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The instrument panel clock showed 8:55. Ahead lay the Forest House, an inn and roadhouse she and Marina had discovered. It was not more than a dozen miles from the Beltway, yet it might have been on the surface of Mars for all the trade it drew from Washington. Of all the meeting places she and Marina had available, the Forest House was their favorite, the rendezvous of choice. |
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She slowed and pulled into the sparsely filled parking lot. On Monday nights, most of the suburban locals stayed home to watch football on television, and the Forest House did not keep a set in the lounge. Camilla sat for a moment, savoring the thrill she always felt when about to meet Marina. It was part of her secret life, and from childhood, she had kept most of her life secret from others. To keep anyone else from knowing what she thought and felt and did was the most important thing, the most thrilling thing. Her aunt had called her "sly," and had punished her for not confessing when accused of stealing small sums of money and jewelry. Her teachers had regarded her with suspicion when her test grades seemed to be higher than they ought to be. But she endured the punishment and the suspicion stoically, giving no satisfaction to others. She saved it all for herself. It had always been her way. |
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She locked her BMW, then stepped into the Forest House lobby and walked into the bar at precisely nine o'clock. Marina was there, on a bar stool, her long legs displayed in tight designer jeans, a beautiful sable coat draped over her shoulders, her perfume, Joy, scenting the air around her. She was watched closely by the three other bar patrons, all men. The two women kissed cheeks, in the Russian manner. The men frowned and looked away. Eat your hearts out, Camilla thought. |
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Marina led the way to a dark booth in the far comer of the bar. When they had settled in comfortably, Marina said with a sly smile, "And how is the Farmer of Grand-Pre?" It was their private joke, a natural name for Vincent, once they had settled on "Evangeline" as a code name for Camilla. |
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