the best I could hope for. If he didn't, there was nothing more I could do to warn him. Jeff was strong, but he was balancing on crutches, and the water at the pier's end was cold and deep. The ferry was already three hundred yards offshore now, chugging along like some Image, determined water animal. Its decks were empty, so Lia would not have to be concerned about witnesses. Gordon and Nat and the others would be down in the cabin, protected from the wind, laughing and chatting and, perhaps, wondering why Laurie Stratton was skipping school. "I talked to her last night," Gordon would be saying. "There was nothing wrong with her then. In fact she sounded more like herself than she has in months. " Jeff was waiting at the end of the pier as Lia had requested, slouched over his crutches and looking belligerent. Gone was the good-humored of recent weeks. This was the old Jeff Rankin, jaw set defensively, face dark with brooding hostility. I moved toward him as Lia did, watching his eyes narrow with a flicker of some emotion I could not identify. For a moment neither of them spoke. It was Jeff who broke the silence. "So, what's up?" His voice was cool and carefully noncaring. "Meg says it's important. Did Ahearn dump you again?" "You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Lia said. "But I'm afraid it hasn't happened, and there's not much chance it's going to. If it did, I wouldn't be rebounding in your direction. This is something else entirely. It's about my father—" She broke off the sentence, a look of surprise flashing across her face. This was immediately
the best I could hope for. If he didn't, there was nothing more I could do to warn him. Jeff was strong, but he was balancing on crutches, and the water at the pier's end was cold and deep. The ferry was already three hundred yards offshore now, chugging along like some Image, determined water animal. Its decks were empty, so Lia would not have to be concerned about witnesses. Gordon and Nat and the others would be down in the cabin, protected from the wind, laughing and chatting and, perhaps, wondering why Laurie Stratton was skipping school. "I talked to her last night," Gordon would be saying. "There was nothing wrong with her then. In fact she sounded more like herself than she has in months. " Jeff was waiting at the end of the pier as Lia had requested, slouched over his crutches and looking belligerent. Gone was the good-humored of recent weeks. This was the old Jeff Rankin, jaw set defensively, face dark with brooding hostility. I moved toward him as Lia did, watching his eyes narrow with a flicker of some emotion I could not identify. For a moment neither of them spoke. It was Jeff who broke the silence. "So, what's up?" His voice was cool and carefully noncaring. "Meg says it's important. Did Ahearn dump you again?" "You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Lia said. "But I'm afraid it hasn't happened, and there's not much chance it's going to. If it did, I wouldn't be rebounding in your direction. This is something else entirely. It's about my father—" She broke off the sentence, a look of surprise flashing across her face. This was immediately
Stranger%20with%20my%20face.docx