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 I m sorry. That must have been awful.
 It was my fault. Chad and I argued, and he stormed out.
He drove too fast, and. . . Garner shook his head.  Helena
blamed me, too, and our marriage never recovered. All she
wants is a home overlooking her son s grave. Is that too
much to ask?
 It is if it means destroying other peoples graves. There
are loved ones in Potter s Field, Aaron.
 No one cares about them! My son died there. Crashed
through the fence at the top of the hill! His face reddened
in anger.  If his grieving mother wants a house there, by God
she ll get one!
 Whatever you say, Aaron. Good to see you again. I piv-
oted and hurried down the narrow, gravestone-lined alley.
* * *
278 Hailey Lind
 Frank.
His shoulders twitched as he stood with his back to me,
searching through the top drawer of his office filing cabi-
net.
 How are you feeling today?
 Mmmpht.
 Glad to hear it. I m doing much better, myself.
 Mmmm.
 Cat got your tongue? Or was it a hair of the dog?
Frank turned to face me.  What, not even a hello this
morning?
 No time for that.
 For a hello?
 For a Talk. No time for Talking or Languaging.
 I don t understand.
 My point exactly. Do you know Aaron Garner?
 Who do you think recommended you for the job that s
kept you solvent lately?
 What are you talking about? I knew Garner from the
Save the Fox Theater campaign. I even recommended he
hire Josh.
 I know. And Aaron asked if I d vouch for you both.
 He did?
 I was happy to do it. You re an excellent artist, and Josh
seems like a good man, even though never mind.
 Never mind what? Out with it.
 He s not the right man for you. Frank s dark eyes held
mine for a beat too long, and I flashed on the memory of his
mouth on mine. I took a deep breath and looked away.
 Is Garner a good person? I asked.
 He s a sharp businessman, and on the whole I d say he s
decent as long as you re not married to him. Why?
 When you say  as long as you re not married to him do
you mean in the sense that he cheats on his wives, or in the
BRUSH WITH DEATH 279
sense that he kills people and buries the bodies in the base-
ment?
Frank slammed the file drawer shut.  What in the world
are you talking about?
 There are some odd goings-on at Bayview Cemetery.
And I ve just learned that Garner s planning to develop the
portion of the cemetery known as Potter s Field because
those residents don t own their land.
 What residents?
 Bodies, whatever. It s what they re called.
 That s odd.
 Tell me about it. Anyway, a graduate student I met there
died, a cemetery employee is in the hospital, and the colum-
barium s retired secretary is in a diabetic coma.
 And you think one of the City s most illustrious citizens
had something to do with all that? Annie, I wouldn t want
Aaron Garner to marry my sister, but I rather doubt he s
murdered anyone or engineered a diabetic coma. I don t
think he d even know how.
 All right, different subject. You know Sandino believes
me about the Raphael.
Frank crossed his arms.  If he does, he s the only one.
 Have your art squad friends turned up anything on a for-
gery of La Fornarina?
 Not so far. Are you suggesting the painting is connected
to these other events?
 I don t know. But Cindy Tanaka 
 Who?
 The Berkeley grad student who died. Cindy had just sent
paint flakes and threads from the columbarium s copy of La
Fornarina to a lab to be analyzed. The results fit the paint-
ing s sixteenth-century origin.
 Really? He cocked his head and looked intrigued.
 Who did the analysis?
280 Hailey Lind
 Dr., uh, Brianna Something.
 Dr. Brianna Something?
 The last name escapes me.
 What lab does Dr. Brianna Something work at?
Busted.  Okay, she s a chemistry graduate student. But
these tests aren t rocket science.
Frank ran a hand through his hair.  You d damned well
better be sure of what you re saying if you expect me to
bring it to Interpol.
 Look, Frank, about last night 
 Don t you dare bring last night into this discussion,
Frank barked.  Either we re talking about art crime or we re
talking about the two of us taking this relationship to another
level. We are not mixing those two topics. Ever.
 Frank, I said quietly.  You know who my grandfather is.
After a moment Frank let out a rueful chuckle and shook
his head.  Don t I just? All right, get me the test results from
your Dr. Brianna Something and I ll take it to the authorities.
 Will do!
 But, Annie, a favor? Make sure your grandfather and I
never meet.
 I think that would be best, I said, gave him a smile, and
turned to leave.
 Oh, and one more thing, Frank said, grasping my arm
and turning me to face him. He cupped the back of my head
in one hand and gripped my waist with the other. His kiss
was slow and thorough and very, very sexy.
After a long moment Frank lifted his head and ran his
thumb across my bottom lip.
I tried to remember how to breathe.
 Just wanted to make sure last night wasn t a fluke. You d
better have a talk with Josh. Tell him it s over.
Somehow I made it up the stairs to my studio, where I
found a note from Mary indicating that she wouldn t be in
BRUSH WITH DEATH 281
today due to some Goth event. Having spent a night in the
cemetery, Mary was now pink-worthy, and she thanked the
gang effusively:
I am really touched, you guys, and not in a touched-
by-a-perv-on-BART kind of way. You re such effin an-
gels to support me in my time of need!! I l*o*v*e you
guys!!!
I added the note to the collection of Maryisms tacked to
the bulletin board.
This was good, I thought. I could use some time alone.
Since yesterday two people I knew had landed in the hospi-
tal, I had found semi-sort-of proof that a sixteenth-century
masterpiece was floating around somewhere, and my hand-
some, by-the-book landlord had kissed me. Twice.
I called Summit Medical Center and received the wel-
come news that Mrs. Henderson had rebounded and was
doing well. When I asked about Russell I realized I couldn t [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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