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"You&039;re just jealous"
Murphy snorted "Please I need et an arm beneath me to help me up "You&039;d break like a dry stick, Dresden You&039;d better get to bed before you get any ainst her shoulder to push her back I didn&039;t have that kind of strength, but she backed off, frowning "What?"
"SoI said I would do on Saturday I struggled to push thoughts of drug wars and people driven , and tried to concentrate
It didn&039;t take long to click Monica I had told her I would get in contact with her I patted at my duster pockets until I found my notepad, and took it out Fumbled it open, and waved at Murphy
"Candle Need to read so"
"Christ, Dresden I swear you&039;re at least as bad as h to kill hiht hurt my eyes for a moment I made out Monica&039;s number and I dialed her up
"Hello?" a male child&039;s voice asked
"Hi," I said "I need to speak to Monica, please"
"Who&039;s this?"
I re for her on the sly and answered, "Her fourth cousin, Harry, from Vermont"
" &039;Kay," the kid said "Hold on" Then he screa the mouthpiece of the phone from his lips, "MOM! YOUR COUSIN HARRY FROM VERMONT IS ON THE PHONE LONG-DISTANCE!"
Kids You gotta love them I adore children A little salt, a squeeze of le in ony as the kid dropped the phone and ran off, feet thu on a hardwood floor
Apicked up, and Monica&039;s quiet, somewhat nervous voice said, "Um Hello?"
"It&039;s Harry Dresden," I told her "I just wanted to call to let you knohat I&039;d been able to find out for y - "
"I&039;m sorry," she interrupted me "I don&039;t, umneed any of those"
I blinked "Uh, Monica Sells?" I read her the phone number
"Yes, yes," she said, her voice hurried, impatient "We don&039;t need any help, thank you"
"Is this a bad time?"
"No No, it&039;s not that I just wanted to cancel my order Discontinue the service Don&039;t worry about h she were forcing a housewife&039;s good cheer into it
"Cancel? You don&039;t wantfor your husband anyan to buzz and static round, somewhere, and then the sound went dead except for the static For a ht I&039;d lost the connection entirely Blasted unreliable phones Usually, theyend You can&039;t even trust them to foul up dependably
"Hello? Hello?" I said, cross and grumpy
Monica&039;s voice returned "Don&039;t worry about that Thank you so much for all of your help Good day, bye-bye, thank you" Then she hung up on me
I took the phone away from my ear and stared at it "Bizarre," I said
"Come on, Harry," Murphy said She took the phone from my hand and planted it firmly in its cradle
"A, mom It&039;s not even dark yet" Ibesides how terriblyto hurt when Murphy helped me up She did It did We hobbled into the bedroom and when I stretched out on the cool sheets I was reasonably certain I was going to set down roots
Murphy took ers, careful around the goose egg on the back of ht into ot me a drink of water, which I did like, and had
I only re One was Murphy strippingdown to kiss my forehead and ruffle my hair Then she covered hts Mister crawled up and lay down across
The second thing I reain Murphy was just about to leave, her car keys rattling in her hand I heard her turn back to pick up the phone, and say, "Harry Dresden&039;s residence"
There was a silence
"Hello?" Murphy said
After another pause Murphy appeared in the doorway, a s number Get some rest, Harry"
"Thanks, Karrin" I shastly She smiled back, and I&039;m sure hers was nicer than ot dark and quiet Mister continued to ru at otten? And another, less sensible question - who had been on the line who hadn&039;t wanted to speak to Murphy? Had Monica Sells tried to call me back? Why would she call me off the case and tell me to keep the money?
I pondered that, and baseball bats and otherput me to sleep