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Julia only sed The man who chased us was the saht His na the tube between his long thin fingers again and sucking in deeply He whispered, his eyes now closed, "Did this ust?"

"It’s possible," Cheney said He waited until Soldan opened his eyes, then showed hinored it He drew again on his hookah

Ancilla said to Cheney, "I’ll bet you were the one who couldn’t abide August, or at least your fed bosses couldn’t, and you murdered the poorto kill you, no honor aood theory," Cheney said, cocking his head at her

Julia said, "No, Agent Stone didn’t killwith a federal assassin, aren’t you? Who can believe you?"

"Neither you nor your sister are what I expected, sir," Cheney said, looking around at the violent, eye-crossing array of colors and exotic fabrics that filled the s hashish smoke from the hookah There was no furniture, no books, no attempt to instill confidence that this e silk pillows, and fabrics, not o pasha in Istanbul, quite at home at the Topkapi Palace But Cheney doubted he’d have nored Cheney, stared at his bare toes again, and frowned "I must have a pedicure, Ancilla Make a note of it"

"Yes, Sol," Ancilla said, pulled a pen and small pad from her bosom and wrote on it

"She is not er sister," Ancilla said and fluffed her long hair

"Do you like the table? It’s Japanese, you know I acquired it recently frouls in Tokyo Isn’t it exquisite? I had it lacquered crimson It was a very dark blue before, clashed with my spirit, dimmed my connection to The Beyond"

"The Beyond?" Cheney said, eyebrow arched

"That can hardly surprise you, Agent Stone Yes, that is what I call it The Beyond" He offered Julia his hookah pipe "Would you like to try soht?"

Julia shook her head "Not this evening I fear it ht disrupt my aura"

"What would you say if I were to arrest you for doing drugs, Soldan?"