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Chapter Eleven

It was late afternoon by the ti the journal, with Cici, the ever-friendly feline, purring and brushing back and forth against his leg With her stockinged feet tucked under her, Julie was glued to his side, trying not toJulie this close and this involved in what he was doing

"Wait," she said as he started to turn the page "I’m not done yet"

He arched a brow at her slow perusal of the eous blue eyes "Youso fast"

"This isn’t a contract," he rehts Soainst the couch cushions as she considered his words "I know It is kind of creepy reading a dead woman’s journal, isn’t it?"

"Very" Luke set the journal on the coffee table in front of him "I don’t like this entire situation Most importantly, I don’t like you involved"

"I don’t like e that"

He studied her a long uilt she felt over Elizabeth and didn’t deserve "You’re involved because the judge and Elizabeth both pulled you into this Not because of some sort of responsibility"

"Yes," she insisted "There is responsibility for me in this" He started to object and she held up a hand "Please hearto protect me, Luke I appreciate it, probably a whole lotin life, and I try to do right Doing so to do"

Luke leaned back next to her and turned to face her, falling harder every tilimpse of who she was as a person "I understand"

"You do?"

"Yes," he said, stroking her cheek "We have to look into this, and we have to decide if, and when, to go to the police And yes, it’s the right thing to do"

"What if someone on the police force is involved in this?"

"We don’t even knohat ‘this’ is or isn’t, at this point Let’s not assume anyone is corrupt"

"Come on, Luke," she pressed "You read what I did in that journal That man Elizabeth wrote about, as his naers, "Paul Arel That’s it And then soonfly’ Clearly, that’s a code naonfly person were doing deals behind Arel’s back And then there’s the stolen artwork The journal says it’s hidden behind a wall in the study"

"We don’t know if it’s true or who the real players are," he countered "Give ate And for all we know Paul Arel is a code naonfly? Maybe the judge didn’t want her to tell hionfly could be a man or woman," he reminded her "It could even be Elizabeth’s sister, and she could be setting us up"