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"Like the pleasure didn’t come with the death, but hat lay before," I said "The pain was the attraction And once they were all used up, and there wouldn’t be any ood anyht Stuart’s coht I was trying to express

Tolliver looked nauseated

"That’s not e’re getting froe "She says that the killer sat and watched for the asht," I said instantly "I’m not a psychic, and she is Orat me with that expression I kneell It said, as clearly as if they’d spoken out loud: Watch her She’s going to back and fill and try to dovetail her is with the story the other freak told us

"Did you ever think," I said very slowly, very reluctantly, "that thereatnearly as well as I can the dead I’d done ith the two state agents so far, but I had no idea what their faces were saying now

"That’s all I can tell you," I said, and I got up to leave Tolliver hastily got to his feet, too "Can we leave town?" I asked "Whenever we choose?"

"As long as you let us kno to reach you, you and your brother can hit the road," Stuart said, in a tone that ilad to see the back of us

"I’ry as if they’d been arguing about it for the previous hour

Stuart looked surprised "All right, then Whatever," he said, shrugging "You two can go"

I was so astonished by Tolliver’s outburst that I had to fuather up my purse and follow him out He almost left me in his cloud of dust He proceeded clear on out of the station, withbehind With a little aardness with the doors, I was slowed down enough that I just reached hi with his hands on the hood, glaring down at the gray paint The renored them

I had no idea what to say I just stood there and waited I would have gotten in the car, but he had the keys in his hand The et heavier, becohtened up, and without a word to me, he clicked the doors open I stepped down froot in, pulled it closed Thank God it was my left arm that was out of whack Still silently, Tolliver leaned over me to pull my seat belt around and click it shut

"Where?" he said

"The doctor’s office"

"You hurting?"

"Yes"

He took a deep breath He held it for ait open as to what he was sorry about

"Okay," I said, not really sure what ground alking on I had a few ideas So than others

Tolliver had pinpointed the location of the doctor’s office earlier on one of his drives to and from the hospital Dr Tho lot contained at least six cars When I went in, I anticipated a long wait The man as not my brother went up to the , told the woman behind it who I was and that I’d seen the doctor at the eency room

"We’ll have to work her in, hon, it lasses back on her nose Then she patted her helood shape, I guess Tolliver orking his old ht back a clipboard with forms to fill out

"Apparently, we’ll have plenty of time to do this," he said, for ainst the far wall, and he ca mother and her baby, as blessedly asleep, an elderly man with a walker parked in front of hie boy, as one of the tribe of foot jigglers

A nurse in teal ca ot up with the infant carrier cradled in her arms

"I wonder if she knows La Perla is a brand of underwear," I ot a smile from him

The boy scooted down the line of chairs until he ithin conversational distance of us "You the one found the bodies," he said

We both looked at him I nodded

Now that he’d toldelse to tell ood boys Well, ot into a little trouble now and then And Chester, he wrecked his dad’s new Iether, at Mount Ida"

"All of you?"

"’Cept Dylan, he’s a Catholic They got their own youth group But the rest of the churches, they all go together at Mount Ida"

Ordinarily, I’d be bored stiff by this conversation, but I wasn’t today

"Did you read the stories in the paper today?" I asked

"Yep"

"You ever met those two boys from out of town?"

He looked surprised "No, never," he said "I never heard of ’e They were from way far away"

I hadn’t read the whole story "Way far away" to this boy ht mean Kentucky or Ohio He meant only that the two out-of-towners weren’t fro now They stopped at thefor a minute, then went out the front door I could see the rain increasing She would have to run for her car The nurse called the old ot slowly and carefully to his feet He shuffled through the door to the inner sanctum preceded by his walker, which had sliced-open tennis balls fixed on the front feet It gave the walker a jaunty air As soon as he was through the door, the nurse also called, "Rory!" Our companion jumped to his feet and hurried back

Now that ere by ourselves, I thought Tolliver would talk tome out on purpose, and I didn’t knohat to make of it If he was just in a snit over soht back If I’d hurt hirief unknown toa butt-head, then he could just stew in his own juice

I leaned ainst the wall, closed my own eyes