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He blew her a kiss, sauntering off through the crowd, and she watched hi the eyes digging into her back once more

She was half tempted to call Micah back, ask him to wait The reception would be over in another half hour, and then she could follow hi would vanish

But she hadn’t gotten this far in her life by giving in to irrational fears It siuest of honor, his holiness the Shirosama He had a reason to watch her out of his colorless eyes—she was standing between him and the prize Summer’s foolish otten to where he was, as head of a ide spiritual et what he wanted

He wanted her Japanese bowl, probably as much as she didn’t want hiiven to her a short while before she’d been killed in a car accident It was oneshe was used to by now Summer had loaned it to the exclusive ious charlatan for as long as she could But sooner or later the creepy, charet it, and there wasn’t a whole lot she could do about it At least she’d put it off for the ti

But it wasn’t the Shirosa her, or any of his white-robed minions—not as far as she could tell She could feel the eyes boring into her back, and she turned, trying to catch whoever it was Certainly not the elderly Asian couple by the fourteenth century incense burners Not the tall, slender lasses, who seee of the blonde he was talking to than in the exhibit Maybe she was i it

She recognized only half of the elegantly dressed guests who filled the gallery for this private opening, and none would have any reason to be interested in the lowly junior curator at the Sansone Museum Her connection to Lianne and Ralph Lovitz and their Hollywood lifestyle was generally unknown, and by southern California standards she was totally ordinary looking, so she did her best to cultivate

“His holiness wishes to speak with you”

She was very good at hiding her emotions, and she turned to face the roup of ascetics, the followers of the True Realization Fellowship tended to be particularly well fed, and the plu man in front of her was no different He had the same round face, shaved head and faintly sanctimonious look they all did, and it made her want to stomp on his sandaled feet

She was being childish and she knew it She could co to a close, the trustees were seeing to the departing guests and she had no real reason to avoid their guest of honor

“Of course,” she said, trying to add a note of warhts ago, taking nothing, but she’d known instinctively what they’d been looking for The Japanese bowl they coveted was right in front of theuarded by an excellent security system