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He was very specificcities, days, customersand that I had to be finished by the thirty-first.'' |
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"Beats the hell out of me. All I know is that it was all very hush-hush and that he was very excited,almost manic. And then he dropped out of sight. I called his penthouse in London. I called his ski lodge. I called a few of his friends. Nada! I got this real bad feeling, so I asked around and Julie told me about you." |
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"What did she say, 'I know this sap who will fall for anything anyone tells him'?" |
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Kyna grabbed his hand. "Come on. I was scared. You remember that story on the news that first night in Denver? The one about the man and his family that were murdered in Miami?" |
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Cyrus remembered; he nodded. |
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"That man was one of Bryan's biggest customers. One of the ones I was afraid to meet face-to-face. He moved stones in south Florida and throughout most of the Caribbean. When I saw what happened to him, I thought maybe the Mafia was moving in. It would be just like that prick Bryan to hang me out and not warn me. I didn't know . . . I didn't expect . . ." |
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"Expect what?" he asked, truly puzzled. |
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"She's trying to say she's in love with you, dummy," Paula said. |
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Cyrus looked over Kyna's shoulder and saw Paula leaning against the door frame. |
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"You knew about this?" Cyrus asked the woman. "Kazie knew about this?" |
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Paula shrugged. "Kazie knows Abner is a slug. But what was he supposed to do? The man's his son and Kazie was old and sick. The cancer treatments were costing a fortune and Abner was paying for them with the money he made on the diamonds." |
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Paula motioned for Cyrus to follow her into the front of the store. |
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