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.”Something gnawed at the edge of my mind.Had Heather actually been trying to help, or had she come back for what she’d missed earlier? What better excuse to show up again than to say she was cleaning up the earlier mess made in her search? And what was really in those boxes? I just couldn’t take the chance, no matter how benign it all seemed.‘Tell you what,” I said, “I’ll take them later myself.”“I don’t mind,” she insisted.“The drop-off is right on my way home.”I took the box that was in her hands and said firmly, “I appreciate the offer, I truly do, but there are a few things that have great sentimental value I may want to keep as a remembrance.Thanks again, though.”Heather tried to hide her disappointment.“Okay.If that’s all then, I’d better get back downstairs and close up my shop.”“You didn’t leave it open the entire time you were up here, did you?”“Yes, but I’ve got a woman helping me who comes in three afternoons a week and works the occasional full day to give me a break.Mrs.Quimby is a godsend.Don’t forget, you’ve got one deluxe tour coming any time you want it.”“I won’t forget,” I said as I tried to see if Heather was leaving with more than she had had when she arrived.It was impossible to tell under her baggy outfit, but I doubted she’d had the chance to take anything yet.After all, it was obvious she had expected to leave with those boxes long before I ever showed up at Belle’s apartment.I don’t know what I was expecting to find in the boxes: jewelry, cash or something.All I could come up with was a quarter that must have slipped out of one of Belle’s pockets, and a broach that was obviously costume jewelry.It was looking more and more like Heather had been the Good Samaritan she claimed to be after all.Unless she had indeed managed to walk off with something I hadn’t seen.There was yet a third possibility.I might have interrupted her second search before she’d had the chance to find her bounty.I wasn’t about to give her or anyone else another chance.I picked up the telephone book and called a locksmith.There was no way I was going to sleep in that apartment until I had a brand-new lock in place, and the only key to it.Going through some of the other boxes as I waited for the locksmith, I found the two-foot candle I’d picked up earlier to defend myself and decided it was one worth keeping.I don’t know what made me do it, but I put it on the countertop at the bar and lit it with an igniter I found in one of the drawers.Ordinarily I wasn’t a big fan of scents in candles, but this one had an aroma of cinnamon that made me think of Snickerdoodle cookies, a treat Belle had baked for me as a kid.I decided to burn it an hour a night in honor of Belle, my own tribute to her.As the wick took life, I found myself finally beginning to experience the grief of losing her.Delayed reaction, I guess.A tear ran down my cheek and struck the flame.It wasn’t enough to put the fire out, but it did cause it to sputter for a moment before jumping back to life.It was as if Belle herself was telling me not to waste any tears on her.The words of her letter echoed in my mind again, and I decided this simple tribute was more in order for a life well led than any service or eulogy.It was the best way to say good-bye I could imagine.It’s always hard for me to sleep in strange places, and I there were few stranger than the second floor of River’s Edge when the complex was deserted.I tossed and turned until I finally tired of fighting it.Instead of lying there with my eyes wide open staring at the ceiling, I decided it might be a good time to do a little more exploring in the candle shop downstairs.There was one thing to be said for Belle’s arrangement: it certainly made commuting between work and home easier.As I walked outside to get into the shop, I saw a brief flash of light in the distance, accompanied by a muted rumbling, but it was too far away to matter to me.I had work to do.I had my key in the store’s front door lock when movement caught my attention out of the comer of my eye.The bushes near the building shook slightly, and I wondered if it was just the wind, or perhaps something more ominous.“Who’s there?” I called out into the night.There was no answer, and I thought about checking it out more thoroughly, but the darkness was getting to me.I decided the best place for me to be was on the other side of that locked door.I didn’t really breathe again until I was safely inside.No doubt it had just been my imagination, but I still felt better with all the lights of the shop blazing [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]