"Bedford, Pennsylvania," Bryant said. "We got a hit off the Brockleman's phone records from right after Mary Beth's death. It came from a cell phone i... Bedford. My guy down in South Carolina called the number. The guy who owns it said he had no idea who used it. He's a day laborer working at some of the apple orchards in the area. He said he often took his jacket off and he always left it in the pocket. He said it could have been any of the day laborers." He probably already told them and. This girl was drunk. She was my brother’s step-daughter!!! I had known her since she was 4 and she was 9 years my junior!!! She was not some slut or bimbo I had picked up at a bar, she was family!!And yet, there was a part of me that said, “Yeah, and she is one HELL of a babe!!”I found myself standing in the middle of the bedroom and I realized I was going to have a tough time clothing my niece. First of all, when my ex moved out 18 months earlier, what clothing she had left behind, I. Also this was no speedmachine that I could use to impress girls and get into an accident with.At full throttle I have had bicycles pass me. But still it got me toschool with having to peddle myself to death.School passed in the usual slow boring way that school does andeventually that bell we were all waiting for rang and the stampede toexit started. As I was putting on my helmet I remembered that I neededto get the copper screen at the hardware store. I gazed across the lawnof the school. It was a semi-pastoral scene before me, reminiscent of renaissance etchings I had seen in books. There were several structures, none of more than three stories, all with tile roofs and italian arches, separated by parks, piazzas and pastures. The many trees, set out in neat rows, were tall, phallic spear points -- jet black in the glistening moonlight. Very romantic, very beautiful, very serene.Small, whispering voices broke the silence behind me. I turned to see a couple enter the room,.