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for some reason.”
    “I think I’d like to see that.”
    Tremaine smiled.
    Then Nina said, “How long were you the number one surfer in the world?”
    “Not long. The year I received the number one ranking, I quit the tour.”
    He knew the question coming next, but he was prepared.
    “Really? Why’d you quit?”
    “I’m the P.I. here. I ask the questions.”
    “Seriously, why did you quit? All the time you must have put in, you were probably still very young.”
    “I was twenty-four years old.”
    “So, why did you quit?”
    Tremaine took just a hair longer than normal to say, “It was time.”
    Nina didn’t ask again.
    After lunch, Tremaine walked Nina to her car.
    Nina said, “So, I’ll call the office manager at Gale/
    Parker. She’s great. She’ll make sure you talk to all the right 44
    B O D Y C O P Y
    people. When do you want to go over there?”
    “As soon as possible. Gale/Parker’s the first place on my list.”
    “You’ll like Laurie. Laurie Donnelly’s her name. She was one of the first employees. She’s worked there for twenty years. And has the attitude to prove it.”
    “Attitude?”
    “Not toward people she likes. And she’ll like you, because I hired you. And I’m related to Roger Gale, whom she’s totally loyal to.”
    “Who doesn’t she like?”
    “Laurie’s seen the agency go from a small little shop to a global force. Nowadays everyone at Gale/Parker is hipper and holier-than-thou. So, if some hotshot with dyed hair and a really good résumé tries to tell her how things should be at the agency, she lets them have it. By the way, she’s also a big flirt, so be prepared.”
    Tremaine laughed at that.
    Then Nina said, “Not to pry, I know you know what you’re doing, but you said Gale/Parker is first on your list.
    What else is on your list?“
    “Tyler Wilkes is on my list. Roger’s widow, Evelyn, is on my list.”
    “Right. Check out his work life and his home life.”
    “Bingo. And, by the way, you’re allowed to pry. You’re the boss.”
    Nina got in her car, the black Volvo, and she sat in the passenger seat talking to Tremaine through the open window.
    “I hope Evelyn is helpful. She’s very buttoned up and old-fashioned.”
    “That’s okay, it’s always good to meet people, even 45
    Michael Craven
    people who don’t like talking. You never know what they’re going to give you, even if it’s by accident.”
    Nina thought about that and nodded. And Tremaine looked at her, sitting behind the wheel of the sleek black Volvo wagon. She was strapped in by the seatbelt, and he couldn’t help but notice again how her features all fell together so nicely. The dark hair, the pale skin, and the red lipstick. In that moment, looking at her looking great behind the wheel of the car, Tremaine wanted to just get in the passenger seat and drive off to no place in particular.
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    C H A P T E R 8
    Two days later, Tremaine got up, went for a surf, fed Lyle, then got into his Cutlass and hit the road, headed toward the famous Gale/Parker advertising agency.
    He hung a left at the Lincoln-Longfellow intersec-tion in Playa del Rey, then took another left down a short little side street called Flower Avenue. And there it was.
    A giant remodeled airplane hangar, with a second story attached, lots of enormous windows, and a bright orange paint job. Atop the second story, a flag flew, a flag that said Gale/Parker with a stick of dynamite between the two names.
    He pulled the Cutlass in between two three-series BMWs. He noticed each of the cars proudly bore Gale/
    Parker bumper stickers. The bumper stickers had the Michael Craven
    Gale/Parker logo, dynamite and all, and underneath the logo, it said the harder you work, the better the work.
    Tremaine said, “Yeah, I guess so,” and got out of the Cutlass and walked toward the entrance. The entrance was on the second story. You had to walk up some out-door steps to get to the door, and Tremaine could see from down on the ground