James PATTERSON } “we're here to see Jeff,” says Wendy. Then she sees the pictu The guard nods— of course you are—and leads them to the All the girls in the pho’ side door. ; justa baby. Much younger than Mz The, girl’s smiling, bu They're in the kitchen now. Mary, Wendy, some middle-aged ; else—some sort of anxiet man. The man has a long face, bushy eyebrows, and thick silver face. And what she’s doin; hair—and he’s fit. As fit as the jocks that Mary goes to school | off to the side. Flashing or with. Not attractive, exactly. He’s way too old for that. But confi- f toward the camera. dent, in a way that makes an impression. Mary gasps. She turns Standing behind the man there’s a woman. She’s blond, very ; in front of her, wearing not pretty, much taller than Wendy. What a strange scene, Mary thinks. She can’t shake the feeling that the man is studying her. Then he nods, and he and Wendy walk out of the kitchen. A little while later, they're back. : “Sarah.” the man says to the tall woman. “You can take Mary i upstairs.” ; Sarah takes Mary up a wide winding staircase carpeted in pink. : Together they walk down a hall that’s got photographs on the | i é wall—naked women. Long curtains cover windows and don't i let in much light. In the air, there’s a strong lavender fragrance. : = Then they come to a room containing a green-and-pink sofa. q a There’s a large bathroom off to one side and doors on either side — ba of the sofa. There’s a wooden armoire with sex toys on it. There’s 7 7 4 a massage table, too, and a mural of a naked woman. ; om «wait here,” says Sarah. “Jeff will be up in a moment.” j a Mary’s too freaked out to do anything else. Fidgeting with | 4 ‘ her belt loops, she sits on the sofa, jumps up again. q a | 16 | : 4 | @ HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_019132