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  “Drive,” she said.

  Suze took off without question, and Nell caught her breath. “I am so sorry about that,” she said to Marlene, who was heaving in her lap. “I had no idea.”

  Marlene looked up at her with blood in her eye. Then she barked once, a short, sharp, furious aaarp sound that could have cut glass.

  “My God,” Suze said. “Garbo speaks. What happened?”

  “Farnsworth got a new dog,” Nell said. “A German shepherd the size of a horse.”

  Suze laughed, and then as she thought about it, laughed harder. “Oh, God,” she said finally. “That is so perfect.” Marlene moaned her anger and Suze said, “I can relate, Marlene. I was replaced, too.”

  Marlene barked at her, including her in the night of infamy.

  “Hey, it wasn’t my idea,” Suze said, keeping her eyes on the road. “I bought the chenille and the bomber jacket. It was Mother Teresa here who wanted to do the right thing.”

  Marlene looked at Nell again, who said, “I’m sorry,” and then she curled up grumbling in Nell’s lap.

  “You know, once you lose their trust, you never get it back,” Suze said.

  “Oh, please,” Nell said. “One biscuit and she’s mine for life.”

  Marlene looked up at her and barked again, a bark that spoke volumes about her contempt for and distrust of the woman she’d once moaned at daily.

  “Can we stop and get some dog biscuits?” Nell said. “I think I’d better do something fast here.”

  “It’ll have to be plain old grocery store biscuits,” Suze said. “We’re very late.”

  “One more betrayal,” Nell told Marlene, but later, when Suze had run into Big Bear to get the biscuits, Nell gathered the dog up to her and hugged her and said, “Marlene, I’m so sorry. And I’m so glad we get to keep you. You didn’t really want to go back there, did you? You were just curious about the yard, right?”

  Marlene regarded her malevolently and barked.

  “As long as we’re still communicating,” Nell said.

  * * *

  Marlene was grumpy about being left in the car with the windows rolled down the prescribed inch, and once Nell got into the Long Shot, she was willing to trade places. The bar was pretty much the norm in yuppie drinking holes—great beer, good wings, and mediocre music—and Nell couldn’t think of a place she wanted to be less.

  “You know,” Suze said, “this is the kind of place I always wanted to go to and Jack would never take me. Now I see his point.”

  “Whose idea was this place, anyway?” Nell said.

  “I’ll get the drinks,” Suze said brightly. “You grab a table.”

  Nell found a table near the door and sat down to watch Suze thread her way through the crowd to the bar, gathering second glances from men as she went and not noticing any of them. Nell looked around, hoping to spot Riley, and stopped cold when she got to the bar. A man there who looked a lot like Gabe was talking to a very attractive brunette who looked a lot like the Hot Lunch. She squinted through the smoke. Yep, Gabe and Gina. She felt sick for a moment, as if she’d been punched in the stomach, and then she turned away. If Riley had set this up so she’d get jealous and go back, she was going to hurt him. And if he hadn’t.… Gina Taggart, she thought. What was Gabe, stupid? He, of all people, knew what she was like.

  Of course, if he wasn’t looking for a permanent relationship, what Gina was like was probably just what he wanted.

  Men.

  Nell sat back defeated and let the darkness and the music wash over her. The music was fairly lousy but the dark was good. It hid the fact that she didn’t care where Riley was and that she cared desperately what Gabe was doing with Gina. She looked over at the bar, and they were gone. That hurt a lot more than it should have. She looked at her watch. It was only quarter to nine. Gabe moved fast. But then she knew that.

  “So what’ve you got to show me, kid?” Riley said, pulling out the chair beside her and making her jump.

  “What? Oh. Nice to see you, too.” Nell fumbled with her purse, trying to forget Gabe and Gina. “This.” She handed him the newsletter and pointed to the picture. “That’s Stewart and his secretary.”

  Riley squinted at the picture. “And if there was light in here, I could probably see them.”

  “His secretary was Lynnie Mason,” Nell said, and Riley stopped looking superior.

  “Jesus. Lynnie and Stewart?”

  Nell nodded. “If you were wondering who figured out the embezzling thing, that would be Lynnie. She said she was good with money, and she certainly did a nice job on your place.”

  “Gabe would like to see this,” Riley said, looking around.

  “He left with Gina Taggart,” Nell said, trying not to sound pathetic.

  “He’s not that dumb.” Riley peered at her through the gloom. “You okay?”

  “Yes. You don’t need to save me from my broken love life again.”

  “I didn’t save you the first time. You did. I just provided some distraction.”

  “Well, thank you for that,” Nell said, and on an impulse, she leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “You are something special, you know?”

  “Me? Nah,” Riley said, but he looked flustered and pleased. Then he looked past her and frowned. “Oh, fuck.” He handed her the newsletter. “Stay here.”

  Nell looked where he had been looking and saw Suze backed against the bar by some tall guy. “She can take care of herself,” she began and then the guy leaned forward and she realized who he was. “Go,” she said, and Riley went.

  * * *

  Suze had gone to the bar and ordered two Diet Cokes, scanning the room for Riley while she waited. The place was packed, but Riley was nowhere. The Cokes were a long time coming, and when she paid for them and turned to go back to Nell, she found a tall, scowling man in her way.

  “Excuse me,” she said as he peered closer at her. Terrific, just what I need, a pickup. “Look, I’m not interested, okay? No offense, but—”

  “I thought so,” the man said, slurring his words a little. “It was hard to tell from across the room, but I thought so.”

  “Did you?” Suze said, trying to move past him. “Good for you. Now if you’ll excuse me—”

  “You stole my dog,” the man said and took a step closer, and Suze thought, Farnsworth, and took a step back, bumping into the bar.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, looking around for the bartender. The place must have bouncers. The guy was drunk.

  “I’m going to have you arrested,” he said. “You stole my dog.”

  Men on both sides of them turned to stare appreciatively at her, but nobody seemed inclined to interfere. Great, Suze thought, trying to slide away down the bar. Nobody wants to be a hero anymore.

  Farnsworth slapped his hand down on the bar, blocking her slide, stepping even closer, almost touching her, and said, “You’re not going anywhere—”

  “Oh, sure she is,” Riley said from behind him, and he swung around scowling, while Suze slid the other direction and away from the bar.

  “Who are you?” Farnsworth said.

  “I’m with her,” Riley said easily. “Stop putting the moves on my woman.”

  Suze lost her interest in Farnsworth completely.

  “Moves?” Farnsworth laughed. “She stole my dog.”

  “No, she didn’t,” Riley said, putting his shoulder between her and Farnsworth. He had great shoulders.

  “Yes, she—”

  “No,” Riley said. “She didn’t.”

  Yeah, Suze thought from behind him. Don’t push us around.

  Farnsworth snorted. “Tough guy.”

  “Not really,” Riley said. “But I do get tense when people bother the blonde. Go away.”

  “She stole—” Farnsworth began again, and this time Riley stepped closer, backing him into the bar.

  “Let me put this another way,” Riley said, his voice even. “You don’t know her, you never saw her, and yo