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So how is work going?"
    "It's good, the usual. By the way, before I forget, I saw Jimmy today and he sends his best."
    Grace rolled her eyes.
    "I know.... You could care less, but I think the guy still cares about you."
    "Let me tell you something, Phillip. Jimmy only cares about himself. There's no negotiating, no equality, just his way or the highway. No thanks.
    "So what are the plans for the rest of the evening?"
    Phillip went along with the subject change and they talked about the club he and May were headed to.
* * * *
    By ten o'clock, Grace was back home in the two-thousand-square-foot loft she rented from Uncle Robbie for a mere thousand dollars a month.
    The place was huge, plus loaded with windows and the finest in appliances and house wares.
    Even though she neither needed nor used most of it, Uncle Nicholas’ brother Robbie insisted she rent it from him. He wanted her to have the best.
    The kitchen was completely open and centered in the loft. There was an industrial stove, stainless steel appliances, and a fully stocked wine rack. Wine was her only indulgence and sometimes the extra large Jacuzzi tub upstairs would be used with the wine.
    The loft came fully furnished and there was black leather furniture in the movie room where a large plasma screen TV sat on the wall.
    There was no time to watch any movies and forget about the news. It was enough dealing with the heartache and the loss that victim's families suffered. She didn't need to hear about all the other cases that made the news, as well.
    There was an enormous floor-to-ceiling, stone fireplace in another area to the left of the living room where large, comfortable couches and chairs formed a semicircle around it. It was where she spent most of her time when she was home.
    The formal dining room was to the right of that, next to the kitchen and decorated with a full-wall china closet and matching solid cherry wood dining table with twelve upholstered chairs. All of the china inside had belonged to her mother.
    Grace sat on one of the bar stools by the black marble countertop and listened to her answering machine.
    "Hey, Grace, it's Don. You still didn't turn on that cell phone. Anyway, the DA called and you're scheduled to appear in court tomorrow on the Murphy case. Nine a.m. not ten. Also a Dave called. He got my number by accident. He only wants to talk to you and said it has something to do with the Marquette case. I'll see you tomorrow. Hope May was surprised. Bye."
    Grace smiled. Don was an awesome boss, more of a friend, really.
    The next two messages were hang ups, so Grace turned off the lights and headed upstairs to her bedroom.
    The room was huge and overlooked the bay. The moon shone a bright deep orange color. It was a true harvest moon on the eve of Halloween. Harvest moons were her favorite. She took in the view as she began to get undressed.
    Her feet ached a bit from wearing the high-heeled suede boots all day. She removed them, then went through her closet deciding what to wear for court tomorrow as well as the meeting with Frank and the Marquettes.
    Finally, she decided on her slim-fitting black skirt, a dark chocolate silk blouse and black high-heel boots. She turned on the faucet to the shower; her body anticipating the heat of the water as she finished undressing and prepared to enter.
    Considering the evening, Grace thought May looked happy tonight. She was definitely surprised and had loved the gold pen set Grace gave her. It was nice to be around the family.
    That was another thought Grace tried to avoid thinking about too deeply.
    Family . Her parents’ family lived a few towns over, a forty-five minute drive on a good day with little traffic. Their lives were so different from Grace's, Nicholas’ and Leeann's.
    Aunt Delores lived in a ritzy neighborhood, belonged to the finest country clubs and her children were snobs. Unfortunately, they lived the closest.
    Aunt Delores was shocked to find out that Dad and Mom left the