Jupiter's Bones (39 page)
Authors: Faye Kellerman
“I’m glad.”
“I have a mother who loves me very much. I had a father who loved me very much. And I have a stepfather who’s cool.”
Decker grinned. “I’m cool?”
“Very cool.” He kissed Decker’s cheek. “Play you some chess after Hannah goes to bed?”
“It’s a deal.”
He stood. “Well, I’ve put it off long enough. Gotta go tackle
gemara
. Is Eema almost done with dinner?”
“I think so.”
“Tell her I may just eat in my room. My grades in
gemara
really suck. I’ve got to study.”
“Are you thinking about that Johns Hopkins program?”
He shrugged. “Maybe. See ya.” He turned and went into his bedroom, slamming the door behind him, which caused Decker’s head to ring.
It rang for ten seconds, then twenty seconds, then thirty seconds.
Then suddenly the switch turned off.
And there was nothing.
Nothing except for the ambient noise of Hannah’s cartoons on the TV, Sammy’s CDs being played a little too loud and something frying in the kitchen.
Home noises that were comforting.
Blessed solitude. Breathing deeply…
A minute passed, then two.
Sitting in his house, settling into his sofa with nobody calling his name, nobody beckoning him to the phone, no demands
and
his head wasn’t ringing.
Nothing but peace.
Doesn’t get much better than this!
He rested another moment. Then he got up from the couch, heading for the bedroom.
Scooby-Doo
awaited.
Special thanks to
Special Agent Gayle Jacobs
for giving me a clue.
Any mistakes are mine, not hers
.
With millions of books in print,
FAYE KELLERMAN
is the author of the
New York Times
bestselling Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus novels, as well as a thriller,
Moon Music
,
The Quality of Mercy
, and an historical novel,
Straight into Darkness
. She has also written numerous short stories anthologized in
Garden of Eden and Other Criminal Delights
. She lives in Los Angeles and Santa Fe with her husband,
New York Times
bestselling author Jonathan Kellerman.
Visit
www.AuthorTracker.com
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for
New York Times
bestselling author
FAYE KELLERMAN
and
jupiter’s bones
“A wily thriller…Murder, mystery, action, and drama make this another winner for a popular author who neatly wraps the plot in very human emotions.”
Houston Chronicle
“Kellerman’s new page-turner is guaranteed to pep up an otherwise tame weekend…She is splendid in plotting a tale that is at once familiar and calculatingly strange.”
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
“Kellerman’s novels sustain a quality that is unusually high for a longtime series…She imbues each [character] with a personality and a private agenda. And she continues to add even more depth to Decker’s homicide team.”
Chicago Tribune
“Breath-stopping…Another compelling story featuring dedicated lawman Decker and his Orthodox Jewish wife, Rina Lazarus.”
The Oklahoman
“Suspenseful…fast-paced…richly textured…realistic conflicts…It’s a relief to be invited back to the Decker household.”
Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
“Gritty…a page-turner…It’s got everything…and the characterizations are winning.”
New York Post
“A tense thriller…The gifted Kellerman has pulled together elements of suspense, violence, humor, pathos, and love and wrapped them into a potent plot certain to captivate genre fans…There’s little doubt her latest Pete Decker/Rina Lazarus mystery will land on the bestseller lists.”
Booklist
“Kellerman has a storyteller’s proficiency in spinning disparate strings, weaving them into a seamless whole, and dropping hints about what’s to come, all the while maintaining suspense. That’s some talent.”
Quincy Patriot Ledger
“Spine-tingling suspense.”
Publishers Weekly
“Kellerman is terrific.”
Newsday
“She does for the American cop story what P.D. James has done for the British mystery, lifting it beyond genre.”
Richmond Times-Dispatch
“A fast-paced thriller reminiscent of Waco and Jonestown…Kellerman will probably sell a million copies.”
Los Angeles Times
“Engaging and escapist…high-quality reading.”
Boston Herald
“Reading a good thriller is very much like taking a great vacation: half the fun is getting there. Faye Kellerman is one heck of a tour guide.”
Detroit Free Press
“A master of mystery.”
Cleveland Plain Dealer
“With such a knack for intimate conversation, the author has no trouble tapping into those domestic tensions that can turn ugly and cruel, even murderous.”
New York Times Book Review
“Mystery fans value Faye Kellerman for her superb Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus novels.”
Washington Post Book World
“No one working in the crime genre is better.”
Baltimore Sun
T
HE
F
ORGOTTEN
S
TALKER
J
UPITER’S
B
ONES
M
OON
M
USIC
S
ERPENT’S
T
OOTH
P
RAYERS FOR THE
D
EAD
J
USTICE
S
ANCTUARY
G
RIEVOUS
S
IN
F
ALSE
P
ROPHET
D
AY OF
A
TONEMENT
M
ILK AND
H
ONEY
T
HE
Q
UALITY OF
M
ERCY
S
ACRED AND
P
ROFANE
T
HE
R
ITUAL
B
ATH
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
JUPITER’S BONES
. Copyright © 1999 by Faye Kellerman. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition © JULY 2008 ISBN: 9780061866623
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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