She stared at him. “So you’re retiring.”
“Not exactly,” Decker said. “But I wouldn’t mind something a little less hectic. I’ve been interviewing at a few places as well.”
“Where?”
“Back east.”
“Back east?”
“Koby got into medical school at Mount Sinai Medical School. He and Cindy and the boys are moving. That means all of our children, including Gabe, will be living near the Atlantic. I can take being away from the kids. They have their own lives. But I decided that I want to be a part of my grandchildren’s lives. Rina wholeheartedly concurs. So I’ve been talking to a small eastern town in New York near the Five Colleges of Upstate. About three hours from all the kids.”
“And?”
“And we’re also putting our house up for sale.”
Marge glared at him. “You’re leaving me?”
“Excuse me?” Decker said. “You left me first.”
“I’m not leaving yet. I’m giving you a year’s notice. When are you leaving?”
“My plan is around six months.”
“So you are leaving me.”
“I suppose that’s technically true.”
“It’s true in absolute terms.” She stood up with her hands on her hips. “You bum!”
Decker stood and threw his arm around her. “I’ll miss you, Marge Dunn. Truly we’ve been together a long time . . . longer than I’ve been with my wife.”
“I’ll miss you, too, Rabbi.” She looked away. “But I’ve got you where I really need you.”
“Where’s that?”
Marge pointed to her brain and then to her heart. “Enough of this soppy stuff.” She opened the door to his office. “Let’s go out and celebrate my upcoming engagement. Dinner’s on me.”
“No, I’ll pay.”
“No, I’ll pay.” Marge grinned. “I’m the only one of the three of us who is currently uninjured. Let me clear my desk, get my purse, and we’re out of here.”
“That’s fine. I have to make a few phone calls as well.”
“Rina’s invited, you know.”
“Not this time, Sarge. It’s just you and me.” It took around ten minutes for Decker to finalize his paperwork. When he got to Marge’s desk, she was staring at a pink leather bag. There was a cardboard box on the table and gift wrapping that had been torn into.
“New purse?” he asked.
“It’s from Graciela,” she said.
“Ah . . . the Berkoff bag.”
Marge laughed. “Birkin.”
“Nice. She was determined for you to have it.”
Marge was shocked. “I can’t keep this.”
“Why not?” Decker asked. “She’s a private citizen. The baroness can give you anything she wants.”
“So sell it and buy a condo up north with your fiancé. Call it Casa de Graciela. And I, for one, can’t think of a more fitting title. Because everything you’ve ever handled in these past twenty-five years has been done with aplomb and grace.”
Her eyes watered up immediately.
Decker smiled. “Oh c’mon, Dunn, stop that.”
Marge flapped her hands in front of her face. “I can’t believe how weepy I feel. What the hell is wrong with me?”
“Admit it, Marge. You’re just a sentimental old gal.”
She hit him. “Not old.” Marge stood up. “Let’s get out of here.”
Decker said, “How old are you again?”
“Figure it out yourself, old man.” She slipped her fingers around the strap of the Birkin bag, regarding the pink leather handbag with loving eyes. Then she looked at Decker. “Besides, you should know better than to ask any woman—even one who loves you dearly—her age.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Photograph by Karen Miller
FAYE KELLERMAN lives with her husband, New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Kellerman, in Los Angeles, California, and Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins authors.
ALSO BY FAYE KELLERMAN
Gun Games
Hangman
Blindman’s Bluff
The Mercedes Coffin
The Burnt House
The Ritual Bath
Sacred and Profane
The Quality of Mercy
Milk and Honey
Day of Atonement
False Prophet
Grievous Sin
Sanctuary
Justice
Prayers for the Dead
Serpent’s Tooth
Moon Music
Stalker
The Forgotten
Stone Kiss
Street Dreams
Straight into Darkness
The Garden of Eden and Other Criminal Delights: A Book of Short Stories
With Jonathan Kellerman
Double Homicide
Capital Crimes
With Aliza Kellerman
Prism
CREDITS
Cover design and illustration by Mumtaz Mustafa
COPYRIGHT
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
THE BEAST. Copyright © 2013 by Plot Line, Inc. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
FIRST EDITION
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kellerman, Faye.
The Beast : a Decker/Lazarus novel / Faye Kellerman.—First Edition.
pages cm.—(A Decker/Lazarius Novel)
ISBN 978-0-06-212175-2 (hardback)
1. Decker, Peter (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 2. Lazarus, Rina (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 3. Police—California—Los Angeles— Fiction. 4. Detective and mystery stories. I. Title.
PS3561.E3864B43 2013
813’.54—dc23
2013018556
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EPub Edition AUGUST 2013 ISBN 9780062121776
13 14 15 16 17 OV/RRD 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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, The Beast