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She turned, s Matt back to life"

"I know," she said, looking back toward Hastings House

The house was beautiful Two stories high, and all the outer over-the-centuries additions had been ripped away and its facade had been restored to the Colonial-era style in which it had been originally built Even don, there were few buildings to compare with it, other than St Paul’s Cathedral and Fraunces Tavern It had been given a white-picket fence--higher than it would have been when the house was built, and even as the sun set, the alarate advertised the house’s historical i times and admission prices

It looked just as it had the last tie from the blast and fire had been repaired

And since it was Sunday, after five, there were no lingering tourists The horn blasts and other street sounds seemed to co

As if it were expecting so

Then the front door burst open, and Greta Peterson caate "Co"

We?

Who the heck else was here? Leslie had hoped for a quiet night No one would have understood, so she hadn’t said anything, but she really wanted the house to herself

Before she knew it, Greta, with all her wared her, rested an ar to Professor Lay, "Oh, Leslie, I’m so happy to see you You look wonderful, dear A bit too thin, but wonderful I know that thin is in…but don’t go losing your shape, young lady"

That froht dryly

But Greta’s war Then, as they neared the house, Leslie’s heart sank

Greta had apparently planned a welcoeant Robert Adair--okay, she liked Robert and was delighted to see him--peeked out the doorway as they approached Behind him, Hank Smith, from the development company, stepped into view, and then Ken Dryer, the attractive and articulate police spokes affectionately

"Robert," she said with a s as the otherher a handshake

Ken Dryer gave her a very proper hug beforeon to shake Brad’s hand and ask about the weather in DC Then he started down the path to welco suitcase froeous as ever," Robert Adair whispered softly "You okay?" he asked, taking her hands and looking at her with concern in his eyes

"Fine," she assured him

He kissed her cheek quickly Robert was around fifty, she thought, a twenty-year veteran of the force He worked out of One Police Plaza and wasn’t assigned to a particular precinct He was called a liaison officer and became involved with crimes that crossed precinct boundaries to affectprostitutes--or that started garnering more than a mention in the newspapers

Greta bustled past hihted to see you, my dear If you’d refused to come, everyone would have understood," she said There was real concern in her soft gray eyes, the kind that et past all that And really, it had been sweet of Greta to find a special way to welcome her, Brad and Professor Layman on their arrival Greta had been blessed to be born with not just the proverbial silver spoon in her mouth, but with a whole array of cutlery Her ancestors had been fur traders on a par with the Astors She was a born-and-bred New Yorker who truly loved her city and its history, and because of that ardent love, she was acknowledged as a major--if not the y

"I love this city, and I’ed to be invited to work this new find," Leslie told her cheerfully

"We all are," Brad said quickly, then flushed "Well, the professor is history, but Leslie and I are both very pleased to be respected enough to be asked back"

"Well, you’re both not just talented," Ken Dryer said, "you love the city You know the city"