ears p

mehow, m

kind, steady s

, about the whispers, a

, he helped me build a fr

t eng

nning, a chance to fina

es to meet, to make

er. My treat, at a ni

ons, were conventional, warm

vite

almost two years, just

her note surprisingl

staurant, she looked gaunt

drawn than I remembere

her out, but she offered nothing, just n

ard affair, strain

having coffee, Mo

d in, and

cond s

od ran

expression unread

y, he smiled, a g

ut, gently t

id, his voice soft. "I'

dded s

same disturbing smile from five

ed a barely audible

ldered. I felt a familiar

Mark?" I asked, m

e, his smile f

h. Just... motherl

of something I couldn' t nam

, the vultur

rs, they' d been tracking the "Black

Evelyn had been in

' s apartment, microphones an

e say to you

e curs

ou in

played it. "She just wished u

amage was done. The old fears w