Сумерки

           "Edward,listentoher,"heurged."Ithinkshe’sright."

           "Yes,sheis,"Aliceagreed.

           "Ican’tdothat."Edward’svoicewasicy.

           "Emmettshouldstay,too,"Icontinued."HedefinitelygotaneyefulofEmmett."

           "What?"Emmettturnedonme.

           "You’llgetabettercrackathimifyoustay,"Aliceagreed.

           Edwardstaredatherincredulously."YouthinkIshouldlethergoalone?"

           "Ofcoursenot,"Alicesaid."JasperandIwilltakeher."

           "Ican’tdothat,"Edwardrepeated,butthistimetherewasatraceofdefeatinhisvoice.Thelogicwasworkingonhim.

           Itriedtobepersuasive."Hangouthereforaweek-"Isawhisexpressioninthemirrorandamended"-afewdays.LetCharlieseeyouhaven’tkidnappedme,andleadthisJamesonawild-goosechase.Makesurehe’scompletelyoffmytrail.Thencomeandmeetme.Takearoundaboutroute,ofcourse,andthenJasperandAlicecangohome."

           Icouldseehimbeginningtoconsiderit.

           "Meetyouwhere?"

           "Phoenix."Ofcourse.

           "No.He’llhearthat’swhereyou’regoing,"hesaidimpatiently.

           "Andyou’llmakeitlooklikethat’saruse,obviously.He’llknowthatwe’llknowthathe’slistening.He’llneverbelieveI’mactuallygoingwhereIsayIamgoing."

           "She’sdiabolical,"Emmettchuckled.

           "Andifthatdoesn’twork?"

           "ThereareseveralmillionpeopleinPhoenix,"Iinformedhim.

           "It’snotthathardtofindaphonebook."

           "Iwon’tgohome."

           "Oh?"heinquired,adangerousnoteinhisvoice.

           "I’mquiteoldenoughtogetmyownplace."

           "Edward,we’llbewithher,"Aliceremindedhim