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"Rule Shaker didn’t try to kill you"

Her father looked at her with amazed contempt "What did you say?"

"No," she said, very slowly, as if she were speaking to a dim child "He didn’t ever try to kill you Actually, it was your wife"

Her father bounded to his feet, his face paling, then weaved where he stood She saaves of pain washing over hi that he hated anyone, particularly her, to see any weakness in hi her back "Eve? You’re saying that Eve tried to killto blame Eve? That’s absurd, Molly, absolutely absurd" Then he turned to dial his private telephone "We’ll see about this Where the hell do you get off accusing Eve of anything? You’re just jealous of her, aren’t you, Molly? You can’t stand her because she’s everything you’re not, you’re-"

"She blew Louey up as well"

He slowly straightened and looked at her He slowly laid down the receiver He was shaking his head as he said, "No, it was Rule He wanted you and E Louey into line That silly little bitch daughter of Rule’s wanted the jerk No, Rule blew Louey up by mistake Because his intention was to kill you and Ehter so I took his Now, enough of your veno Eve in here"

"She’s not here She left"- Molly looked down at her watch-"probably about ten oing after her"

She would swear she saw a fine treht hand But his voice was calm with authority as he asked in that barely tolerant cold voice of his, "What is this all about, Molly?"

Slowly, Molly rose from the leather chair She walked to her father’s desk and splayed her palany surface "Listen to hter After herin Europe, then went to school at Harvard She didn’t go back to live with her father and younger sister, which is why you never heard of her Your wife has a ree in business, Dad Her forte is financial analysis She and Rule Shaker planned to take you for as much as they could You just admitted that you’d lost more to him in the past couple of years than you’d wanted to lose It wasn’t just coincidental Eve was feeding him business information"

She realized the instant he believed her She saw his eyes go cold, saw the deep shifting of his eyes as ied, evolved in histo kill Eve It’s over, all of it No one will try to kill you and you won’t try to kill Shaker"

His face was flushed, he was shaking his head "No, it’s impossible I knew Eve Do you think I’m stupid? I had her checked out completely before I married her She’s Swedish, from a little town north of Stockholm called Uppsala I know all about her faineer- he let her keep one of his diplomas It’s in our bedroom Her mother is a schoolteacher She teaches French, for God’s sake She has two younger sisters I know everything about her She’s fluent in English because of an English nanny she had all during her childhood I know she never went to college, that she-"

"Her name is Janice Claire Shaker The last time you saw her, she was all of four years old, just a very little girl You probably have no memory of her at all When Rule Shaker and his wife divorced, Janice ith her mother to Boston and Rule Shaker kept Melissa, as just two years old at the time They split their kids just the way you did with ineer when she was only eighteen, her freshe Her husband was killed on a daot all her Swedish antecedents froineering degree that’s hanging on your wall In any case, so the line, Janice or her father came up with the idea to take you in And they did take you in Fooled you completely

"She admitted to me that she murdered Louey She hated hiled in the boets And then when you killed Melissa, her sister, she tried to murder you Maybe Eve would have tried to ardless of what happened She didn’t volunteer her plans I don’t know and neither will you It doesn’t ht now"

She watched hi his chest Then he was utterly still, even his hands silent at his sides He said, his voice as gentle as a soft spring rain, "If what you say is true, if she did betray me, then how could it possibly be over?"