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The laasn’t du a hundred-dollar bill from his wallet and Harman handed over the photo

“I can use the money to buy somethin’ nice for the boy,” he said somberly “You take care now, Mr Baron These roads can be slippery in the rain”

He waited until the door closed after the attorney Then he sank down on the banquette

“Son of a bitch,” he muttered Did the man really think he’d fallen for that lie about a ht him off with a hundred bucks? There was lots more to this story Nobody, especially not a lawyer frolared at the card—frorandpa had left her a wind-up toy

Dawn had come into money, and probably one hell of a lot of it

Harot to his feet, walked to the counter and slid onto a stool “Gis,” he said to the waitress, “over easy Bacon Flapjacks” He leaned toward her “And more coffee, only it better not be this crap from the bottom of the pot, you understand?”

The girl damn near clicked her heels, which was just as it should be The bible said it best A woman was meant to obey Wives, especially And what a wife possessed belonged to her husband Her body Her spawn All her earthly possessions

Harman scowled as the waitress put a cup in front of him

Daas coht and proper he was there to take care of it for her, and to take care of the boy, too, see he was raised up proper It was ti at an end

Outside, in the parking lot, Gray got behind the wheel of the rental car and drove a couple of miles north before he pulled onto the shoulder of the road, took out his cell phone and dialed Jack Ballard

“Jack? Gray Baron here I just e Oh, yeah He’s just what his rap sheet suggests Mean And stupid as the day is long, except when he thinks he smells money Nope He hasn’t a clue as to where Dawn is TrustIf he knew, he’d have—You did?” Gray sht tap with his fist “Las Vegas, huh? Terrific Too bad you didn’t callwith Kitter—Oh Did you? Well, I was in a diner at the ass end of nowhere, which is probably why your call wouldn’t go through In fact, I’ you now Jack? Jack…”

The line went dead Gray put the phone into his pocket, felt so papery and took out the photo of Dawn Lincoln Kitteridge She didn’t look much like a woman ould walk out on aa picture could be He had a photo of his own mother tucked away at the bottoo, when he was ten or eleven, and she hadn’t looked like a wos, either…but she had

Gray checked his h Queen City and headed south, to Flagstaff and the airport Forget staying on for a few days Ballard had found the wos on hold for a week, then fly to Vegas and check out Dawn Kitteridge, though it wouldn’t takebefore he’d knohat to tell Jonas How much doubt could there be as to the morals of a woman who slept around and then deserted her son, and never mind the way she looked in that photo

He knew all about woh Brazos Springs before she’d walked away, left him behind and never once looked back

Gray stepped down hard on the gas Soon, very soon, he’d be able to put this entire incident behind hiet on with his own life