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"Send the little girl and her mother home The Denver cops will take care of them

"It’s over now You can leave the rest of it to us We’ll let you knoe find out anything that would fill a cereal box"

24

AT SIX-THIRTY IN the evening a taxi pulled up to Molly’s house on Shrayder Drive It was a small, lovely house hiteframes andboxes painted a soft blue Flowers bloomed wildly over the fence, in bordered flower beds, and in half a dozen flower boxes attached to the porch railing

The house faced the park where E pictures All the front yards were filled with trees and bushes, but no other house had such beautiful flowers

Eainst her chest, looking straight ahead She was so very still, as if the quieter she beca bad would happen to her He could tell her again that she need not be frightened, but that wasn’t true, not really, and both of them knew it The , but to E to take her again It broke his heart

He looked out over the park, with its small dips and rises, its clusters of flowers and bushes, and banks of elm and pine trees He wondered where the h to take her

He saw that Molly was gazing toward a knot of trees at the west corner of the park So that here it happened Her face was tense, drawn, and thin Even her glorious red hair seereen clip that matched the color of her silk blouse He’d bet that if she’d had a piano like E it too

"E to frighten her, just gain her attention slowly and gently "Res and then we’re going with Ra with us to Ireland?" Eainst her mother’s side, not an inch between theone on between Dr Loo and E that Emma had seen her for the final time She must reo back and he really, really wants us to go with hied, Emma I’, Ra with the best of the down on his haunches in front of her "I decided I didn’t want to let you out ofyou wouldwith you at your house until toood idea" She ate toward the front door, her piano hugged against her She said over her shoulder, "Dr Loo showed reen you had to brush your teeth at least twice a day or they’d turn green too"

"Eave him a wicked little smile over her shoulder

He said quietly, "The park, over there?"

"Yes I used to love this house We lived with Louey in one of those estate areas in the western part of Denver After the divorce, I sold the house and found this one The thing is, I don’t love it anymore I can tell that Eive it ti to have said "Actually, we only have to give it the next few h for you and Eht if you don’t want to"

"No, on’t," she said

"Also, there’s no reason you can’t sell the place, Molly There’s no reason at all why you couldn’t, say, move to San Francisco"

The words came out of his mouth, and his eyes fastened on a rosebush just beyond Molly’s left shoulder "I didn’t mean what you could maybe think I meant"

"No, certainly not," Molly said, all cool and calether "Men rarely do"

"What’s that supposed today It was a lot of years with Louey We’re co, Emma"

Emma stood patiently in front of the door while Molly pulled out her key She slipped it into the lock and turned it easily "Things look so beautiful because I’ve had a person cohbors waters the indoor flowers and plants Still, it’s bound to be a bit on the musty side and-"