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They didn’t see Laura enough either The eldest Bailey girl sure did have piss and vinegar running through her veins Even though her apartment in San Francisco was just four hours away, she didn’t visit all that often And when she did, she had a habit of waking up after a few days with eyes like a trapped animal, ready to cut and run back to life in the city

But cutting and running was soh had been his motto when he arrived in Sierra Falls a few decades back He’d been a lethal co the country on his bike, trying to make sense of what’d happened between the years 1968 and 1972 Or ht from West Point to Vietna back" part of hell and back, it was a whole other world he found waiting for him

A couple of wives A couple of motorcycles A couple dozen jobs and a couple thousandabout the place had made it hard to leave

He sla in the car, peering at that radio like he ht be able to alter the destiny of the San Francisco Forty-Niners The Baileys had corumpy old son of a bitch

As Sully made his way back into the tavern, he breathed in deeply The mountains had air so pure he felt cleaned down to his soul He always thought he’d leave Sierra Falls, but he kept putting it off until one day he realized he had a job A place to live A place

After the war, he’d cut hiht up in life again, and it felt good He didn’t knohen it’d happened, but he’d woken up oneto realize he had friends Faood would coirl needed so for herself

And then there was Bear Junior--he owed the kid an e-mail BJ had heard about Daood intentions What would the boy think if he found out the sheriff had also been sniffing around his sister?

There was another person who’d been co at the door, Sully shook his head in appreciation Sassy eyes, shapely legs, and aa et friendly with

Seven

Billy closed his cell phone and sat in the SUV, parked along the thin, gravelly strip that was the tavern lot He and Scott Jessup were supposed to er just canceled last htful and boisterous, a good o, both called in on the sa one for a beer

He’d been one of the feith nerve enough to ask about Billy’s late wife--for soether, as if it ht’ve slipped his mind otherwise But Scott received the story with a heartfelt word and an unwavering eye, and the sheriff had held hiht beers had becoht Scott couldn’t e, devouring everything in their chest freezer

He peered over at the e but couldn’t see the roof fro it out of hisit back in his head again For an instant, she had looked so desolate Had her boyfriend helped her? Had she been able to seal off the attic? It’d been just yesterday when the branch fell through, but if nobody had helped her yet, the whole house would be freezing by now

Hoas she? There was sootten, or overlooked Like people noticed her, but didn’t really see

He sla wheel What was his da hiirl

He’d had his girl He’d one

Billy put his key back in the ignition Buckled his seat belt With Scott canceling, there was no need to go inside He’d drive hoood workout He had a bench and free weights in the garage, and a killer session was always good for keeping the ghosts at bay Maybe he’d top it off with a beer in front of the tube Nursing a cold one in front of late-night television until he was too tired to think was soet to sleep

He hoped the Bailey fa hole in their roof

"Daain Got out and slammed the door shut

It was just a friendly visit, to satisfy his curiosity Toa sheriff would do, and he liked being sheriff He liked feeling part of this co leaving Oakland for Sierra Falls, shoveling cars out of snowbanks instead of working crime scenes There was peace to be found in sht to ood people, like Marlene or the Baileys