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that turn of events. Had to send em down the road to the motel.
Zack nodded, took Raine s arm and steered her toward the door.
Burton stared hard at Raine. Heard you and Doug Spicer were the ones who
found that girl in the basement of the witch s house today.
Raine stopped suddenly and swung around to face him. The long folds of the
black raincoat flared out around her boots.
She said nothing, just looked straight at Burton.
Burton flushed a dark red. He blinked several times very rapidly.
I I meant in the basement of y your aunt s house, he stammered.
She did not respond. When she turned back around on her heel she saw that Zack
had the door open. Amusement and sincere admiration gleamed in his eyes.
You re good, too, he said in a low voice as she swept past him. Damn. I
don t think I m going to be able to resist a woman who can level a guy with
one look.
Nine
She held the umbrella high enough to shelter both of them from the steady
rain. The damp, cold night air stimulated all her senses. She felt gloriously
alive, energized and hungry in ways she could not explain. She knew the cause
of the exhilarating sensation was the man walking beside her. It was as though
he had somehow drawn her into an invisible force field.
By unspoken agreement they turned toward the neon-lit windows of a nearby
restaurant. A pickup truck and an SUV went past on the narrow, two-lane street
that was the town s main thoroughfare.
Shelbyville was an old lumber town, typical of the many that were scattered
around the heavily forested Cascades. The mill had closed years before,
destroying the economic base of the community. In a desperate attempt to
survive, the residents had attempted a makeover, hoping to attract tourists,
skiers and city folk looking for a quiet weekend getaway. The effort had been
only partially successful. There was a sprinkling of shops and galleries along
the three-block walk that separated the B and B and the restaurant. But
underneath the thin veneer of updated storefronts you could still see the
worn-out bones of the doomed logging town.
How did you know that I like red wine? she asked after a moment.
The J&J analysts pulled up your credit card purchases for the past few months
when they put the file together.
I hesitate to point this out, but isn t that sort of illegal?
Probably. I leave that to Fallon Jones. I m a strong believer in delegating
when it comes to stuff like that.
Who s Fallon Jones?
The head of the West Coast office of Jones & Jones.
He s your boss, then?
He likes to think so.
Is everyone in a position of authority within the Arcane Society named
Jones? she asked, not bothering to conceal her disapproval.
Heck, no. He managed to sound amazed by the question. Where d you get that
idea?
Gee, I don t know. Let me take a little stab in the dark here. What s the
name of the current Master of the Society?
To her surprise, he hesitated a fraction of a second before answering.
Bancroft Jones, he said neutrally.
Has anyone with a last name other than Jones ever been Master?
You re really trying to put me on the defensive here, aren t you?
I think that answers my question. She glanced at the envelope he had tucked
under one arm. What else does the file say about me?
Let s see. You own a costume design and rental shop in Oriana and you have
one full-time employee. You like to shop at Nordstrom and you go through a ton
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of peanut butter.
At breakfast, she clarified. I eat peanut butter on whole grain toast for
breakfast almost every day.
Okay, that explains the peanut butter.
And if you live anywhere near Seattle, you shop at Nordstrom. It s sort of a
rule.
I ll be sure to annotate the file.
She shoved her free hand deeper into the pocket of her raincoat. Is
everything you know about me contained in that file?
Yes. There wasn t a lot of background data available on you and only
twenty-four hours to collect it. Most of what was in the J&J files pertained
to your father, not you and your aunt.
There was no apology in the words. Just a statement of fact.
I realize, she said coldly, that these days there is no such thing as a
guarantee of privacy. Nevertheless, I have to tell you that knowing that J&J
had the utter gall to create that file makes me furious.
Figured it would. That s why I told you about it up front. I wanted to get it
out of the way so we could talk about other things.
Like this investigation you say you want my help with?
Right.
He pushed open the glass door to the restaurant and held it for her. She swept
past him, long coat swirling.
Fifteen minutes later, with dinner ordered and a glass of red wine sitting on
the table in front of her, she felt better equipped to deal with the man from
J&J.
Do you ever take off that jacket? she asked.
Sometimes.
She decided to let that go. There were, after all, more pressing issues.
Tell me about this investigation you say involves my family history. She
kept her tone as brisk and businesslike as possible.
He did a quick survey of the restaurant. She realized that he was
double-checking to make sure there was no one seated nearby who could overhear
their conversation. They had been lucky to get a booth at the back because the
restaurant was crowded. Raine was pretty sure that most of the tables were
filled with members of the media and maybe a couple of out-of-town cops, not
local residents. Cell phones rang constantly. There was a lot of loud
conversation involving the subjects of airtime and how to get interviews with
Chief Langdon. The background din provided ample cover for a private
conversation.
She heard Doug Spicer s name mentioned a couple of times but no one looked
twice at her. Evidently Langdon had kept his word at the press conference. By [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] - zanotowane.pl
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