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could see the love surrounding her family. He only hoped Melanie was
willing to let him in.
 Brady, this is my father, Douglas Parsons.
As he shook her father s hand he asked,  Do all the female members
of your family have names starting with an M?
 It s a silly tradition&  Melanie began to explain.
 Melanie, no tradition is silly. It may be odd, but we ve enjoyed it over
the years. I often tease Douglas he married me because of my name.
 Well now, introductions are done. Melanie, you gave us the
generalities earlier, but I think it s time we got the details. Douglas was
obviously a man who liked to get down to business and quite frankly,
Brady was ready to hear the entire story as well.
Melanie s face was fiery red and her sister was still trying to control
her giggles. She already knew the story, Brady surmised. As they took
their seats in the living room Brady was pleased when Melanie dragged
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Liz Andrews
him down beside her on the love seat. He noticed her parents took note
of the action as well.
 Oh God, I don t know how to put this so I m just going to come out
and say it. My evil boss has a holo-vid of Brady and me making love in
my office.
In the stunned silence following her words Brady kept his own
immediate response to himself. He was going to kill her boss if he ever
got him alone. Not only had the man violated their privacy, he d seen
Melanie naked.
Instead of letting his anger control him, Brady sat back and judged
the reactions of Melanie s family. Her sister continued to look amused,
but had been able to control her giggles. Her mother looked slightly
shocked, but a smile hovered around her lips, as if she were pleased by
at least some part of the confession. Her father looked thunderous and
Brady knew if Douglas condemned Melanie, he would be in for a fight.
Brady wouldn t stand by and allow anyone to say anything against her,
even if it were her own father.
 Wait a minute. I thought you had the recording devices removed
from your office. Of all the things her father might have said, this was
the one thing Brady wasn t expecting. And neither was Melanie, it
seemed.
 How did you know about the recorders? I told Mom about how
creepy he made me feel, but I asked her not to mention it to you.
 Oh sweetheart, I can t keep secrets from your father. Besides, he
needed to know.
 Mother. Melanie sighed with exasperation before turning back
toward her father.  He informed me today he d put his own in after I d
had them shut down. Supposedly because he needed to watch me since I
was trying to steal his job.
 Well, we ve got him on civil rights violations.
Brady was pleased to see how supportive her parents were being, but
unfortunately it probably wouldn t help.  True sir, but he could still have
the vids sent out across the net before we could stop him.
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A Sixpence in Her Shoe
 Sleazy bastard. Brady agreed wholeheartedly with Douglas s
estimation of Stan s character.
 What does he want? Melissa cut to the heart of the matter with her
question. If they could figure out what Stan s goal was they could figure
out how to outwit him.
 I don t know. He didn t really ask for anything. Melanie repeated the
conversation she d had with Stan this morning.  He s always been
jealous of me and hated my position in the professional community. He
even tried to blame me for the burglaries. He knows something like this
will ruin my reputation. Not to mention what it ll do to the Parsons family
name.
 I think both your professional reputation and the Parsons family
name can hold their own. But what s this about burglaries? Douglas
asked with a frown, obviously just now hearing about them.
As Melanie explained the details of the burglaries to her family, Brady
re-examined everything she had told them so far. He had a niggling
feeling there was some important fact he was overlooking, but he
couldn t put his finger on what it was.
 You re using the wedding dress as bait? Miranda s shocked tone
pulled Brady from his evaluation of the facts.
 Mom, Brady has assured me the dress is safe. Besides, we need a
low tech solution to catch these thieves. Melanie s defense of him made
Brady realize she not only trusted him, but she was willing to stand up
to her family, taking his side.
 How is Brady keeping the dress safe if he s here with you? Douglas
question looked as if it caught Melanie off guard for a moment, but she
quickly recovered.
 I m sure someone from the UAS is on the job. Her confidence in him
was undeniable.
Brady nodded.  My partner is at the Smithsonian right now on
stakeout duty. I called him before I came over and asked him to cover for
me tonight. On another note though, I think you should know the UAS
suspects the burglaries to be the work of Traditionalists.
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Liz Andrews
 You ve got to be kidding. No self-worthy Traditionalist would get
involved in anything so sordid.
 Perhaps not, but the authorities aren t so sure, especially when it
comes to the Purist sect. 
 Those idiots. If they could, I think they d go back to living in the
Stone Age. It was obvious Douglas had no love for the Purists.
 I don t think the Purists can be implicated in this case, simply
because of the technological issues involved. Brady explained the low
level EM pulse that was used to disrupt the surveillance equipment.
 Still, it s disheartening to realize the government suspects us.
Miranda seemed saddened by the whole turn of the conversation.
 Most people see Traditionalists as old, rich families. They don t
understand their background or value system. Melanie looked
astonished by Brady s comments. Although he hadn t been raised a
Traditionalist, Brady envied their tight family units and customs. It was
one of the reasons he d been pleasantly surprised by the captain s
revelations of Melanie s background.
 You seem to know a lot about the subject, especially for someone
who doesn t come from a Traditionalist family. Douglas was nothing if
not blunt.
 You re right, I don t come from a Traditionalist family. You can t
choose the family into which you were born. You can only live your life as
you need to live it. Brady stared hard at Douglas, daring him to say
something else. He was surprised at who spoke next however.
 Enough of all this boring conversation. We can t do anything about
Melanie s boss tonight the stakeout is covered and family values is a
tedious subject. So let s get to the good stuff. How long have you two
been going out? Melissa s eyes twinkled at Melanie s shocked
expression, but Brady was interested in her answers.
 My personal life is just that, personal.
 Not really, sis, if your boss makes good on his threat and tells the
world about your rendezvous. Melissa wasn t letting Melanie escape so
easily.
 Fine, we ve been dating for two months.
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A Sixpence in Her Shoe
 And you re obviously sleeping together, so the relationship must be
serious.
 Melissa! Melanie s eyes darted back and forth between her parents,
who, surprisingly, were sitting silently watching the discussion between
the sisters unfold, and Brady, who was very interested in hearing
Melanie s answer.
 What? I m pretty sure it s the question of the hour.
 Okay, enough. Douglas finally interceded, much to Brady s [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]