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But there was no such thing as slipping fro They held a startling strength, so much so that he seemed oblivious to the fact that she hadwould end Of course, she could be really rude and just stop dancing Then he’d be forced to let her go

"I was given the impression you disliked the contessa," she said "But I suppose her opinion matters to you as much as it does to others"

"Not in the least"

"Then"

"You should sier"

"Why? Is the contessa some kind of a master criminal?"

"In my opinion? Yes"

"I’m sure I’m perfectly safe As you noted, the police do seem to be where I am"

"I’m not at all sure you want to rely on the police"

"Are you saying that the police are cri"

"Then just what are you saying?"

"That you’re in danger; go hoile"

She did stop dancing She fir "I’ht, but I assure you, I a that you are suffering froed ood man, killed by flesh-and-blood criard If he’d been a little less concerned for the value of any life, he wouldn’t be dead now He was a cop, not a seer, or a mystic He was murdered

Therefore, I do know that very bad people do exist, that hus can be monsters I think that they are far too lax here, that there should be a far greater investigation into the contessa’s entertainile!"

"Your insistence that soer," he told her

"So if soet it?"

"You should just go home, on the first possible plane You should let those who knohat they’re doing deal with matters here"

"So there are hed deeply with aggravation, a sound that was al that should concern you"

"Excuseyou can do?" she queried

"Trust me, Miss Riley, it would be best if you went home You have lost sorief"

"Perhaps you are susceptible to fears and nightmares"

"I ah Steven’s eyes

"Just go hoer?"

"For whom?"

"Go home!"

She didn’t need to pull away from him The music had stopped He dropped her hands and walked aithout another word Stunned?and furious with herself for staying with hi as she had?she hurried back to the table where she and her party had been sitting

She waited there for a minute as thein several languages She searched the dance floor fron of Jared or Cindy She sat for a moment Jared and Cindy would never just leave her She druers on the table The sound of the last slow dance faded away

Conversation and soft laughter could still be heard in the tent, but the band had stopped playing and even the die-hards were tiredlyfor the exit Jordan realized that Jared and Cindy roup from the Arte della Anna Maria shop, when they had seen that her mask had been picked up fro around for Tiff or Roberto, but the table where they had been sitting was empty as well

Oh, well, she had walked here She could walk back

She joined the exciting crowd Knowing the general direction frolad to see that ht in arized profusely, nearly stu at the scent of whiskey on his breath

"Wanna join us for a nightcap?" he slurred to her

"Thanks, but no thanks?earlybeneath an archway between two fifteenth-century buildings, she quickened her pace until she could no longer hear the knight clanking along

She cae to another island, the other leading back inland She paused, trying to remember how they had come, what landmarks she had seen