Edna Buchanan You Only Die Twice (pdf)

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and lost her life. Why do you think she did it?
Because she loved me still. He spoke the words
like a prayer, the arrogance in his voice overtaken by
something tender and vulnerable. She always loved
me.
Will you let him take her home?
I ll never let her go again.
Heart-heavy, I reached for the phone to call Broussard
with the bad news, but it rang first.
Britt, thank God you re there!
Angel?
It s time. She sounded breathless. I have to go to
the hospital. The baby s coming and I can t find
Rooney. His beeper isn t working.
He walked by here just a couple of minutes ago, I
said, looking wildly around. He s here somewhere.
Would you please find him, Britt? I know he wants
to be there, to do this together. We went through all
those Lamaze classes.
By this time, I thought, Angel was qualified to teach
them.
Don t worry. I ll go find him right now. Hang in
there.
I stepped into the long, dimly lit corridor. No sign of
him.
Rooney! Are you there? Nothing but my own
voice bouncing off the walls. I hurried back to my
desk, fumbled for the Acme Thunderer police whistle
on the key ring in my purse, then ran to the fifth-floor
lobby.
270 EDNA BUCHANAN
Rooney Thomas! I shouted. I took a deep breath,
then blasted my brains out on the whistle. I listened but
heard only the ringing in my ears.
For Pete s sake! I was furious. Normally, the man
is lurking around every corner.
Rooney! I shouted down the stairwell, then
blasted the whistle so hard that spots appeared before
my eyes.
Blinking them away, I dashed down two flights and
sprinted down the hall to the cafeteria. It was empty,
lights turned low.
Rooney! I took another deep breath. As I placed
the whistle to my lips, a figure loomed at the coffee ma�
chine in the back. Rooney!
He glanced up, startled. Britt? He squinted across
the room. Something wrong?
Your beeper isn t working! I dashed toward him,
babbling. Angel s trying to reach you. She has to go to
the hospital! You re about to become a father!
His reaction made me smile in spite of myself.
Oh, my God! It s time! I don t know if I m ready
for this!
Too late now, it s happening!
The baby! He directed a wild near-miss kiss to my
cheek, fumbled for his keys, and dashed for the door.
Thanks, Britt!
Be careful, I shouted after him, heart pounding,
still out of breath.
I punched the elevator button but gave up and took
the stairs, grinning. Rooney and Angel were lucky I
happened to work late, I thought, as I trotted up to the
YOU ONLY DIE TWICE 271
fifth floor. And if Rooney is forced to deliver that baby
himself because he didn t check his beeper, it s his
own fault. About time those two grew up, I thought
righteously.
I caught my breath back at my desk, then called
Broussard, who answered immediately. Nobody was
sleeping tonight, it seemed.
It s no mistake, I said miserably. In fact, a third
party s involved now. A representative of Kaith Shan�
non s dead mother.
I heard. He sounded calmer. I spoke to an attor�
ney here, who was good enough to call me back at this
hour. He s going to file something first thing in the
morning. He sounds resourceful. His name is Pollack,
specializes in probate law.
I don t know him, I said. Does he think you can
win?
He said the only way is to present an overwhelming
body of evidence showing that Jordan has no legitimate
interest. He said we have three things working for us.
Jordan has already refused to claim the body. Second,
revenge is his only motivation, and, third, we can ques�
tion his claim of being still legally married to a woman
declared dead ten years ago.
Clever. I thought. Leave it to the lawyers. Win or
lose, those arguments would certainly prolong the
process and excite the press.
What do you think? Broussard asked hopefully.
He said not to worry. Sounded sure of himself.
It might get expensive, I warned.
Money doesn t matter, he said. How can I leave
272 EDNA BUCHANAN
her? She was running for her life when we met, running
from him. I have to take her home.
What a story, I thought, regretting that it broke too
late for the morning paper. As I cleared my desk, the el�
evator clanked and the door slowly moaned open. I
glanced up, expecting the overnight cleaning crew.
Angel! What are you doing here! She hobbled off
the elevator, holding her lower back as if in pain. Why
didn t Rooney take you to the hospital?
She stopped to lean heavily on Ryan s desk. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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