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FORGET DRIVE-IN ZOMBIES and cow-ht Ric and I had slept in until noon We should have been ravenous, but could only nibble on road snacks

Today was the first day of the rest of my life, and the really scary part ofnow, this afternoon, with Ric andwhat could pass for our "Sunday best" anywhere, preparing to enter a bland brick three-story building to find out all about … ue, Iro there, Street, in any o there, even with a bodyguard as professionally accomplished as Ric

"Hush," I said to quiet her nervous chattering

"Huh?" Ric asked "I didn’t say a thing"

I just shook my head, unable to explain my paralysis I was so full of dread I’d let hih streets I knew like the lines on rass had provided the coroup ho from the system to attend Our Lady of the Lake convent school

They were all sprawling one-story ranch-styles set in hborhoods I rele-fa of an outcast and that hadn’t really affected nize the exterior of the one hoo on today in these five-to-six-bedrooave me the willies

Ric’s hand stretched across the wide front seat to take ers are like icicles, a the car door Dolly will be here e get back"

"You’re sure Quicksilver is all right with Tallgrass?"

"They hit it off like old ca in a parked fifty-six Caddy convertible wouldn’t be cool in Kansas, you know that In Vegas, anything goes, but here we’re undercover Think of us as census takers We’re official We want dates and places and details and we are a couple of mean bureaucratic badasses no one ant to ray suit I’d never seen, drab and slightly shiny I had inserted ain and had clipped uely bun-like but covered my neck I worepu for round, frohborhood murder scene

I’d copped an idea fro suit jackets had deep, if discreet pockets Carrying a bothersoirly on the job A narrow reporter’s notebook and pencil, ID and money clip were all I needed on me With loss and a dab of concealer for the camera Nowadays, of course, I also arht Cherry Shih I was here in Kansas to htlued to a fire hydrant coated in shiny aluminum paint on the street in front of the Wichita Child Protective Services building That seenize this Haliburton wo to clear my throat first

Ric shook hten up, Delilah I know a nonentity fro than a ht? You saw h"

I nodded, opened Dolly’s heavy door, and got out, checking the building’s side s Was anyone watching the parking lot below? My gaze panned rows of uncurtained ith flower vases, photo frames, and office knickknacks lined up on the indoor sills

"Mrs Haliburton," Ric said, "was in charge of group horass had to do a lot of white-collar-cri to co ant to find out Relax This is the simplest party we’ve ever crashed Re Only Ric would call our life-threatening expedition to an underground e a party"

The trouble was, I’d -do to save someone else’s skin It’s harder to be as brave on your own behalf, especially when confronting childhood onna find answers; it’s his calling His inner kid has faced night cartoons

Except I’d never been a roup ho vasaw puzzles, and small-screen TV too nerdy to venture near

I was beginning to understand whyholes We walked through the social services building into a bland lobby, elevator, and halls so forgettable I couldn’t describe theh Maybe that’s why I couldn’t reettable Not terrifying

"We have an appointlasses

See what I ettable No wonder we split this burg for Sin City

We were shown into one of the offices without a vase or any trinkets in the

Mrs Haliburton was sixtyish, with perlasses, and she, too, wore navy blue, which suited her pinkish complexion Navy blue made my white skin look bluish, like skireet Ric "Mr Montoya" She gavestare

Already I hated her

Ric was all professional interrogator "Good to meet you, Mrs Haliburton This is my assistant, Miss Place"

"You’re formerly with the FBI?" she asked Ric as we sat on molded blond-wood chairs while she reclaimed the squeaky black desk chair

"Yes," he said "The Phoenix office"

News to uess if I could learn more about Ric, the trip to Wichita would be worth it

"I don’t see," Mrs Haliburton said with a superior little laugh, "what you’re doing here,inquiries We’re up-to-date in Kansas, you know We have our own FBI offices"

"This is a Kansas case file I’roup hoer in our system?"

"No"

"You do understand, Mr Montoya, that our group ho or behavioral difficulties? We ed inside ned and notarized paper fro a folded document from his inside jacket pocket

"Is this related to a civil suit--?"

"Not at all, Mrs Haliburton" Ric’s s "Merely a routine question of infor So far," he added, without the smile

Mrs Haliburton’s poodle-cut head reared back as she frowned at the paper I didn’t sense that she recognized my name

She handed back the document, folded "Well, Mr Montoya, Miss Place You’re in luck Everything was coirl’s residence I can look her up in an instant"

Gulp, Irlance, his eyes a perfectly trustworthy broith the colored contact lens in place

Place I sle

To findway from Avenue to Boulevard to Circle to Drive I’d fir too re that only Place, in honor of the Sundance Kid’s notorious girlfriend, Etta Place, alsolast naht be en route to beco another one