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She was about to close the paper when an article at the bottoht her eye It wasn’t so much the article that had captured Violet’s interest, however; it was a nairl

Violet scanned the all-too-brief article, her heart speeding up as she noted that there was noCasey Atkins Maybe the story had gone to print before they’d made the connection Maybe they didn’t want to let the public in on the details

Maybe it was better if the killer didn’t realize they were on to hi else about the article that rainy and small, the black-and-white matrix dot style of newsprint pictures, and she lifted it, holding it closer to the light to get a better view She bit her lip as she stared at it, trying to decide what it was about the i her brain reel

Just as she was about to give up, wilting back into her chair in defeat, it ca herfor her phone before she could solidify her thoughts

Rafe answered on the first ring, but she cut hile as out of histomorrow?" The words rushed frouess so What’s this all about? I tried to call you all day Is everything all right?"

At the sound of his voice, Violet gritted her teeth In her enthusias different with her She’d forgotten to worry about what that ht mean And she tried to decide if any of that was even i a killer, wasn’t it? "IuhI’about Casey Atkins"

"What? How?"

"I went down to Seattle after school today, to a café called The Mecca I found the naht ere in Antonia Cornett’s house" She s back now "Well, actually, you found it It was in the paperback you were holding when the cop ca"

"V" The warning in his voice was loud and clear, but Violet ignored hione with you"

Using her finger, she dragged the plate closer again and picked off a congealedbetter to do, and for all I knew the receipt was a dead end"

"But it wasn’t?"

She leaned forward onceI don’t really know yet Meetup the phone and stared at it for several long ood idea to spend any more time with Rafe than necessary She was about to call hied her mind, when there was a soft knock on the back door