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I shivered, horrified, ravioli scent filling the kitchen, replacing the , no emotional reaction to the s at the tiht, or nohen she shared theEvan has a ht at her Eli has a rowled at me and sent me a memory picture of Rick LaFleur, stretched on my sheets Jane had ht she prowled into the back of my mind and lay down, her head on her paws

"Yeah," I whispered to her and torocery bag of food, one of garbage, and a cooler on the kitchen table "We ate on the road," he said

"Yeah I see that," I ed, and poured milk and Fruit Loops into a bowl for Little Evan

• • •

An hour later, the door was closed on new hinges that Eli had bought, just in case, and the back ere boarded over with plywood he had bought for the saer was Mr Prepared Or Mr Paranoid, though I’d never say so aloud

Evan, when he wasn’t helping Eli, hador insist And since Evan had agreed so readily when I suggested that they stay here, I had spent that hour getting uests settled, the children in the bedroom directly over my own, in the twin beds they had stayed in on their one visit, and Big Evan in the rooainst the wall, to make room for the workout equipment that had made its way into the house in the last few months, but he didn’t seem to mind I wasn’t exactly Betsy Hoot towels from the stash in the upstairs linen closet There were two bathroo asked, now sharing one with his brother

It had been a seamless transition from a family of three to a family of six, and when I let myself think of it, that eirder than weird The house felt odd and full and not quite right, as if it was shifting to accommodate the bodies, probably more people than it had housed since it had been used as a brothel back in the late eighteen hundreds and early nineteen hundreds

But while all the situational stuff was good, by the end of that first hour we had lost Molly’s trail The car she rented had been turned in to the rental company in Knoxville, only a few hours’ drive from Asheville, and Molly’s trail had stopped cold The Kid had not found a single credit card purchase since, andMolly by train, plane, or bus had proven incorrect My former best friend had truly disappeared

I stood over his shoulder, as Alex worked on four electronic tablets si the stink of his worry and stress, seeing it in the tightness of his shoulders, hearing it in the pounding of his fingers on the tablets I took a calhts? Ideas?"

The Kid looked around the roo us alone, he said, "I have an untraceable account in India"

I drew a slow breath Alex was on parole for hacking into the Pentagon to get a look at his brother’s er brother on a short leash in coalities Well, except for a short stint in Natchez, and that had been life and death And very, very big bucks, a hypocrisy that hadn’t been lost on any of us

But Molly waslot? What if she had ue-vamp who smelled her witch blood and came after her? Okay, that wasn’t likely, butMolly wasthe Kid stuck in a parole violation and tossed in jail? I thought about Molly, hurt soully Or abused by some kid who had stopped for the lone female on the side of the road and decided to hurt her Yes It orth it "What are we talking about?" I hedged

"Security cameras in front of the car rental center for starters, to see what happened to Molly iers?"

"Mini brother and hiding fro Brother"

"Do it," I said "I’ll talk to your brother"

"Better you than me," he said, and opened a black screen hite code on it He bent his head over this tablet, his fingerswith nearly balletic precision

I walked to the back of the house, to the small washroom/mudroom I had never used until I had house his tools onto the shelves he had built The house was darker with the s covered, -cat and I could live with the denlike feeling for a while Until the slanced up, took in e, orled his body tohis nearly shaved head, his brown eyes narrowed We stood within inches of each other, nearly the saressive "How dangerous?" he growled

"Mini the rental car’s security cameras to see where she hen she turned in her car"

He thought about that for a while, while I sweated and waited "Wethe way"

"Thank you," I said And dang if my eyes didn’t fill with tears I turned away fast, but Eli caught my shoulder and pulled me back, an action I’d never have allowed anyone else to ripping hard

"I just" Words failed ht

"She’s family," he said "I knohat it means when family is in trouble I cried a few tears when Alex was arrested and they wouldn’t let ht hours"

I blinked away lare