Nightfall by Isaac Asimov & Robert Silverberg

Author:Isaac Asimov & Robert Silverberg [Asimov, Isaac & Silverberg, Robert]
Format: epub
Publisher: New Age Library
Published: 2000-10-21T18:30:00+00:00

THE HERRING CROSS Farm was easy enough to find. A perfect little English cottage, complete with thatched roof and picturesque outbuildings, it rested on the edge of a hillside, not far from the sea. It was hardly the spot for a murderer and his accomplice to retire in style.

She parked the Vauxhall in the narrow lane, sliding out of the driver’s seat. In the distance a dog barked, and she walked through the front yard with unseeing eyes.

The door was open. The place was deserted. She didn’t know quite what she expected, but then, she never had with Richard Tiernan. She walked through into the kitchen, past the clutter of dishes, and looked out to the back garden.

He was out there. Shirtless in the sunshine, digging in the dirt. Looking for bodies, she wondered? There were scratch marks on his shoulders, and it took her a moment to realize they came from her. She’d marked him. She wondered what Sally Norton had thought of that.

There was a straight-backed chair in the corner of the cluttered, cozy old kitchen. She sat in it, her arms wrapped around her, and waited.

He didn’t see her when he first came in. He was whistling, under his breath, sounding disgustingly happy, and the knowledge was like a blow to Cass’s belly. He moved to the sink, and he was carrying an armload of daffodils.

He shoved them in an old jar, switched to humming, and then turned, reaching for his shirt that was lying across one of the chairs. And then he saw her, waiting in the shadows.

It was as if the light had been stripped from his face, his eyes. His expression went blank, wary, as he stared at her, almost as if he couldn’t believe his eyes. He pulled the shirt on, and she noticed it was an old shirt, faded, one she hadn’t seen before. She supposed it was waiting here for him. Along with Sally Norton.

“Are you alone?”

The words almost startled her. “Entirely,” she said, her voice deceptively cool.

“Does anyone know you’re here?”

“Mark. But he’s covered up for you before. He’ll probably cover up again.”

“What would he need to cover up for?”

“If you decided to kill me. That’s what you’re thinking, isn’t it? Maybe you could stash me in the garden.”

“You have your father’s imagination.” He was back in control once more. That lightness vanished, the wariness, the taunting, back where she remembered it. “What are you doing here, Cassidy?”

“I’d think that would be obvious. I’m here to take you back.”

“Against my will? I doubt you could manage. For one thing, I’m bigger than you are. If you have any sense at all, you’ll leave. Go back to America and keep your mouth shut. I’ll be back in four more days.”

“And if I don’t have any sense at all?”

He closed his eyes for a moment. “What do you think is going on? I’d be interested in hearing just how your fevered mind works.”

She leaned back, looking at him. He was remote, a stranger.

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