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"What was it doing in her gallery? Never ot his eye on the Heralds and she doesn't think he's looking in the right place Neither does AZ or Virgil"

"So she hired Nick" Sullivan sank down onto the corner of his desk and digested that inforate?"

"Appears that way"

"This is bizarre"

"Like I said, we've got a situation here, Sullivan I hate to ad this one out"

"Now, just a minute--

"I'll keep you posted"

Mitchell cut the connection

Very slowly Sullivan reached across the desk and punched in another, very familiar nuht he had come to trust the most over the years

His wife, Rachel, answered on the second ring

"Sorumbled

"Because it's the middle of the day and you're supposed to be deep into the intricacies of the er of Harte Investments and Madison Coround, water splashed He knew that she was out by the pool of their desert hohter-in-law, Elaine The to each other coer details with Gabe Madison

Sullivan summoned up a vision of Rachel in her swimsuit, her body sleek and wet

She was still the only woht There had never been another since he had o in the wake of the financial disaster of Harte-Madison He had been a driven man in those days, co his business eth in the Harte genes was also a potentially devastating flaw It was the nature of a Harte to be goal-oriented and so focused that other things, iot pushed aside If Madisons were driven by their passions, Hartes were sometimes inclined to be cold-blooded and relentless in their pursuit of an objective

Rachel had quietly acted to counter his single-minded obsession with Harte Investiven hi, hard years when he had thrown hile to create HI, Rachel had been there, so toe-to-toe with him to remind him that he had other priorities, too It was Rachel who had taught hi of fa down a path that would have left him a hollow shell of a man

"Gabe and Hamilton don't need my help," he said "They've shunted me off to a corner office on the floor beneath the CEO's suite and made it clear they'll call me if they needa little bored here, to tell you the truth I' over to the coast for a couple of days"

"What's wrong in Eclipse Bay?" she asked instantly

"Nothing's wrong"

"Nick and Carson are there"