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Flailing baby hands et bites of cereal into her ood portion of her oatmeal, and she was covered in it Chuch se of his paper

"You should have like five," he said

I nodded "At least I’ we’ll just hose off in the backyard"

"Watch the crime scene tape"

A cold chill washed over otten everything Kel,Chance, trapped between his desire and his destiny The deel antedpower in a child’s laughter--that it could carry o back to that mental quietus, but it was impossible The real world had intruded

But I’d promised Eva I would watch the baby for a while, so I bathed her By the time I finished, I needed another shower, but there was no ti than I would’ve i and rubbing her eyes

"That means she’s done," Chuch said helpfully "Lay her down She o to sleep"

He was right After fiveme to clean up for the second ti, belted charcoal cardigan The plain colors fit my mood I leftwith it, and I was putting onWhich I took to ht?"

"Better than yours from the looks of it"

First Jesse, now Booke? What the hell rong with these two? "It’s rude to insinuate that a woman looks less than her best"

He flashed reatly if I were trying to sleep with you"

I eyed hiood mood dimmed a little; I could see the self-consciousness kick in, as if he was trying to guess whether he’d insulted me Sometimes British people were incredibly cute "It’s not personal," he hastened to assure me "I do like you Just--"

"You don’t have to rinned at hio for the tall, leggy type Dolores has farme on then"

"A little, maybe Don’t tell ood"

"Done Are you off so to find Kel"

"Is he lost?" Alarlow

"I’m afraid he’s trapped"

Booke appeared to make a quick decision "Give me a moment and I’ll come with you"

"You don’t have to" I was touched, but part of uilty that he wasn’t already on the road, seeing the beauties he had ation made me feel queasy

"I want to," he promised

I studied his face, and eventually I believed his sincerity Since it led the Pinto keys in my pal with damp hair and fresh clothes five minutes later On the way to the car, I teased hi the walk of sha about, it killed soist

"Yes," he said drily "It’s very huht I don’t kno I’ll bear it"

"Sot into the Pinto and stuck the key in the ignition Like most of Chuch’s cars, this one ran well Not perfectly, but the engine sounded sh the exterior looked like crap The Pinto had patchy paint, bits of prih, two doors didn’t match the sides, and the hood was a different color entirely,to that seedy cantina I’ve heard sothe car in drive to pull around the garage and onto the street Without GPS, we’d have to rely on my memory, so this should be fun However, as I’d been there et lost Maybe

"Oh, that’s splendid I can’t express how delighted I a about theet more excitement than you really want"

Booke leveled a sober gaze onKel

A quick call to Rairlfriend, Caridad Since I would be arriving today with cash in hand, I didn’t i business hours Booke, Butch, and I drove dohich was a little run-down, populated with Popeyes and cheap clothing stores, along with a shop that sold various designer knockoffs I got lucky with a parking space, and we only had to walk a block down to the se neon rilowed red at the center The frosted letters read FORTUNES BY CARIDAD; and the sign with the hours on it had been flipped to OPEN, so I pushed through the door, jangling a bell tied to the top Booke came up behind me to stand at my shoulder while I took stock of the room; it was decorated like an old-fashioned parlor with velvet and damask furniture in hues of wine and saffron In the ed cloth Handwoven tapestries covered the walls, presuet they were fivesold by the bucket

"The only thingis the crystal ball," Booke said

I nodded as Caridad came out of the back