Man Overboard

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Man Overboard Page 31

by J. A. Jance


  They said very little on the trip down I-17. For one thing, Ali didn’t trust her ability to speak without bursting into tears, and she knew tears on her part would not be appreciated.

  “You and Mr. Simpson will be just fine,” Leland said reassuringly as Ali turned off at the airport exit.

  Good to his word, Leland had given Alonso Rivera a crash course on being the new Leland. It remained to be seen how that would go.

  Ali smiled. “You’ve certainly done everything in your power to guarantee that. And don’t be a stranger. If Thomas’s health improves, I hope the two of you will come back for visits at the very least.”

  “Perhaps,” Leland said. “We’ll see.”

  He fell silent then. When Ali glanced in his direction, expecting him to say something more, she was surprised to see a single tear showing after all—one on Leland’s weathered cheek rather than her own.

  “I know you’re Bob and Edie’s daughter,” he murmured at last, in a voice choked with emotion. “I’m grateful they’ve shared you with me, because you feel like my daughter, too.”

  Ali reached out, took his bony hand in one of hers, and held it tight. It was a good thing they were approaching the curb just then. As she pulled to a stop, her own tears came in buckets, almost blinding her.

  “Thank you,” she whispered. “I feel the same way.”

  “I don’t want you to get out,” he admonished. “I’ll get a skycap to help me.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “I’m sure.”

  “And you don’t want me to walk you as far as security?”

  “No thank you, madam. It’s one thing to make a fool of myself in private. I certainly don’t want to do so in public.”

  “All right, then,” she said. “If you say so.”

  He summoned a skycap with a baggage cart and then went around to the back of the Cayenne to oversee the unloading. Once his luggage was on the cart, Leland came back over to the driver’s side and tapped on Ali’s window.

  She buzzed down the glass. “One last thing,” he said. “A final bit of advice.”

  “What’s that?” she asked.

  “It’s something I learned from you and your mother,” he said.

  “What?”

  He gave her a sly grin. “Knockers up,” he told her, “and don’t you forget it.”

  He stepped away from the door then, and Ali slipped the Cayenne into gear. When she looked back in the rearview mirror, she saw him—a spry but ramrod-straight elderly man, standing on the curb, waving at her. It was hard for her to glimpse him through yet another curtain of tears, but then she realized she was laughing and crying at the same time.

  “Yes, you dear old fellow,” she whispered aloud. “Knockers up, indeed!”

  About the Author

  Photograph © Mary Ann Halpin Studios

  J.A. JANCE is the New York Times bestselling author of the Ali Reynolds series, the J.P. Beaumont series, and the Joanna Brady series, as well as ve interrelated southwestern thrillers featuring the Walker family. Born in South Dakota and brought up in Bisbee, Arizona, Jance lives with her husband in Seattle, Washington, and Tucson, Arizona.

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  ALSO BY J.A. JANCE

  ALI REYNOLDS MYSTERIES

  Edge of Evil

  Web of Evil

  Hand of Evil

  Cruel Intent

  Trial by Fire

  Fatal Error

  Left for Dead

  Deadly Stakes

  Moving Target

  A Last Goodbye (A Novella)

  Cold Betrayal

  No Honor Among Thieves (A Novella)

  Clawback

  Random Acts (A Novella)

  JOANNA BRADY MYSTERIES

  Desert Heat

  Tombstone Courage

  Shoot/Don’t Shoot

  Dead to Rights

  Skeleton Canyon

  Rattlesnake Crossing

  Outlaw Mountain

  Devil’s Claw

  Paradise Lost

  Partner in Crime

  Exit Wounds

  Dead Wrong

  Damage Control

  Fire and Ice

  Judgment Call

  The Old Blue Line (A Novella)

  Remains of Innocence

  No Honor Among Thieves (A Novella)

  Random Acts (A Novella)

  Downfall

  J. P. BEAUMONT MYSTERIES

  Until Proven Guilty

  Injustice for All

  Trial by Fury

  Taking the Fifth

  Improbable Cause

  A More Perfect Union

  Dismissed with Prejudice

  Minor in Possession

  Payment in Kind

  Without Due Process

  Failure to Appear

  Lying in Wait

  Name Withheld

  Breach of Duty

  Birds of Prey

  Partner in Crime

  Long Time Gone

  Justice Denied

  Fire and Ice

  Betrayal of Trust

  Ring in the Dead (A Novella)

  Second Watch

  Stand Down (A Novella)

  Dance of the Bones

  WALKER FAMILY MYSTERIES

  Hour of the Hunter

  Kiss of the Bees

  Day of the Dead

  Queen of the Night

  Dance of the Bones

  POETRY

  After the Fire

  We hope you enjoyed reading this Touchstone eBook.

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  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, ­living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2017 by J.A. Jance

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Touchstone Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

  First Touchstone hardcover edition March 2017

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  Interior design by Akasha Archer

  Jacket design by Ervin Serrano

  Jacket photographs © Shutterstock

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Jance, Judith A., author.

  Title: Man overboard : an Ali Reynolds novel / J.A. Jance.

  Description: New York : Touchstone, 2017. | Se
ries: Ali Reynolds series

  Identifiers: LCCN 2016053553 (print) | LCCN 2017001014 (ebook) | ISBN 9781501110801 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781501110818 (Ebook)

  Subjects: LCSH: Reynolds, Ali )Fictitious character)--Fiction. | Women private ­investigators--Arizona--Fiction. | Murder--Investigation--Fiction. | BISAC: FICTION / Thrillers. | FICTION / Mystery & Detective / General. | FICTION / Mystery & ­Detective / Women Sleuths. | GSAFD: Suspense fiction. | Mystery fiction.

  Classification: LCC PS3560.A44 M36 2017 (print) | LCC PS3560.A44 (ebook) | DDC 813/ .54--dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016053553

  ISBN 978-1-5011-1080-1

  ISBN 978-1-5011-1081-8 (ebook)

 

 

 


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