“Why, hello, my dear,” he said, and the familiar, cheery voice did a lot to reassure her. The Geoff she remembered was still in there, alive and kicking. He might not look like Santa Claus anymore, but he still sounded like him—a British version, at any rate.
She came closer and stood in the doorway. “I, uh, happened to be in the neighborhood—”
At that unlikely declaration, an amused sparkle lit his eyes and suddenly there was a sort of shift in her vision; it was if she were looking at the Geoff of old.
“—and I thought maybe we could get some lunch somewhere.”
He looked steadily at her. His only sign of emotion was the briefest of quivers in his upper lip, quickly brought under control.
“I believe,” he said, “that I might manage to find the time.”
The End
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The real-life exploits of our good friend Alica Lampert, Lieutenant (Ret.), San Diego Police Department, provided inspiration for some of Alix London’s more exciting adventures.
Karen Stewart of CenturyLink gave us expert real-world advice on various happenings in the book.
Our agent, Lisa Erbach Vance of the Aaron Priest Literary Agency, provided active, energetic, and helpful advice and support—services above and beyond the norm—every step of the way. Thank you, Lisa!
Several of the book’s scenes are set at Ghost Ranch (Abiquiu, New Mexico) and the Mabel Dodge Luhan House (Taos, New Mexico). These are real places and are described as accurately as we could manage. We owe our thanks to the helpful staffs at both of these historic, wonderful locations.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Photograph by Bob Lampert
Charlotte Elkins wrote her first novel while working at the MH de Young Museum in San Francisco. Published under the pseudonym Emily Spenser, it was the first of her five romance novels that have sold in twenty countries. She switched to writing mysteries when she realized how much fun it was to collaborate with her husband, Aaron. Their first novel, A Wicked Slice, was published in 1989; since then, they have co-written four more novels starring a golf-pro-turned-sleuth and several short stories, one of which, “Nice Gorilla,” won the Agatha Award for Best Short Story of the year.
Aaron Elkins’s novels have been published in thirteen languages and made into a major television series. He is the author of sixteen novels featuring forensic anthropologist Gideon Oliver and of three mysteries featuring art museum curator Chris Norgren. He has won an Edgar Award and a Nero Wolfe Award, and he shares an Agatha Award with his wife, Charlotte. Aaron’s nonfiction articles have appeared in the New York Times’s travel magazine, Smithsonian magazine, and Writer’s Digest.
A Dangerous Talent (An Alix London Mystery) Page 24
