Pike finished cutting the garlic bread and Cindy took it outside. She wriggled her eyebrows as she passed and gave me a yum-yum smile. She smelled of daisies. Yum, all right. “Sure, Peter. Not the whole time. But if you need me around at first, sure.”

“Hey, thanks. I really appreciate that. I really do.” He sounded relieved. “I’m out at the Malibu house. You wanna come out?”

“I’ve got company.”

“Another time, okay? You ever wanna come out, you don’t even have to call. Just come.”

“Sure.” Elvis Cole, detective to the stars.

I hung up and Pike said, “What’s up?”

“Karen and Toby are coming out and he’s scared. Growing up is a scary time.”

“He asks you a lot. Maybe he should try growing up without you.”

“He calls me less now than he once did. He’ll call me less still. He’s getting there.”

Pike nodded. “Yeah. I guess he is. Karen getting any chaff from the DeLucas?”

“Vito’s been good at his word. All of the DeLuca accounts through the First Chelam Bank have been collapsed and the funds in the Barbados accounts have mysteriously vanished.”

“So she’s free.”

“Yes. She’s as free as you can be when you’ve got the memories she has, but, like Peter, she’s getting there, too.”

Outside, Ellen Lang moved the fish to the side so it wouldn’t overcook and Cindy put the garlic bread in the center of the grill. Pike washed off a yellow pepper, cored it in the sink, then sliced it into thin rings. Each ring was uniform, no thicker or thinner than any other ring. When the pepper was cut, he added the rings to the large salad that had already been built and we took it out to the deck.

Ellen Lang says that if you stand on my deck and close your eyes, with a breeze coming up the canyon to blow across your face, it’s easy to imagine that you’re flying free through the sky, over the city with Tinkerbell and Mark and Wendy, off to Never Land to find the lost boys.

I haven’t told her, but I’ve always thought that, too.

About the Author

ROBERT CRAIS is the bestselling author of eleven suspense novels, including The Monkey’s Raincoat, Stalking the Angel, Lullaby Town, and Free Fall, all available from Bantam Books. He has written for such award-winning television shows as L.A. Law and Hill Street Blues, and he lives in Los Angeles.

If you enjoyed Lullaby Town, you will want to read Free Fall, now available in paperback at your local bookseller.

FREE
FALL

ROBERT CRAIS

Here is a special preview of Free Fall.

FREE FALL

Robert Crais