dad. Brian, come back. Please come back.

[580] The door of the green room opened. Winick ushered in a tall man in his late forties, followed by Officer Manuel Ortiz. “Detective Rhodes wants to talk to you, Mrs. Dornan,” Winick said. “I’m outside if you need me.”

[581] Catherine saw the grave look on the faces of both Rhodes and Ortiz, and fear paralyzed her. She was unable to move or speak.

[582] They realized what she was thinking. “No, Mrs. Dornan, it isn’t that,” Ortiz said quickly.

[583] Rhodes took over. “I’m from headquarters, Mrs. Dornan. We have information about Brian, but let me begin by saying that as far as we know he’s alive and unharmed.”

[584] “Then where is he?” Michael burst out. “Where’s my brother?”

[585] Catherine listened as Detective Rhodes explained about her wallet being picked up by a young woman who was the sister of escaped prisoner Jimmy Siddons. Her mind did not want to accept that Brian had been abducted by the murderer whose face she had just seen on the television screen. No, she thought, no, that can’t be.

[586] She pointed to the monitor. “They just reported that that man is probably on his way to Mexico. Brian disappeared six hours ago. He could be in Mexico right now.”

[587] “At headquarters we don’t buy that story,” Rhodes told her. “We think he’s heading for Canada, probably in a stolen car. We’re concentrating the search in that direction.”

[588] Suddenly Catherine could feel no emotion. It was like when she was in the delivery room and was given the shot of Demerol and all the pain miraculously stopped. And she’d looked up to see Tom wink at her. Tom, always there for her. “Feels bet ter doesn’t it, Babe?” he had asked. And her mind, no longer clouded with pain, had become so clear. It was that way now, as well. “What kind of car are they in?”

[589] Rhodes looked uncomfortable. “We don’t know,” he said. “We’re only guessing that he’s in a car, but we feel sure it’s the right guess. We have every trooper throughout New York and New England on the alert for a man traveling with a young boy who is wearing a St. Christopher medal.”

[590] “Brian is wearing the medal?” Michael exclaimed. “Then he’ll be all right. Gran, tell Mom that the medal will take care of Brian like it took care of Grandpa.”

[591] “Armed and dangerous,” Catherine repeated.

[592] “Mrs. Dornan,” Rhodes said urgently. “If Siddons is in a car, he’s probably listening to the radio. He’s smart. Now that Officer Bonardi is out of danger, Siddons knows he isn’t facing a death sentence. Capital punishment had not been reinstated when he killed the police officer three years ago. And he did tell his sister that he’d let Brian go tomorrow morning.”

[593] Her mind was so clear. “But you don’t believe that, do you?”

[594] She did not need to see the expression on his face to know that Detective Rhodes did not believe that Jimmy Siddons would voluntarily release Brian.

[595] “Mrs. Dornan, if we’re right and Siddons is heading for the Canadian border, he’s not going to get there for at least another three or four hours. Although the snow has stopped in some areas, the roads are still going to be something of a mess all night. He can’t be traveling fast, and he doesn’t know that we know he has Brian. That’s being kept from the media. In Siddons’s mind, Brian will be an asset-at least until he reaches the border. We will find him before then.”

[596] The television monitor was still on with the volume low. Catherine’s back was to it. She saw Detective Rhodes’s face change, heard a voice say, “We interrupt this program for a news bulletin. According to a report that has just been broadcast by station WYME, seven-year-old Brian Dornan, the boy who has been missing since this afternoon, has fallen into the hands of alleged murderer Jimmy Siddons, who told his sister that if the police close in on him, he will put a bullet through the child’s head. More later, as news comes in.”

17

[597] After Aika left, Cally made a cup of tea, wrapped herself in a blanket, turned the television on, and pressed the MUTE button. This way I’ll know if there’s any news, she thought. Then she turned on the radio and tuned in a station playing Christmas music, but she kept the volume low.

[598] “Hark, the herald angels sing …” Remember how Frank and I sang that together when we were trimming the tree? she thought. Five years ago. Their one Christmas together. They’d just learned that she was pregnant. She remembered all the plans they’d made. “Next year we’ll have help trimming the tree,” Frank had said.

[599] “Sure we will. A three-month-old baby will be a big help,” she’d said, laughing.

[600] She remembered Frank lifting her up so that she could place the star on the top of the tree.

Why?

[601] Why had everything gone so wrong? There wasn’t a next year. Just one week later Frank was killed by a hit-and-run driver. He’d been on his way home from a trip to the deli for a carton of milk.

[602] We had so little time, Cally thought, shaking her head. Sometimes she wondered if those months were just a dream. It seemed so long ago now.

[603] “O come, all ye faithful, joyful and trium phant…” “Adeste Fideles.” Was it just yesterday that I was feeling so good about life? Cally wondered. At work the hospital administrator had said, “Cally, I’ve been hearing wonderful reports on you. They tell me you’ve got the makings of a born nurse. Have you ever thought of going to nursing school?” Then she’d talked about scholarships and how she was going to look into it.

[604] That little boy, Cally thought. Oh God, don’t let Jimmy hurt him. I should have called Detective Levy immediately. I know I should have. Why didn’t I? she wondered, then immediately answered her own question: Because I wasn’t just afraid for Brian. I was afraid for myself, too, and that may cost Brian his life.

[605] She got up and went in to look at Gigi. As usual, the little girl had managed to work one foot out from under the covers. She did it every night, even when the room was cold.

[606] Cally tucked the covers around her daughter’s shoulders, then touched the small foot and tucked that in, too. Gigi stirred. “Mommy,” she said drowsily.

“I’m right here.”

[607] Cally went back to the living room and glanced over at the television for a moment, then rushed to turn up the volume. No! No! she thought as she heard the reporter explain that police now had information that the missing boy had been kidnapped by escaped cop killer Jimmy Siddons. The police will blame the leak on me, she thought frantically. They’ll think I told someone. I know they will.

[608] The phone rang. When she picked it up and heard Mort Levy’s voice, the pent-up emotions that had seemed so frozen erupted suddenly. “I didn’t do it,” she sobbed. “I didn’t tell anyone. I swear, I swear I didn’t tell.”

[609] The steady rise and fall of Brian’s chest told Jimmy Siddons that his hostage was asleep. Good, he thought, better for me. The problem was that the kid was smart. Smart enough to know that if he had managed to throw himself out of the car next to the breakdown lane, he wouldn’t risk getting run over. If that jerk hadn’t spun out and caused the fender-bender, it would be all over for me now, Jimmy thought. The kid would have gotten out and the troopers would have been on my tail right then.

[610] It was past eleven o’clock. The kid should be tired. With luck he’d sleep for a couple of hours anyhow. Even with the snow on the roads, they should be at the border in, at most, three or four hours. It’ll still be dark for a long time after that, Jimmy thought with satisfaction. He knew he could count on Paige to be waiting on the Canadian side. They’d worked out a rendezvous point in the woods about three miles from the customs check.

[611] Jimmy debated about where he should leave the Toyota. There was nothing to tie him to it as long as he made sure he wiped it clean of fingerprints. Maybe he’d ditch it in one of the wooded areas.

[612] On the other hand… He thought of the Niagara River, where he would make the border crossing. It had a strong current, so chances were it wouldn’t be frozen. With luck, the car might never surface.

[613] What about the kid? Even as he asked himself the question, Jimmy knew there was no way he’d take a chance on the kid being found near the border and able to talk about him.

[614] Paige had told all her friends she was going to Mexico.

[615] Sorry, kid, Jimmy thought. That’s where I want the cops looking for me.

He reflected for a moment, then decided the river would take care of the car and the kid.

[616] That decision made, Jimmy felt some of the tension ease from his body. With every mile, he felt more sure that he was going to make it, that Canada and Paige and freedom were within reach. And with each mile he felt more anxious-and more determined-that nothing happen to screw it up.

[617] Like last time. He’d been all set. He’d had Cally’s car, a hundred bucks, and was heading for California. Then he ran a lousy caution light on Ninth Avenue and got pulled over. The cop, a guy about thirty, thought he was a big shot. He had come to the driver’s window and said real sarcastically, “Driver’s license and registration, sir.”

[618] That’s all he would have needed to see, Jimmy thought, remembering the moment as though it were yesterday, a license issued to James Siddons. He had had no choice. He would have been arrested on the spot. He’d reached into his breast pocket, pulled out his gun, and fired. Before the cop’s body hit the ground, Jimmy was out of the car and on the street, blending into the crowd around the bus terminal. He had looked at the departure schedule board and rushed to buy a ticket on a bus leaving in three minutes, destination: Detroit.

[619] That was a lucky decision, Jimmy thought. He’d met Paige the first night, moved in with her, then got some phony ID and a job with a low-life security firm. For a while he and Paige had even had a kind of normal life. Their only real arguments were when he got sore at the way she encouraged the guys who made passes at her in the strip joint. But she said it was her job to make them want to make passes at her. For the first time, everything was actually working out. Until he was dumb enough to hit the service station without taking enough time to case it.

[620] He focused his attention back on the snow-covered road ahead of him. He could tell from the feel of the tires that it was getting icy. Good thing this car had snow tires, Jimmy thought. He flashed back to the couple who owned the car-what had the guy said to his wife? Something about can’t wait to see Bobby’s face? Yeah, that was it, Jimmy thought, grinning as he imagined their faces when they found an empty space where their car had been parked, or more likely another car taking up the space.

[621] He had the radio turned on, but the volume was low. It was tuned to a local station to get an update on the weather, but now the sound was fading and static was breaking up the signal. Impatiently Jimmy twiddled the dial until he found an all-news station, then froze as an announcer’s urgent voice reported: “Police have reluctantly confirmed the story broken by station WYME that seven-year-old Brian Dornan, missing since five o’clock this evening, has fallen into the hands of alleged murderer Jimmy Siddons, who is believed to be heading for Canada.”

[622] Swearing steadily, Jimmy snapped off the radio. Cally. She must have called the cops. The Thruway’s probably already lousy with them, all looking for me-and the kid, he reasoned frantically. He glanced to the left, at the car just passing him. Probably dozens of unmarked cars around here, he thought.

[623] Calm. Keep it calm, he told himself. They didn’t know what kind of car he was driving. He wasn’t going to be dumb enough to speed or, worse yet, crawl so far below the speed limit that they’d get suspicious.

[624] But the kid was a problem. He had to get rid of him right away. He thought the situation through quickly. He’d get off at the nearest exit, take care of him, dump him fast, and then get back on the road. He looked at the boy sleeping beside him. Too bad, kid, but that’s the way it’s got to be, he said to himself.

[625] On the right he saw an exit sign. That’s it, Jimmy thought, that’s the one I’ll take.

[626] Brian stirred as though starting to wake up, then fell back asleep. Drowsily, he decided that he must have been dreaming, but he thought he had heard his name.

18

[627] Al Rhodes saw the haunted look on the face of Catherine Dornan when she realized the implications of Brian being with Jimmy Siddons. He watched as she closed her eyes, ready to catch her if she fainted.

[628] But then she opened her eyes quickly and reached out to put her arms around her older son. “We mustn’t forget that Brian has the St. Christopher medal,” she said softly.

[629] The mask of adult bravado that Michael had managed to maintain throughout the evening’s ordeal began to crumble. “I don’t want anything to happen to Brian,” he sobbed.

[630] Catherine stroked his head. “Nothing is going to happen to him,” she said calmly. “Believe that, and hold on to it.”