Part 246 (1/2)

sports, turning the page with one hand and pouring coffee with the

other.

JANE PALMER DiEs OF OVERDOSE

Jane Palmer, forty-six, ex-lover of Devastation's Brian

McAvoy, and mother of his daughter, Emma, was found

dead in her London home, apparently a victim of a drug

overdose. The body was discovered by Stanley Hitchman late

Sunday afternoon.

Michael read through the rest of the article. It contained only the

bare facts, but suicide was hinted at. Swearing, he tossed the paper

aside. He grabbed a jacket and signaled McCarthy.

”I need an hour. There's something I have to take care of.”

McCarthy put a hand over the phone receiver he held at his ear. ”We got

three punks in holding.”

”Yeah, and they'll hold. An hour,” he repeated and strode out.

HE FOUND HER AT THE BEACH. It had only been a few days since she had

come back into his life, but he knew her habits. She came there every

day, to the same spot. Not to surf. That was just an excuse. She came

to sit in the sun and watch the water, or to read in the shade of a

little blue and white cabana. Most of all she came to heal.

Always she set herself apart from the others who sunned or walked along

the beach. She wasn't seeking company but was comforted by the fact

that she wasn't alone. She wore a simple blue tank suit, no

flighty bikini or spandex one-piece cut provocatively at the thigh. Its

very modesty drew eyes toward her. More than one man had considered an

approach, but one look from her had them pa.s.sing by.