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.I ll be damnedif I ll let a piece of shit like Larry scare me off until I findout what happened to Brad.I hope you don t mind my refer-ring to your ex so rudely. Mary Jo grinned. You couldn t call him anything worsethan I ve called him.I had an idea last night, about Brad.Now that you re out of the closet, maybe I could tell thepeople at school who you are and why you re here.He knewsome of my friends; I don t have many, I don t have time tosocialize, but I introduced him to a few of them.I could sayhe s turned up missing and that you ve come to see if youcan trace him.The only objection is that the word will getaround and it could turn you into a sitting duck if well, ifwe re wrong about Larry and Brad. Tell anyone you like.It s an excellent idea. You sure? I had already decided to spread the word.It was stupid ofme to think I could learn anything without announcing myidentity. Diana glanced at the door. I d better go out andsee what those two are doing.Andy will stand around argu-ing all morning if Walt lets him. Walt won t.His temper is already on the ragged edge. He seems to be controlling it well. Yeah, well, that s when he s most likely to explode.Andygets on his nerves something terrible. However, when Diana reached the scene she was relievedto learn that an amicable agreement had been reached.Sev-eral of the men were putting together a prefabricated storageshed.It would be large enough to hold the tools and theboxes and crates containing Emily s collection of gardenimplements.Andy s vintage cars, as he insisted on callingthem, were to be moved into the field, but Walt had prom-ised to cover them with tarps.Diana addressed the unhappy collector, who stood watch-ing gloomily as the boxes were carried out. You d better getready to go, or Mary Jo will leave without you. Yeah, I guess. Hands in his pockets, Andy turned away. Vanish with the Rose 233 Make sure Walt covers those cars, will you? I don t trusthim. Aren t you coming back? Not till tonight.I m going to spend the day at the His-torical Society, then pick Mary Jo up and bring her home. Okay. Diana tried to escape, but she was too slow.Andy shand shot out and caught her arm. I wish you d stop that, she complained. I m getting bruises on top of bruises. My strength is as the strength of ten, because my heartis pure. Andy gave her a sunny smile, his ill humor forgot-ten. If anything interesting occurs today, please make copi-ous notes. She knew what he meant. Nothing is going to occur. The phenomena seem to occur most frequently after dark, Andy said. I rather hoped we d have another concert lastnight. I didn t. You said it happened once when Mary Jo was here.Maybe Walt s the inhibitor.The presence of a skeptic For God s sake, Andy, you sound like Madame What s-it,the spiritualist medium. She regretted the words as soon asshe had uttered them.A thoughtful expression spread acrossAndy s face. No, Diana said. No what? No sance.No way.Not under any circumstances what-ever. Hmm, said Andy. I mean it, Andy! I better go.You stick close to the house today. I have to.The men are coming to install the new fire-place.You did plug up that hole, I hope. Oh, sure. He wandered off, hands in his pockets, headcocked at a thoughtful angle. Damn, Diana said. Damn what? Walt came tramping toward her. If you rereferring to Andy, I ll second it.You stick close to the housetoday Damn you too, Diana said. 234 Barbara MichaelsA bulldozer came rumbling toward her.She retreated,swearing randomly.Andy had not, of course, finished plugging the hole.Shefound him in the library prying the lid off a can of pre-mixedSpackle while Mary Jo yelled at him. I couldn t finish it last night, he yelled back. You knowyou have to do this a layer at a time and let one dry beforeyou put the next I ll go without you. Mary Jo spun on her heel and startedfor the door.The idea of having Andy around all day was too horribleto contemplate. I ll do it, Diana said. Give me thattrowel. There s plenty of time, Andy argued. It s only eight o clock,for God s sake. The library opens at eight-thirty. She means it, Diana said, wrestling the trowel fromAndy
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