bell dana marie fire within the

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She pulled a sheaf of papers from inside her jacket. Right down to his IP address.
Do you think it might have been Oates trying to run you over last night? he asked quietly. She
shrugged. It should be easy enough to check on his alibi.
He pulled up outside the campaign headquarters. Let me do the talking.
Flashing the badge, Officer?
Where her safety was concerned? Damn straight.
They strolled into the headquarters and immediately headed for the office of Sylvester Oates. The
Shem stench was so thick Dante almost choked on it, but the source was obscured by the sheer amount
of it. The Shem was either still in the office or had been spending a lot of time in that room recently.
Sylvester Oates was hard at work, barely glancing up when they walked into his office. There was
less of the Shem stink in his office, but Dante wasn t quite ready to rule him out yet. Can I help you?
I need to know where you were at ten o clock last night.
Excuse me? Oates seemed confused by the question. You want to know where I was last night at
ten o clock?
That s right, Mr. Oates. Can you tell us, please?
The pen he d been holding was put carefully down. I was bowling with my league last night.
When we were done, we headed out for a bite to eat, and then I went home to Gracie.
Gracie? Beth asked.
My wife.
And what time would that have been, Mr. Oates? Dante asked, leaning back in his chair.
The game ended at nine-thirty, the meal ended at ten forty-five, and I was home by eleven. He
stared at them, obviously confused. What is this all about, anyway?
Someone attempted to run me over last night in the parking lot of a nightclub. Beth was watching
his reaction closely.
From outside the office, a loud crash sounded. Oates winced. Excuse me, please. He walked out
from behind his desk and opened the door. What the hell is going on out there? he yelled.
Sorry, Mr. Oates, Barbara sputtered. The coffee pot lay on the floor between her and Bryan
Cranston. Cranston was wringing his hands in dismay. Bryan and I bumped into each other, and,
well... Her voice trailed off as she stared in dismay at the broken pot.
Oates sighed. Just clean it up and get back to work, people. He shut the door of his office and sat
once more behind his desk. Okay. He sighed again, running his hands through his dark hair. If you
want to check my alibi, just talk to Gracie. I can also dig up the names of some of my bowling
buddies if you want to call them.
Dante nodded. No offense, but that would be appreciated. If you re cleared, we can start looking
elsewhere.
Oates nodded. Not a problem. He reached for the Rolodex on his desk and began flipping
through it. Can I ask why you suspect me?
Elizabeth glanced at him before answering. We re covering our bases, that s all.
Fair enough. Once he had the names he wanted, he wrote them down and handed Dante the piece
of paper. Let me know if there s anything else I can help you with.
Dante took the paper with a nod of thanks. His whole posture seemed more relaxed. Thanks
again, he said as he led Elizabeth out of the office.
It wasn t him.
Dante shook his head. No. It wasn t. There wasn t any guilt or surprise when he saw us. So who
has access to his computer?
She opened the door to the Eclipse and climbed in. I d say anyone with access to that back
office.
Cranston, Lindsay, Blessing hell, it could be any one of them. Dante thought about the Shem
stench all over that back office. I m going to rule out Candy.
Elizabeth shot him a look full of amused disgust. Oh?
Seriously. Shem have a distinctive aura about them, one that gets left behind when they leave a
place. That back office was thick with it, but the front of the headquarters had hardly any.
So Candy at the front desk can t be the Shem. She leaned back, pushing her glasses up her nose.
But that means Blessing isn t either.
Unless he d been in there for a while before we arrived. It was literally everywhere. Hell, it
brushed the ceiling. Whoever it was had been in that room, leaving behind that miasma deliberately.
Just like a skunk.
He grinned. Or a fart.
She rolled her eyes. You have an obsession with poo gas. Remind me not to bring you any bean
burritos for lunch.
Speaking of food, I have a favor to ask you. He had no idea how she would react to his request,
but no way could he leave her alone. Not if her life was in danger.
Ask away.
I have a family birthday party to go to tonight, and I could use a date. Would you mind going with
me?
She stared him, absolutely flabbergasted. He wanted to introduce her to his family? For an Italian,
that was almost a declaration of his honorable intentions. You really don t want me out of your sight,
do you?
He sighed. She was right, but the opportunity to introduce her to his family was too good to pass
up. Would you believe that I d actually like your company tonight?
She laughed. I don t know. Is your family ready for someone like me?
The real question is, are you ready for my family? Because he very much doubted Elizabeth had
ever met a clan quite like his.
He couldn t wait to introduce her to them.
Chapter Eleven
Can I ask you something?
Andi grunted. If you don t move too much, sure. She jabbed another bobby pin into Beth s head.
Ow. Beth resisted the urge to rub away the sore spot. Did you go to the Marquis de Sade school
of hairdressing?
Oh, shush. You re lucky I had the time to come and help you. Piotr s been running me ragged
lately. She jabbed another pin in. What s up?
Piotr was the one I wanted to talk to you about. Beth was careful to keep her tone neutral. Andi
adored Piotr, but Beth still wasn t as sure about him as Andi was.
Oh? The word was mumbled as Andi dragged the brush through Beth s hair. Andi had a bobby
pin in her mouth, ready to stab Beth s poor head again.
Yeah. You know anything about the Blessing campaign?
Pfft. Piotr mentioned you guys questioned him on that. We...I mean, he didn t contribute a damn
thing, personally or otherwise. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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