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"Mm-hmm" Bruno’s voice was understandably skeptical as he tossedchairs around with his free hand and sat down He didn’t take his eyes off John A long pause was filled with tension before Bruno asked again, "So What happened?"

"Fell down a flight of stairs" I raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything Maybe this hat it would take to get hiht face and leaned back into the cushions before raising his coffee cup to his lips to take a sip Once it was down, he reht of stairs How’d you lared at hiht be able to help"

John looked et ht it was in your safe And besides, I don’t have a key"

"There’s one in Dawna’s desk and I just remembered the passport is in et to put it in the safe, but there you go" He gave me a serious look "If you don’t mind"

Ah Guy talk The best part was that I could probably hear it if I listened close

But by the ti new Bruno asked a couple of good questions about sounds or smells John reone John’s voice was frustration personified "It’s starting to drive me nuts"

I really did kno he felt and that ht be a solution to his problem--the same solution I’d used I wouldn’t call her today, but Dottie ht be able to help We’d met when a friendly cop had asked her to help restore ain, they stopped talking until I passed by "Got the key Be right back"

As I opened the door to John’s office, I realized I wasn’t sure what to expect When I flipped on the light I was taken aback at thecircle that practically filled the space It was set up on the equivalent of a portable dance floor All there was roole armchair that matched the ones in Bubba’s room Heck, maybe it was one of those fro as ic wards if the energy surge that hit ot too close was any indication The power crawled alongants and I was forced to hop to the side before the sensation dug any farther down inside ined John as a clean-line, Architectural Digest kind of guy ould have a glass and chrome look But this desk was hand-carved of heavy, knotty wood and had a … country feel that screa

I opened the ht on top was his passport It ell used and about to expire His photo inside was nearly a decade old and a seal identified hierously coave to the caes He really had been all over the world Stamps and stickers from countries I’d barely heard of filled nearly every sheet and he wasn’t kidding that the back page listed a host of weird vaccinations--one of which was for M Necrose Who’da thunk?

The built-in bookcases along the ere identical to mine and he’d filled theical volu sensation on my arm when I passed by I had just cleared the books when I noticed the line of framed photos on the shelf next to his desk I couldn’t resist and backtracked to look

One shelf was a tribute to the wine he’d helped develop Witches’ Breas the world’s first ical wine It tasted exactly like the best wine you ever had If you like cherries, it tastes like cherries I’d been to the wine’s debut party and had a very good tiht up until the rift tried to destroy the world

On the next shelf, was a photo of John and George Miller in younger days--standing in front of the dilapidated building that would beconizable addresses in LA

There was another photo of John in a fa with three wo features I was betting one of the women was Gillian, but I had no idea which And I had no idea who the other, younger woht be

But it was the last photo, shaded partially in darkness, that asp and stare as the passport fluttered to the carpeting from my suddenly limp hand

Fuck a duck

A familiar face smiled out at me from the silver frame and it made my blood run cold

John Creede had a frarade schools and had tried to kill me twice … that I knew of