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He turned off the road and parked next to a shiny little yellow Volkswagen

"You know," Octavia said coolly, "the macho-cryptic private eye talk reads well in your books, but it doesn't go over so great in person"

"I hate when that happens"

He unfastened his seat belt and climbed out before she could pursue that line of inquiry He was not in theprivate eye was because of her Soene had said came back to him How does it feel to be led around by your balls?

That was Eugene for you, a real relationship guru Downright insightful

He shut the door and started around the rear of the car By the tiot to her side she was already out of the front seat, ripped the handbag slung over one shoulder very tightly and there was a dangerous look in her eyes

Da hard

He opened the door of the cafe and ushered her into the pleasant gloo rock stars of another era, thin and angry and wearing a lot of leather, glared down at them from the ancient posters that decorated the walls The h the old speakers came from the same time warp as the posters, but the decibel level was kept reasonably low so that you could hold a conversation without shouting

Arizona did not spend much time here these days She relied on employees she recruited from the work-study offices of Cha of each academic year and she paid them handsomely The result was a remarkably loyal staff that, in turn, freed her to concentrate on what she saw as her chief s-on at the institute

"Getting back to the way you explained things to Eugene and Dwayne" Octavia tossed her bag into the booth and slid in beside it "Maybe you'd better tell me precisely what you said"

"Hard to recall precisely what I said" He flipped open the plastic-coated menu

Portions of Arizona's bill of fare were occasionally updated to reflect passing trends such as soy products and veggie patties, but ers, fries, and pizza

"Talk to ene and Dwayne?"

"Why is that conversation of such great interest to you?" he asked, not looking up from the menu

"Because the more I think about it, the more it worries me I don't know those tell, but from what I've heard about thely"

"I tried to provide an incentive"

She went very still on the other side of the table "That's what I was afraid of"

"Look, don't worry about it, okay?"

"I'ers "What ic words did you use to ht She would probably find out sooner or later, anyway He lounged against the padded seatback and contemplated her for ayour pardon?"

"Lavender and Leather is the nahborhood in Seattle," he explained "About a year ago, Eugene and Dwayne went off to the big city, had a few beers, and decided it would be a out in the vicinity of the establish some of the patrons"

She was instantly incensed "And here I've gone out of my way to be polite to them whenever I see them on the street I actually felt sorry for those two"