stacked on the bottom
shelf of the cupboard. “Looks like Leighton is the compulsively thrifty type who saves all his paper bags.“
“Yeah?“ Curious, Julian came to stand behind her as they stood staring into the cupboard. “I wonder why?“ He
reached down to flip through them.
“Some people are that way.“ She shrugged. “You know the kind. They save every plastic bag from the produce
department and fold every paper bag they take home from the store. Also, Leighton was into saving trees for a while,
as I recall. He and Keith were rabid on the subject of environmentalism for a time.“
“Did you ever actually meet Leighton?“
“Once or twice.“ Emelina lifted one shoulder. “There’s nothing all that memorable about him. He lacked the
charisma it takes to make it as a truly successful radical leader, and he tried to make up for it in other ways.“
“Like dealing dope?“ Julian murmured.
“It made him a big man on campus for a while. Gave him a feeling of importance. Keith began drawing away from
him after he realized the direction Leighton was going.“
“Your brother wasn’t part of the drug scene?“ Julian drawled.
“Absolutely not!“ Emelina defended her brother hotly. “He was into health foods and meditation, not drugs!“
Julian looked at her wonderingly. “This brother of yours, I take it, has never done anything wrong?“
“Nothing really wrong,“ she emphasized firmly.
“Uh huh. But he’s still nervous about what Leighton could use to blackmail him? There must have been somediing,
Emmy.“
“I told you, his present employer just wouldn’t understand about the protest rallies and the radical politics and
some of die other stuff. He never did anything wrong, Julian, he just lived a very unconventional lifestyle. That’s all!
But it would be enough to embarrass him now.“ There were the six months Keith had spent in that crazy commune, for
example, she thought fleetingly. She could just imagine how that would go down with Keith’s sixty-year-old mentor in
die corporate offices!
“I get the feeling you’d stick by Keith even if it turned out he had gotten into something he shouldn’t have,“ Julian
said.
“Anyone can make a mistake, Julian,“ she admonished. “Which is not to say my bromer made any really serious
ones,“ she added quickly.
“I give up,“ he said with a half-smile. “It’s clear you’d defend him regardless of what he did or didn’t do.“ Julian
shut the cupboard door on the stack of folded paper bags. “Come on, it’s getting dark. We’d better get out of here.“
“But we haven’t found anything.“
“It was an off-chance that we would, honey,“ he soothed. “Surely you realized that? Even if Leighton were using
this place for illegal purposes he wouldn’t be likely to leave evidence behind.“
“I was so hoping to find something, though. I guess all we can do now is keep an eye on the place for the next few
weeks and see if anything suspicious happens.“
“Yes,“ he agreed, not looking at her. “I suppose that’s one thing we should do.“
“What else?“ she asked eagerly as they climbed back out the window and Julian checked to make sure no obvious
hand prints remained on the frame.
“Well, I could make a few inquiries.“
“I see.“ Visions of Julian putting me far-reaching tentacles of his Mafia contacts into operation made her shudder
involuntarily. It was frightening dealing with this kind of power. She must keep reminding herself just what she had
gotten into by making the bargain with him. Sometimes, such as during the past hour, she almost forgot. He seemed so
very human.
Julian saw the distant speculation in her eyes as they started toward the path to the bluff. He could just imagine
the images her active imagination was conjuring up now. But there was one point he wanted to make before he saw her
back inside her own cottage and returned to his lonely bed. His mouth hardened as he
shelf of the cupboard. “Looks like Leighton is the compulsively thrifty type who saves all his paper bags.“
“Yeah?“ Curious, Julian came to stand behind her as they stood staring into the cupboard. “I wonder why?“ He
reached down to flip through them.
“Some people are that way.“ She shrugged. “You know the kind. They save every plastic bag from the produce
department and fold every paper bag they take home from the store. Also, Leighton was into saving trees for a while,
as I recall. He and Keith were rabid on the subject of environmentalism for a time.“
“Did you ever actually meet Leighton?“
“Once or twice.“ Emelina lifted one shoulder. “There’s nothing all that memorable about him. He lacked the
charisma it takes to make it as a truly successful radical leader, and he tried to make up for it in other ways.“
“Like dealing dope?“ Julian murmured.
“It made him a big man on campus for a while. Gave him a feeling of importance. Keith began drawing away from
him after he realized the direction Leighton was going.“
“Your brother wasn’t part of the drug scene?“ Julian drawled.
“Absolutely not!“ Emelina defended her brother hotly. “He was into health foods and meditation, not drugs!“
Julian looked at her wonderingly. “This brother of yours, I take it, has never done anything wrong?“
“Nothing really wrong,“ she emphasized firmly.
“Uh huh. But he’s still nervous about what Leighton could use to blackmail him? There must have been somediing,
Emmy.“
“I told you, his present employer just wouldn’t understand about the protest rallies and the radical politics and
some of die other stuff. He never did anything wrong, Julian, he just lived a very unconventional lifestyle. That’s all!
But it would be enough to embarrass him now.“ There were the six months Keith had spent in that crazy commune, for
example, she thought fleetingly. She could just imagine how that would go down with Keith’s sixty-year-old mentor in
die corporate offices!
“I get the feeling you’d stick by Keith even if it turned out he had gotten into something he shouldn’t have,“ Julian
said.
“Anyone can make a mistake, Julian,“ she admonished. “Which is not to say my bromer made any really serious
ones,“ she added quickly.
“I give up,“ he said with a half-smile. “It’s clear you’d defend him regardless of what he did or didn’t do.“ Julian
shut the cupboard door on the stack of folded paper bags. “Come on, it’s getting dark. We’d better get out of here.“
“But we haven’t found anything.“
“It was an off-chance that we would, honey,“ he soothed. “Surely you realized that? Even if Leighton were using
this place for illegal purposes he wouldn’t be likely to leave evidence behind.“
“I was so hoping to find something, though. I guess all we can do now is keep an eye on the place for the next few
weeks and see if anything suspicious happens.“
“Yes,“ he agreed, not looking at her. “I suppose that’s one thing we should do.“
“What else?“ she asked eagerly as they climbed back out the window and Julian checked to make sure no obvious
hand prints remained on the frame.
“Well, I could make a few inquiries.“
“I see.“ Visions of Julian putting me far-reaching tentacles of his Mafia contacts into operation made her shudder
involuntarily. It was frightening dealing with this kind of power. She must keep reminding herself just what she had
gotten into by making the bargain with him. Sometimes, such as during the past hour, she almost forgot. He seemed so
very human.
Julian saw the distant speculation in her eyes as they started toward the path to the bluff. He could just imagine
the images her active imagination was conjuring up now. But there was one point he wanted to make before he saw her
back inside her own cottage and returned to his lonely bed. His mouth hardened as he
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