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  “Yes,” Rob said, “I’m willing to give it a try, Grandmother. What do you think, Savich?”

  “Sounds like it might be perfect for you. Try it part-time for a year, Rob, then you’ll know.”

  Rob arched a dark brow at his grandmother. “And what does Alexander have to say about it?”

  “He rolled his eyes but didn’t offer an opinion. I hope after all the drama of the past week he’ll reevaluate what’s important to him.” She grinned. “If not, he’ll learn.”

  Rob rose, sat down next to his grandmother and hugged her. “Thank you, Grandmother. You’ve got a deal.”

  “Excellent. By the way, Dillon, I took your advice and hired MacPherson back. He started today, drove Guthrie and me to church. I only wish he’d come to me when he learned how expensive his son’s leukemia treatments would be. He said he didn’t want to be a leech and he apologized for selling that story to the National Enquirer. His son’s prognosis is excellent, so all’s right in his world again.”

  That meant, Sherlock knew, that Venus would make certain MacPherson’s son got the best of care. She looked automatically at Sean and closed her eyes a moment. Life was so uncertain at the best of times, and a child was so fragile. “Good,” she said, “that’s good of you.”

  Venus looked up. “Ah, Isabel, is our lunch ready? Mr. Paul has prepared the pulled pork sliders for our carnivore guests? And the spinach quiche for Dillon?”

  “Mr. Paul wasn’t certain if his quiche would be enough for Agent Savich and suggested he add his tofu dish, food for the gods, he called it.”

  No matter if the gods did eat tofu, Savich wasn’t about to touch it. He smiled. “Quiche will do me fine, Isabel, thank you.”

  Venus added, “MacPherson loves Mr. Paul’s pork sliders. I believe he’ll be having some for his own lunch.”

  Alexander’s smooth sarcasm floated into the room. “Well, the gang’s all here, I see. I didn’t realize Grandmother would feel compelled to feed you when a cup of coffee would have sufficed.”

  Savich looked up to see him standing lazily in the doorway, leaning against the frame, hands in his pockets.

  Sherlock gave him her sunny smile. “It’s kind of your grandmother to invite us for lunch, in the kitchen, of course.”

  Savich saw a flash of amusement in Alexander’s eyes, he was sure of it.

  Mr. Paul, resplendent in his white chef’s hat a good foot high, sailed past Alexander and looked down at Sean. “This young gentleman admired my cookies, so I have decided to take him to Rockland Park after lunch and teach him some of the finer points of football—soccer, you Americans call it. He’ll find it far superior to the barbaric game American football.”

  Sean beamed, but then he looked worried. “Mr. Paul, is it okay if I wear my Redskins sweatshirt?”

  “You may. I will disregard my distress.”

  Sean turned to Savich and beamed. “Can I go with Mr. Paul, Papa? Learn the finer points?”

  “Maybe we all can go, Sean. Mr. Paul, do you think it’s too late for me and my wife to learn the finer points as well?”

  Mr. Paul snapped his fingers. “Mrs. Rasmussen assures me you’re a smart lad. I will try.”

  Sean turned to Alexander. “Will you come, too? Or do you still have a pain in the patoot?”

  Alexander studied the little boy, the spitting image of his father. “So you’ve heard someone say I’m a pain in the patoot, Sean? It’s true, I am. Ask anyone.”

  Sean nodded. “Okay, but what’s a patoot?”

  Catherine Coulter is the author of the New York Times–bestselling FBI Thrillers The Cove, The Maze, The Target, The Edge, Riptide, Hemlock Bay, Eleventh Hour, Blindside, Blowout, Point Blank, Double Take, TailSpin, KnockOut, Whiplash, Split Second, Backfire, Bombshell, Power Play, and Nemesis. She is also the author, with J. T. Ellison, of the New York Times–bestselling A Brit in the FBI series novels, The Final Cut, The Lost Key, and The End Game. Coulter lives in Sausalito, California.

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  THE FBI THRILLERS

  Nemesis (2015)

  Second Shot (2014): Eleventh Hour and Blindside

  Power Play (2014)

  Bombshell (2013)

  Backfire (2012)

  Split Second (2011)

  Twice Dead (2011): Riptide and Hemlock Bay

  Whiplash (2010)

  KnockOut (2009)

  TailSpin (2008)

  Double Jeopardy (2008): The Target and The Edge

  Double Take (2007)

  The Beginning (2005): The Cove and The Maze

  Point Blank (2005)

  Blowout (2005)

  Blindside (2003)

  Eleventh Hour (2002)

  Hemlock Bay (2001)

  Riptide (2000)

  The Edge (1999)

  The Target (1998)

  The Maze (1997)

  The Cove (1996)

  A BRIT IN THE FBI THRILLERS (WITH J. T. ELLISON)

  The End Game (2015)

  The Lost Key (2014)

  The Final Cut (2013)

  We hope you enjoyed reading this Gallery Books eBook.

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  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2016 by Catherine Coulter

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  First Gallery Books hardcover edition August 2016

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  Interior design by Jaime Putorti

  Jacket photograph © Paul Starosta/Corbis Documentary/Getty Images

  Author photo © Charles Bush

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

  ISBN 978-1-5011-5029-6

  ISBN 978-1-5011-5031-9 (ebook)