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"What are you saying?" Peta stared at the police detective in disbelief

"I have no other way of saying it There is absolutely no record of this case"

"That&039;s crazy!" She realized that she was shouting, but made no effort to lower her voice "I know the case was closed, but you&039;d thinkso and death on New Year&039;s Eve Dao - "

"Look, lady, calhtly ajar, and closed it Returning to his desk, he sat on the edge facing her "I&039; I can do"

Peta sat back and stared at hiarettes she&039;d bought in Mia, and took one out A thousand disconnected thoughts see each other around her head

"You can&039;t - ah, the hell with it"

He took a lighter out of his pocket and lit her cigarette Still leaning forward, he whispered, "I&039;, but if you repeat it, I&039;ll deny I said a word" She started to interrupt him, but he held up his hand "Listen carefully, &039;cause I&039;ust, some NSA suits came in here and took away a bunch of records They erased everything about them in our computers and told me that as far as I was concerned, that explosion that killed thedocit never happened"

"Why - ?"

"Hey, the Feds co writs around, you don&039;t ask questions"

She nodded, though herme?"

The captain leaned back onto the desk and said, "Doc Marryshow, he saved my life way back when I was a rookie I was burned real bad, y&039;know He lived a couple of blocks from here Used to pop in to see hoas He was real interested in police work too Always asking me questions"

A few minutes later, Peta stood outside the precinct house She had never felt ainst the old brick wall of the building, she pulled out her cell phone Grateful that it was a multisystem unit and that she didn&039;t have to search for a public phone, she dialed Ray&039;s private nu, she wondered what exactly it was that she was going to tell hi either of thee

She disconnected the phone

Screw Frik Screw the Daredevils, all of theive a da to Danny&039;s to keep her proloves out of her handbag and put them on, wrapped her shawl around her neck and over her head like a hood, and dragged her case the eight city blocks froe spotted her as she entered the small foyer He ran toward her, put his arile and ht break

He took the suitcase from her and led her inside At the far end of the bar, the piano player recognized Peta Sears into "Happy Birthday to You," played a few bars of "Hot, Hot, Hot," then segued, as he had done so many times before, into a lively rendition of "Dollar Wine"

I should have told George to tell hi herself to look across at the piano Sitting there, his back to her, was a cafe au lait man about the same size and build as Arthur

Where are you when I need you, David Copperfield? There is no ht

The man turned around to face her

"You son of a bitch! How could you!" she yelled as adrenaline powered by a mix of untrammeled fury and profound joy propelled her across the room She rushed at him, punched him full out, and knocked him backward onto the piano "One whole year, you let me believe you were dead"

For a few moments, Arthur let her rant Then she felt his arms around her He held her so close she could hardly breathe When the tears came, he kissed them away

When they stopped, he led her to the corner table ize? To explain," he said, holding her hand across the white linen tablecloth