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Co in the road as people walked past and around hi at her He wore a Confederate jacket, old-fashioned cotton trousers and a plu hair beneath the hat, and she thought he ht be an actor who’d come in to ith the theater ensemble

But even as she returned his stare, she saw so hih him

He wasn’t real Or he was real, just not really there

She hurried toward hi that he was curious about her--or curious about the fact that she’d seen hione, as if he’d been absorbed into the crowd

Then she saw him enter Desert Diarabbed a cold drink at the little pizza parlor in the front corner of the establishment but she hadn’t taken ti Sloan’s horse back to his stable and get to the sheriff’s office

Now she looked around The coffee shop was to the right, the pizza parlor to the left The ice cream parlor was in back, and in between, she saw every kind of souvenir that could be iined in an old frontier town Kids’ bow-and-arrow sets, badges, tour books, maps, stuffed toy horses, cows, bulls, buffalo, armadillos, snakes and more--filled theup and down the aisles, trying to figure out where her ghost had gone, but she didn’t see his, cactus juice, hot sauce and kitchen utensils crowded one aisle T-shirts, towels and spaghetti-strap dresses another She’d gone down three rohen she was startled to run straight into Sloan

He instinctively set his hands on her shoulders to steady her

"Looking for a killer in the T-shirt section?" she asked, surprised that she felt a little aard

He raised his eyebrows "You’re shopping for shot glasses that say ‘Lily, Arizona’?"

No, I followed a ghost, she thought

Jane shook her head "It’s a curio shop I was curious And excuseSorry, two corpses So, yes--I’ the possibilities," he told her

"Oh?"

He studied her face, then shrugged "Look, it’s late I haven’t eaten in a while--"

"Neither have I," she said flatly

He had the grace to s his drawl, "I just gotta get outta town for a while I’ to my place Come on out if you wish and I’ll fill you in"

"Sure I reet there It’s pretty easy around here with only one road"

"I’ll drive," he insisted

"That’s ridiculous! You’d have to come back here to drop me off"

"There has been a ent," she reminded hihed "Fine Stay up all night driving ain She saw that he had two books in his hands and he stopped by the clerk to pay for the the clerk--who, of course, knew about the desert corpses--that they were on it, and he didn’t believe anyone else was in danger, but that, of course, they should all be careful and stay in groups to be safe

"Seriously," he said when they were in his patrol car, "ere you prowling around the shop at this tiht?"

"I just finished work for the day"

He paused, frowning "You went in to work on the skull after getting Heidi hoa back to the stables andand after this htly

"Oh, yeah I guess I forgot," heahead at the road, he s for tourist books in your on?" she asked him

"Our victiuy ns Desert Diaht the sa on Lily’s history All he talked to anyone about was the old legends Apparently, a few locals, including Caleb Hough, have been in buying the sa to learn whether Jay Ber the history or the old legends ends--and a lot of pretty violent history," Jane said "So far, I’ve heard about Sage McCormick Who disappeared" She turned to face him "And I’ests it belonged to Sage McCormick"

His jaw tensed

"Yes," he said after a moment

"I don’t understand Why does that bother you so uess it shouldn’t"

"But it does"