”“Yeah, but that wasn’t your fault nor was it my fault. You gave the fucking Feds everything on a platter and they fucked it up worse than if I�...�d given it to a security guard on his first day at Spurgeon and let him deal with it!”“There is that,” I said. “Did you hear anything more about Stone and O’Toole?”“Gone.”“Fired?”“Reassigned. Stone to Reno and O’Toole to, get this, Anchorage.”I chuckled, “The desert and Alaska. Somebody was VERY unhappy.”“I talked to the Deputy AG and ‘unhappy’ is not. "You'll need this, put it in your pocket," urged the older brother, pressing the cold copper into Willem's hand. He did as told, then pulled on his jacket then sought out his boots, one of which had wound up under his bed. He tugged them on and started lacing them to his ankles."It better be good, whatever has you so all-fired worked up," warned Willem. It was a hollow threat, for what would he do if Dannel were playing him for a fool? Dannel would thump him soundly if he tried to exact. She loved playing the piano and had been taking lessons since she was ten. At first it was for fun, but four years ago she had been asked if she wanted to do the Royal Conservatory levels. She had agreed and her hour-long practices every day consumed a lot of her time. She replayed the fourth line for the fifth time, gritting her teeth as she tried to get her fingers to play the two trills in a row. She took a deep breath and sat up straight. She began at the beginning and was happy that she. She pulled the toys from body and went to wash them while she waited for Zoe to come to.When she came back in the room, Zoe was stirring. Clare reached for the blindfold and slipped it off Zoe’s eyes. Zoe looked up at her naked sister and smiled “what the fuck was that????”Clare laughed again before telling Zoe what had happened. Then she crawled onto the bed beside her twitching sister and wrapped her arms around her as Zoe twisted to face her. Their lips met in a kiss that was anything but.